Psalm 20:1-26:8

Psalm 20In Hebrew texts 20:1-9 is numbered 20:2-10. 1For the director of music. A psalm of David. May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

2May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.

3May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

4May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

5May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests.

6Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.

7Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

8They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. 9LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!

Psalm 21In Hebrew texts 21:1-13 is numbered 21:2-14. 1For the director of music. A psalm of David. The king rejoices in your strength, LORD . How great is his joy in the victories you give!

2You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

3You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

4He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever.

5Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.

6Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

7For the king trusts in the LORD ; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.

8Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes.

9When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them.

10You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind.

11Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

12You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. 13Be exalted in your strength, LORD ; we will sing and praise your might.

Psalm 22In Hebrew texts 22:1-31 is numbered 22:2-32. 1For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

2My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Or night, and am not silent

3Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. Or Yet you are holy, / enthroned on the praises of Israel

4In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

5To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

7All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8“He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

9Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.

10From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

15My mouth Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce Dead Sea Scrolls and some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text me, / like a lion my hands and my feet.

17All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.

18They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

19But you, LORD, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

20Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.

23You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

25From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you Hebrew him I will fulfill my vows.

26The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him— may your hearts live forever!

27All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

28for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.

29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

Psalm 23 1A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

3he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, Or the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 24 1Of David. A psalm. The earth is the LORD ’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

2for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.

3Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD ? Who may stand in his holy place?

4The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. Or swear falsely

5They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior.

6Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Two Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts face, Jacob The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 10.

7Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

8Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

9Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory.

Psalm 25This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. 1Of David. In you, LORD my God, I put my trust.

2I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

4Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths.

5Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

6Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

7Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, LORD, are good.

8Good and upright is the LORD ; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

10All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

11For the sake of your name, LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

12Who, then, are those who fear the LORD ? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. Or ways he chooses

13They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.

14The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

15My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

17Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.

18Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.

19See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me!

20Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

21May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, LORD, Septuagint; Hebrew does not have Lord. is in you. 22Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

Psalm 26 1Of David. Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD and have not faltered.

2Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;

3for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

4I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites.

5I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.

6I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, LORD,

7proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

8LORD, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells.