He who sits [enthroned] in the heavens laughs [at their rebellion];
The [Sovereign] Lord scoffs at them [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].

But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself [and dealt wonderfully with] the godly man [the one of honorable character and moral courage—the one who does right].
The Lord hears and responds when I call to Him.

Depart from me, all you who do evil,
For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

The Lord has heard my supplication [my plea for grace];
The Lord receives my prayer.

If a man does not repent, God will sharpen His sword;
He has strung and bent His [mighty] bow and made it ready.

He has also prepared [other] deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His arrows fiery shafts [aimed at the unrepentant].

He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap].

The enemy has been cut off and has vanished in everlasting ruins,
You have uprooted their cities;
The very memory of them has perished.

But the Lord will remain and sit enthroned forever;
He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.

The Lord has made Himself known;
He executes judgment;
The wicked are trapped by the work of their own hands. Higgaion (meditation) Selah.

He says to himself, “God has [quite] forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see my deed.”

Why has the wicked spurned and shown disrespect to God?
He has said to himself, “You will not require me to account.”

“If the foundations [of a godly society] are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”

I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my heart (mind) instructs me in the night.

My steps have held closely to Your paths;
My feet have not staggered.

The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness (moral character, spiritual integrity);
According to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.

Therefore the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness (moral character, spiritual integrity),
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds and sustains me;
Your gentleness [Your gracious response when I pray] makes me great.

Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth,
Their words to the end of the world.
In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun,

For [a pack of] dogs have surrounded me;
A gang of evildoers has encircled me,
They pierced my hands and my feet.

For He has not despised nor detested the suffering of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He listened.

They will come and declare His righteousness
To a people yet to be born—that He has done it [and that it is finished].

For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the streams and the rivers.

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to what is false,
Nor has sworn [oaths] deceitfully.

Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And even my body has wasted away.

Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His marvelous favor and lovingkindness to me [when I was assailed] in a besieged city.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven,
And whose sin is covered.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

For Your arrows have sunk into me and penetrate deeply,
And Your hand has pressed down on me and greatly disciplined me.

“I am mute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is You who has done it.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear [with great reverence]
And will trust confidently in the Lord.

For innumerable evils have encompassed me;
My sins have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].

My dishonor is before me all day long,
And humiliation has covered my face,

You are fairer than the sons of men;
Graciousness is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.

You have loved righteousness (virtue, morality, justice) and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, your God, has anointed You
Above Your companions with the oil of jubilation.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has brought desolations and wonders on the earth.

God has ascended amid shouting,
The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a stronghold.

The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and evil, and have committed repulsive injustice;
There is no one who does good.

Every one of them has turned aside and fallen away;
Together they have become filthy and corrupt;
There is no one who does good, no, not even one.

There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;
For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

For He has rescued me from every trouble,
And my eye has looked with satisfaction (triumph) on my enemies.

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who has hated me who insolently exalts himself against me—
Then I could hide from him.

He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me,
For there were many against me.

God will hear and humble them,
Even He who sits enthroned from old— Selah.
Because in them there has been no change [of heart],
And they do not fear God [at all].

He [my companion] has put out his hands against those who were at peace with him;
He has broken his covenant [of friendship and loyalty].

Let them be as a snail which melts away (secretes slime) as it goes along,
Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.

God has spoken in His holiness [in His promises]:
“I will rejoice, I will divide [the land of] Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth [west to east].

God has spoken once,
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God.

Who keeps us among the living,
And does not allow our feet to slip or stumble.

Come and hear, all who fear God [and worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
And I will tell what He has done for me.

But certainly God has heard [me];
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.

The earth has yielded its harvest [as evidence of His approval];
God, our God, blesses us.

Why do you look with envy, mountains with many peaks,
At the mountain [of the city of Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place?
Yes, the Lord will dwell there forever.

Your God has commanded your strength [your power in His service and your resistance to temptation];
Show Yourself strong, O God, who acted on our behalf.

For zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And the [mocking] insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.

And it will please the Lord better than an ox
Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

Saying, “God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”

For he will rescue the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted and abused also, and him who has no helper.

Turn your footsteps [quickly] toward the perpetual ruins;
The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

Remember this, O Lord, the enemy has scoffed,
And a foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.

“When I select an appointed time,
I will judge with equity,” [says the Lord].

Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah.

We will not hide them from their children,
But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.

Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot [the Ammonites and the Moabites] and have been an arm [of strength] to them. Selah.

The bird has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.

O God, arrogant and insolent men have risen up against me;
A band of violent men have sought my life,
And they have not set You before them.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit (grave);
I am like a man who has no strength [a mere shadow],

Your fierce wrath has swept over me;
Your terrors have destroyed me.

All who pass along the road rob him;
He has become the scorn of his neighbors.

“Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him;
I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].

The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty and splendor;
The Lord has clothed and encircled Himself with strength;
the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.

But the Lord has become my high tower and defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.

O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done marvelous and wonderful things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has [openly] revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

He has [graciously] remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have witnessed the salvation of our God.

Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His].
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will silence;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud (arrogant) heart I will not tolerate.

You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
For it is time to be gracious and show favor to her;
Yes, the appointed time [the moment designated] has come.

He has exhausted my strength [humbling me with sorrow] in the way;
He has shortened my days.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins [as we deserve],
Nor rewarded us [with punishment] according to our wickedness.

As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all [the universe].

The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,

Remember [with awe and gratitude] the wonderful things which He has done,
His amazing deeds and the judgments uttered by His mouth [on His enemies, as in Egypt],

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,

For He has shattered the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron apart.

They staggered and trembled like a drunken man,
And were at their wits’ end [all their wisdom was useless].

God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice, I will portion out Shechem [as I divide Canaan among My people],
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.

Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.

My knees are unsteady from fasting;
And my flesh is gaunt and without fatness.

The Lord has sworn [an oath] and will not change His mind:
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

He has made His wonderful acts to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and merciful and full of loving compassion.

He has given food to those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence];
He will remember His covenant forever.