Psalms 7; Psalms 27; Psalms 31; Psalms 34; Psalms 52

1 I take refuge in you, LORD, my God. Save me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

2 Otherwise, they will rip me apart, dragging me off with no chance of rescue.

3 LORD, my God, if I have done this— if my hands have done anything wrong,

4 if I have repaid a friend with evil or oppressed a foe for no reason—

5 then let my enemy not only chase but catch me, trampling my life into the ground, laying my reputation in the dirt. Selah

6 Get up, LORD; get angry! Stand up against the fury of my foes! Wake up, my God; you command that justice be done!

7 Let the assembled peoples surround you. Rule them from on high!

8 The LORD will judge the peoples. Establish justice for me, LORD, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity.

9 Please let the evil of the wicked be over, but set the righteous firmly in place because you, the righteous God, are the one who examines hearts and minds.

10 God is my shield; he saves those whose heart is right.

11 God is a righteous judge, a God who is angry at evil every single day.

12 If someone doesn't change their ways, God will sharpen his sword, will bend his bow, will string an arrow.

13 God has deadly weapons in store for those who won't change; he gets his flaming arrows ready!

14 But look how the wicked hatch evil, conceive trouble, give birth to lies!

15 They make a pit, dig it all out, and then fall right into the hole that they've made!

16 The trouble they cause will come back on their own heads; the violence they commit will come down on their own skulls.

17 But I will thank the LORD for his righteousness; I will sing praises to the name of the LORD Most High.

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation. Should I fear anyone? The LORD is a fortress protecting my life. Should I be frightened of anything?

2 When evildoers come at me trying to eat me up— it's they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall!

3 If an army camps against me, my heart won't be afraid. If war comes up against me, I will continue to trust in this:

4 I have asked one thing from the LORD— it's all I seek: to live in the LORD's house all the days of my life, seeing the LORD's beauty and constantly adoring his temple.

5 Because he will shelter me in his own dwelling during troubling times; he will hide me in a secret place in his own tent; he will set me up high, safe on a rock.

6 Now my head is higher than the enemies surrounding me, and I will offer sacrifices in God's tent— sacrifices with shouts of joy! I will sing and praise the LORD.

7 LORD, listen to my voice when I cry out— have mercy on me and answer me!

8 Come, my heart says, seek God's face. LORD, I do seek your face!

9 Please don't hide it from me! Don't push your servant aside angrily— you have been my help! God who saves me, don't neglect me! Don't leave me all alone!

10 Even if my father and mother left me all alone, the LORD would take me in.

11 LORD, teach me your way; because of my opponents, lead me on a good path.

12 Don't give me over to the desires of my enemies, because false witnesses and violent accusers have taken their stand against me.

13 But I have sure faith that I will experience the LORD's goodness in the land of the living!

14 Hope in the LORD! Be strong! Let your heart take courage! Hope in the LORD!

1 I take refuge in you, LORD. Please never let me be put to shame. Rescue me by your righteousness!

2 Listen closely to me! Deliver me quickly; be a rock that protects me; be a strong fortress that saves me!

3 You are definitely my rock and my fortress. Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name!

4 Get me out of this net that's been set for me because you are my protective fortress.

5 I entrust my spirit into your hands; you, LORD, God of faithfulness— you have saved me.

6 I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless. I myself trust the LORD.

7 I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love because you saw my suffering— you were intimately acquainted with my deep distress.

8 You didn't hand me over to the enemy, but set my feet in wide-open spaces.

9 Have mercy on me, LORD, because I'm depressed. My vision fails because of my grief, as do my spirit and my body.

10 My life is consumed with sadness; my years are consumed with groaning. Strength fails me because of my suffering; my bones dry up.

11 I'm a joke to all my enemies, still worse to my neighbors. I scare my friends, and whoever sees me in the street runs away!

12 I am forgotten, like I'm dead, completely out of mind; I am like a piece of pottery, destroyed.

13 Yes, I've heard all the gossiping, terror all around; so many gang up together against me, they plan to take my life!

14 But me? I trust you, LORD! I affirm, "You are my God."

15 My future is in your hands. Don't hand me over to my enemies, to all who are out to get me!

16 Shine your face on your servant; save me by your faithful love!

17 LORD, don't let me be put to shame because I have cried out to you. Let the wicked be put to shame; let them be silenced in death's domain!

18 Let their lying lips be shut up whenever they speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt!

19 How great is the goodness that you've reserved for those who honor you, that you commit to those who take refuge in you— in the sight of everyone!

20 You hide them in the shelter of your wings, safe from human scheming. You conceal them in a shelter, safe from accusing tongues.

21 Bless the LORD, because he has wondrously revealed his faithful love to me when I was like a city under siege!

22 When I was panicked, I said, "I'm cut off from your eyes!" But you heard my request for mercy when I cried out to you for help.

23 All you who are faithful, love the LORD! The LORD protects those who are loyal, but he pays the proud back to the fullest degree.

24 All you who wait for the LORD, be strong and let your heart take courage.

1 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise will always be in my mouth.

2 I praise the LORD— let the suffering listen and rejoice.

3 Magnify the LORD with me! Together let us lift his name up high!

4 I sought the LORD and he answered me. He delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to God will shine; their faces are never ashamed.

6 This suffering person cried out: the LORD listened and saved him from every trouble.

7 On every side, the LORD's messenger protects those who honor God; and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see how good the LORD is! The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy!

9 You who are the LORD's holy ones, honor him, because those who honor him don't lack a thing.

10 Even strong young lions go without and get hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

11 Come, children, listen to me. Let me teach you how to honor the LORD:

12 Do you love life; do you relish the chance to enjoy good things?

13 Then you must keep your tongue from evil and keep your lips from speaking lies!

14 Turn away from evil! Do good! Seek peace and go after it!

15 The LORD's eyes watch the righteous, his ears listen to their cries for help.

16 But the LORD's face is set against those who do evil, to eliminate even the memory of them from the earth.

17 When the righteous cry out, the LORD listens; he delivers them from all their troubles.

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those whose spirits are crushed.

19 The righteous have many problems, but the LORD delivers them from every one.

20 He protects all their bones; not even one will be broken.

21 But just one problem will kill the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be held responsible.

22 The LORD saves his servants' lives; all those who take refuge in him won't be held responsible for anything.

1 Hey, powerful person! Why do you brag about evil? God's faithful love lasts all day long.

2 Your tongue devises destruction: it's like a sharpened razor, causing deception.

3 You love evil more than good; you love lying more than speaking what is right. Selah

4 You love all destructive words; you love the deceiving tongue.

5 But God will take you down permanently; he will snatch you up, tear you out of your tent, and uproot you from the land of the living! Selah

6 The righteous will see and be in awe; they will laugh at those people:

7 "Look at them! They didn't make God their refuge. Instead, they trusted in their own great wealth. They sought refuge in it—to their own destruction!"

8 But I am like a green olive tree in God's house; I trust in God's faithful love forever and always.

9 I will give thanks to you, God, forever, because you have acted. In the presence of your faithful people, I will hope in your name because it's so good.