Psalms 21-26

Psalm 21

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, the king rejoices in Your strength. How greatly he exults in Your salvation!

²You have granted his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

³For You welcomed him with rich blessings; You placed on his head a crown of pure gold.

⁴He asked You for life, and You granted it— length of days, forever and ever.

⁵Great is his glory in Your salvation; You bestow on him splendor and majesty.

⁶For You grant him blessings forever; You cheer him with joy in Your presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the LORD; through the loving devotion of the Most High, he will not be shaken.

⁸Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; Your right hand will seize those who hate You.

⁹You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.

¹⁰You will wipe their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from the sons of men.

¹¹Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.

¹²For You will put them to flight when Your bow is trained upon them.

¹³Be exalted, O LORD, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.

Psalm 22

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” 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 words of groaning?

²I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.

³Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

⁴In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.

⁵They cried out to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disappointed.

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

⁷All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:

⁸“He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”

⁹Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast.

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

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

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

¹³They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.

¹⁴I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.

¹⁵My 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.

¹⁶For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.

¹⁷I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹But You, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

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

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion; at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!

²²I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; I will praise You in the assembly.

²³You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All descendants of Jacob, honor Him! All offspring of Israel, revere Him!

²⁴For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.

²⁵My praise for You resounds in the great assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.

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. 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— even those unable to preserve their lives.

³⁰Posterity will serve Him; they will declare the Lord to a new generation.

³¹They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn— all that He has done.

Psalm 23

¹A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

³He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.

⁴Even though I walk through 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 goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 24

¹A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.

²For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

³Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place?

⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.

⁵He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from the God of his salvation.

⁶Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah

⁷Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may enter!

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

⁹Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may enter!

¹⁰Who is He, this King of Glory? The LORD of Hosts— He is the King of Glory. Selah

Psalm 25

¹Of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

²in You, my God, I trust. Do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.

³Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame; but those who are faithless without cause will be disgraced.

⁴Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.

⁵Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; all day long I wait for You.

⁶Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion, for they are from age to age.

⁷Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts; remember me according to Your loving devotion, because of Your goodness, O LORD.

⁸Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way.

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

¹⁰All the LORD’s ways are loving and faithful to those who keep His covenant and His decrees.

¹¹For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.

¹²Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.

¹³His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

¹⁴The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

¹⁵My eyes are always on the LORD, for He will free my feet from the mesh.

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

¹⁷The troubles of my heart increase; free me from my distress.

¹⁸Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.

¹⁹Consider my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with vicious hatred.

²⁰Guard my soul and deliver me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.

²¹May integrity and uprightness preserve me, because I wait for You.

²²Redeem Israel, O God, from all its distress.

Psalm 26

¹Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

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

³For Your loving devotion is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.

⁴I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.

⁵I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.

⁶I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

⁷to raise my voice in thanksgiving and declare all Your wonderful works.

⁸O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.

⁹Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,

¹⁰in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹But I will walk with integrity; redeem me and be merciful to me.

¹²My feet stand on level ground; in the congregations I will bless the LORD.