Psalms 18; Psalms 19; Psalms 20; Psalms 21; Psalms 22

Psalms 18

1 I love you, LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.

8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.

9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.

10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.

19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God.

22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.

23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.

24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

26 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

28 You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

29 With your help I can advance against a troop ; with my God I can scale a wall.

30 As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

32 It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.

33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.

34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.

36 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.

39 You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me.

40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.

41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but he did not answer.

42 I beat them as fine as windblown dust; I trampled them like mud in the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me,

44 foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

45 They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.

46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!

47 He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me,

48 who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me.

49 Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.

50 He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing love to his anointed, to David and to his descendants forever.

Psalms 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

11 By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

12 But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalms 20

1 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

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

3 May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.

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

5 May 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.

6 Now 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.

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

8 They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

9 LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!

Psalms 21

1 The king rejoices in your strength, LORD. How great is his joy in the victories you give!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9 When 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.

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

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

12 You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow.

13 Be exalted in your strength, LORD; we will sing and praise your might.

Psalms 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

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

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.

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

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

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

7 All 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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

24 For 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.

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

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

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

28 for dominion belongs to the LORDand he rules over the nations.

29 All 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.

30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!