Psalm 21

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The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

19  iThe heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above1 proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

jTheir kvoice2 goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for lthe sun,

mwhich comes out like na bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

oThe law of the Lord is perfect,3

previving the soul;

qthe testimony of the Lord is rsure,

smaking wise tthe simple;

uthe precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is vpure,

wenlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules4 of the Lord are xtrue,

and righteous altogether.

10  More to be desired are they than ygold,

even much zfine gold;

asweeter also than honey

and drippings of bthe honeycomb.

11  Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

cin keeping them there is great reward.

12  dWho can discern his errors?

eDeclare me innocent from fhidden faults.

13  gKeep back your servant also from hpresumptuous sins;

let them not have idominion over me!

Then I shall be blameless,

and innocent of great transgression.

14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O Lord, my jrock and my kredeemer.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

20  May the Lord lanswer you in the day of trouble!

May mthe name of the God of Jacob nprotect you!

May he send you help from othe sanctuary

and give you support from pZion!

May he qremember all your offerings

and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

May he rgrant you your heart’s desire

and fulfill all your plans!

May we shout for joy over syour salvation,

and in the name of our God set up our tbanners!

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

he will answer him from his holy heaven

with uthe saving might of his right hand.

Some trust in vchariots and some in whorses,

xbut we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They collapse and fall,

but we rise and stand upright.

O Lord, save ythe king!

May he answer us when we call.

The King Rejoices in the Lord’s Strength

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

21  O Lord, in your zstrength the king rejoices,

and in your asalvation how greatly he exults!

You have bgiven him his heart’s desire

and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

For you cmeet him with rich blessings;

you set da crown of efine gold upon his head.

He asked life of you; you fgave it to him,

glength of days forever and ever.

His hglory is great through your salvation;

isplendor and majesty you bestow on him.

For you make him most blessed forever;1

you make him glad with the jjoy of your presence.

For the king trusts in the Lord,

and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be kmoved.

Your hand will lfind out all your enemies;

your right hand will find out those who hate you.

You will make them as ma blazing oven

when you appear.

The Lord will swallow them up in his nwrath,

and ofire will consume them.

10  You pwill destroy their qdescendants from the earth,

and their offspring from among the children of man.

11  Though they plan evil against you,

though they rdevise mischief, they will not succeed.

12  For you will put them sto flight;

you will taim at their faces with your bows.

13  Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!

We will sing and praise your power.

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

22  uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so vfar from saving me, from the words of my wgroaning?

O my God, I cry by xday, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are yholy,

zenthroned on athe praises1 of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they bcried and were rescued;

in you they ctrusted and were not put to shame.

But I am da worm and not a man,

escorned by mankind and fdespised by the people.

All who see me gmock me;

they make mouths at me; they hwag their heads;

iHe trusts in the Lord; let him jdeliver him;

let him rescue him, for he kdelights in him!

Yet you are he who ltook me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.

10  On you was I cast from my birth,

and from mmy mother’s womb you have been my God.

11  Be not nfar from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is onone to help.

12  Many bulls encompass me;

pstrong bulls of qBashan surround me;

13  they ropen wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14  I am spoured out like water,

and all my bones are tout of joint;

my uheart is like vwax;

it is melted within my breast;

15  my strength is wdried up like a potsherd,

and my xtongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16  For ydogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers zencircles me;

they have apierced my hands and feet2

17  I can count all my bones

they bstare and gloat over me;

18  cthey divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

19  But you, O Lord, ndo not be far off!

O you my help, dcome quickly to my aid!

20  Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of ethe dog!

21  Save me from fthe mouth of the lion!

You have rescued3 me from the horns of gthe wild oxen!

22  hI will tell of your name to my ibrothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23  You who jfear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, kglorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24  For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of lthe afflicted,

and he has not mhidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he ncried to him.

25  From you comes my praise in the great ocongregation;

my pvows I will qperform before those who fear him.

26  rThe afflicted4 shall seat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts tlive forever!

27  All uthe ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all vthe families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28  For wkingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29  All xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall ybow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not zkeep himself alive.

30  Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ageneration;

31  they shall bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet cunborn,

that he has done it.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

23  The Lord is my dshepherd; I shall not ewant.

He makes me lie down in green fpastures.

He leads me beside still waters.1

He grestores my soul.

He hleads me in ipaths of righteousness2

for his jname’s sake.

Even though I kwalk through the valley of lthe shadow of death,3

I will mfear no evil,

for nyou are with me;

your orod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You pprepare a table before me

in qthe presence of my enemies;

you ranoint my head with oil;

my scup overflows.

Surely4 goodness and mercy5 shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall tdwell6 in the house of the Lord

uforever.7