How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.

‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.

‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.

Many are saying of my soul,
“There is no deliverance for him in God.” Selah.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!
For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek;
You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.

For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress;
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach?
How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception? Selah.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And trust in the Lord.

Many are saying, “Who will show us any good?”
Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord!

Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,
For to You I pray.

You destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes;
Make Your way straight before me.

Hold them guilty, O God;
By their own devices let them fall!
In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out,
For they are rebellious against You.

Return, O Lord, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.

For there is no mention of You in death;
In Sheol who will give You thanks?

My eye has wasted away with grief;
It has become old because of all my adversaries.

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

O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is injustice in my hands,

If I have rewarded evil to my friend,
Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,

Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries,
And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.

Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You,
And over them return on high.

O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous;
For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.

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

I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness
And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;

What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?

You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,

All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,

The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

For the choir director; on Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonders.

The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very memory of them has perished.

The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;

For He who requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

Be gracious to me, O Lord;
See my affliction from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,

That I may tell of all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in Your salvation.

The Lord has made Himself known;
He has executed judgment.
In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. Higgaion Selah.

For the needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.

Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire,
And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.
All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

His ways prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.

His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he kills the innocent;
His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.

You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand.
The unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the helper of the orphan.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”

The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.

Upon the wicked He will rain snares;
Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.

For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things;

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

The words of the Lord are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

The wicked strut about on every side
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.

Do all the workers of wickedness not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?

You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,
But the Lord is his refuge.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores His captive people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.

You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips
I have kept from the paths of the violent.

Wondrously show Your lovingkindness,
O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand
From those who rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of the eye;
Hide me in the shadow of Your wings

From men with Your hand, O Lord,
From men of the world, whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babes.

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

The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.

The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.

Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.

He rode upon a cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.

The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.

Then the channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my stay.

The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.

Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the Lord is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.

Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

You have delivered me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.

Foreigners fade away,
And come trembling out of their fortresses.

The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.