Psalms 21-26

Psalm 21

¹To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. The king will be glad in your strength, O Lord; how great will be his delight in your salvation!

²You have given him his heart's desire, and have not kept back the request of his lips. (Selah.)

³For you go before him with the blessings of good things: you put a crown of fair gold on his head.

⁴He made request to you for life, and you gave it to him, long life for ever and ever.

⁵His glory is great in your salvation: honour and authority have you put on him.

⁶For you have made him a blessing for ever: you have given him joy in the light of your face.

⁷For the king has faith in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he will not be moved.

⁸Your hand will make a search for all your haters; your right hand will be hard on all those who are against you.

⁹You will make them like a flaming oven before you; the Lord in his wrath will put an end to them, and they will be burned up in the fire.

¹⁰Their fruit will be cut off from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.

¹¹For their thoughts were bitter against you: they had an evil design in their minds, which they were not able to put into effect.

¹²Their backs will be turned when you make ready the cords of your bow against their faces.

¹³Be lifted up, O Lord, in your strength; so will we make songs in praise of your power.

Psalm 22

¹To the chief music-maker on Aijeleth-hash-shahar. A Psalm. Of David. My God, my God, why are you turned away from me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my crying?

²O my God, I make my cry in the day, and you give no answer; and in the night, and have no rest.

³But you are holy, O you who are seated among the praises of Israel.

⁴Our fathers had faith in you: they had faith and you were their saviour.

⁵They sent up their cry to you and were made free: they put their faith in you and were not put to shame.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man; cursed by men, and looked down on by the people.

⁷I am laughed at by all those who see me: pushing out their lips and shaking their heads they say,

⁸He put his faith in the Lord; let the Lord be his saviour now: let the Lord be his saviour, because he had delight in him.

⁹But it was you who took care of me from the day of my birth: you gave me faith even from my mother's breasts.

¹⁰I was in your hands even before my birth; you are my God from the time when I was in my mother's body.

¹¹Be not far from me, for trouble is near; there is no one to give help.

¹²A great herd of oxen is round me: I am shut in by the strong oxen of Bashan.

¹³I saw their mouths wide open, like lions crying after food.

¹⁴I am flowing away like water, and all my bones are out of place: my heart is like wax, it has become soft in my body.

¹⁵My throat is dry like a broken vessel; my tongue is fixed to the roof of my mouth, and the dust of death is on my lips.

¹⁶Dogs have come round me: I am shut in by the band of evil-doers; they made wounds in my hands and feet.

¹⁷I am able to see all my bones; their looks are fixed on me:

¹⁸They make a division of my robes among them, by the decision of chance they take my clothing.

¹⁹Do not be far from me, O Lord: O my strength, come quickly to my help.

²⁰Make my soul safe from the sword, my life from the power of the dog.

²¹Be my saviour from the lion's mouth; let me go free from the horns of the cruel oxen.

²²I will give the knowledge of your name to my brothers: I will give you praise among the people.

²³You who have fear of the Lord, give him praise; all you seed of Jacob, give him glory; go in fear of him, all you seed of Israel.

²⁴For he has not been unmoved by the pain of him who is troubled; or kept his face covered from him; but he has given an answer to his cry.

²⁵My praise will be of you in the great meeting: I will make my offerings before his worshippers.

²⁶The poor will have a feast of good things: those who make search for the Lord will give him praise: your heart will have life for ever.

²⁷All the ends of the earth will keep it in mind and be turned to the Lord: all the families of the nations will give him worship.

²⁸For the kingdom is the Lord's; he is the ruler among the nations.

²⁹All the fat ones of the earth will give him worship; all those who go down to the dust will make themselves low before him, even he who has not enough for the life of his soul.

³⁰A seed will be his servant; the doings of the Lord will be made clear to the generation which comes after.

³¹They will come and make his righteousness clear to a people of the future because he has done this.

Psalm 23

¹A Psalm. Of David. The Lord takes care of me as his sheep; I will not be without any good thing.

²He makes a resting-place for me in the green fields: he is my guide by the quiet waters.

³He gives new life to my soul: he is my guide in the ways of righteousness because of his name.

⁴Yes, though I go through the valley of deep shade, I will have no fear of evil; for you are with me, your rod and your support are my comfort.

⁵You make ready a table for me in front of my haters: you put oil on my head; my cup is overflowing.

⁶Truly, blessing and mercy will be with me all the days of my life; and I will have a place in the house of the Lord all my days.

Psalm 24

¹A Psalm. Of David. The earth is the Lord's, with all its wealth; the world and all the people living in it.

²For by him it was based on the seas, and made strong on the deep rivers.

³Who may go up into the hill of the Lord? and who may come into his holy place?

⁴He who has clean hands and a true heart; whose desire has not gone out to foolish things, who has not taken a false oath.

⁵He will have blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶This is the generation of those whose hearts are turned to you, even to your face, O God of Jacob. (Selah.)

⁷Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in.

⁸Who is the King of glory? The Lord of strength and power, the Lord strong in war.

⁹Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; let them be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰Who is the King of glory? The Lord of armies, he is the King of glory. (Selah.)

Psalm 25

¹Of David. To you, O Lord, my soul is lifted up.

²O my God, I have put my faith in you, let me not be shamed; let not my haters be glorying over me.

³Let no servant of yours be put to shame; may those be shamed who are false without cause.

⁴Make your steps clear to me, O Lord; give me knowledge of your ways.

⁵Be my guide and teacher in the true way; for you are the God of my salvation; I am waiting for your word all the day.

⁶O Lord, keep in mind your pity and your mercies; for they have been from the earliest times.

⁷Do not keep in mind my sins when I was young, or my wrongdoing: let your memory of me be full of mercy, O Lord, because of your righteousness.

⁸Good and upright is the Lord: so he will be the teacher of sinners in the way.

⁹He will be an upright guide to the poor in spirit: he will make his way clear to them.

¹⁰All the ways of the Lord are mercy and good faith for those who keep his agreement and his witness.

¹¹Because of your name, O Lord, let me have forgiveness for my sin, which is very great.

¹²If a man has the fear of the Lord, the Lord will be his teacher in the way of his pleasure.

¹³His soul will be full of good things, and his seed will have the earth for its heritage.

¹⁴The secret of the Lord is with those in whose hearts is the fear of him; he will make his agreement clear to them.

¹⁵My eyes are turned to the Lord at all times; for he will take my feet out of the net.

¹⁶Be turned to me, and have mercy on me; for I am troubled and have no helper.

¹⁷The troubles of my heart are increased: O take me out of my sorrows.

¹⁸Give thought to my grief and my pain; and take away all my sins.

¹⁹See how those who are against me are increased, for bitter is their hate of me.

²⁰O keep my soul, and take me out of danger: let me not be shamed, for I have put my faith in you.

²¹For my clean and upright ways keep me safe, because my hope is in you.

²²Give Israel salvation, O God, out of all his troubles.

Psalm 26

¹Of David. O Lord, be my judge, for my behaviour has been upright: I have put my faith in the Lord, I am not in danger of slipping.

²Put me in the scales, O Lord, so that I may be tested; let the fire make clean my thoughts and my heart.

³For your mercy is before my eyes; and I have gone in the way of your good faith.

⁴I have not taken my seat with foolish persons, and I do not go with false men.

⁵I have been a hater of the band of wrongdoers, and I will not be seated among sinners.

⁶I will make my hands clean from sin; so will I go round your altar, O Lord;

⁷That I may give out the voice of praise, and make public all the wonders which you have done.

⁸Lord, your house has been dear to me, and the resting-place of your glory.

⁹Let not my soul be numbered among sinners, or my life among men of blood;

¹⁰In whose hands are evil designs, and whose right hands take money for judging falsely.

¹¹But as for me, I will go on in my upright ways: be my saviour, and have mercy on me.

¹²I have a safe resting-place for my feet; I will give praise to the Lord in the meetings of the people.