Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?

But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me; you are my glory and the one who restores me.

Realize that the Lord shows the godly special favor; the Lord responds when I cry out to him.

You make me happier than those who have abundant grain and wine.

But may all who take shelter in you be happy! May they continually shout for joy! Shelter them so that those who are loyal to you may rejoice!

From the mouths of children and nursing babies you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.

Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,

and make them a little less than the heavenly beings? You grant mankind honor and majesty;

the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.

The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol; this is the destiny of all the nations that ignore God,

You defend the fatherless and oppressed, so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them.

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts!

He is like a lion that wants to tear its prey to bits, like a young lion crouching in hidden places.

The Lord is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer. My God is my rocky summit where I take shelter, my shield, the horn that saves me, and my refuge.

They are of greater value than gold, than even a great amount of pure gold; they bring greater delight than honey, than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.

Now I am sure that the Lord will deliver his chosen king; he will intervene for him from his holy heavenly temple, and display his mighty ability to deliver.

They open their mouths to devour me like a roaring lion that rips its prey.

The Lord is both kind and fair; that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live.

Deliver your people! Empower the nation that belongs to you! Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms at all times!

For I hear what so many are saying, the terrifying news that comes from every direction. When they plot together against me, they figure out how they can take my life.

May lying lips be silenced -- lips that speak defiantly against the innocent with arrogance and contempt!

Taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him!

Do not be angry and frustrated! Do not fret! That only leads to trouble!

The Lord laughs in disgust at them, for he knows that their day is coming.

The little bit that a godly man owns is better than the wealth of many evil men,

He gave me reason to sing a new song, praising our God. May many see what God has done, so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord!

Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. You make that quite clear to me! You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

They say, 'An awful disease overwhelms him, and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.'

By this I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.

Then I will go to the altar of God, to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, so that I express my thanks to you, O God, my God, with a harp.

All your garments are perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cassia. From the luxurious palaces comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy.

He says, "Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!"

I will learn a song that imparts wisdom; I will then sing my insightful song to the accompaniment of a harp.

so that he might continue to live forever and not experience death.

Surely one sees that even wise people die; fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away and leave their wealth to others.

but, despite their wealth, people do not last, they are like animals that perish.

Wealthy people do not understand; they are like animals that perish.

He summons the heavens above, as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people.

I am not condemning you because of your sacrifices, or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me.

For every wild animal in the forest belongs to me, as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills.

Sprinkle me with water and I will be pure; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

You love evil more than good, lies more than speaking the truth. (Selah)

You love to use all the words that destroy, and the tongue that deceives.

They are absolutely terrified, even by things that do not normally cause fear. For God annihilates those who attack you. You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them.

I will hurry off to a place that is safe from the strong wind and the gale."

His words are as smooth as butter, but he harbors animosity in his heart. His words seem softer than oil, but they are really like sharp swords.

My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help; I know that God is on my side.

when you deliver my life from death. You keep my feet from stumbling, so that I might serve God as I enjoy life.

Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear,

that does not respond to the magicians, or to a skilled snake-charmer.

Let them disappear like water that flows away! Let them wither like grass!

Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along! Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun!

Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish! Let them know that God rules in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; a prayer of David written to instruct others. It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. O God, you have rejected us. You suddenly turned on us in your anger. Please restore us!

You have given your loyal followers a rallying flag, so that they might seek safety from the bow. (Selah)

Deliver by your power and answer me, so that the ones you love may be safe.

Indeed, you are my shelter, a strong tower that protects me from the enemy.

For you, O God, hear my vows; you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers.

May he reign forever before God! Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him.

Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air.

Because experiencing your loyal love is better than life itself, my lips will praise you.

so that your feet may stomp in their blood, and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies' corpses."

God has decreed that you will be powerful. O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power,

Sound your battle cry against the wild beast of the reeds, and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls! They humble themselves and offer gold and silver as tribute. God scatters the nations that like to do battle.

Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head. Those who want to destroy me, my enemies for no reason, outnumber me. They make me repay what I did not steal!

May their dining table become a trap before them! May it be a snare for that group of friends!

That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hooves.

Let the heavens and the earth praise him, along with the seas and everything that swims in them!

He will descend like rain on the mown grass, like showers that drench the earth.

Therefore they have more than enough food to eat, and even suck up the water of the sea.

Then I said, "I am sickened by the thought that the sovereign One might become inactive.

I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past.

What we have heard and learned -- that which our ancestors have told us --

so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.

Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God.

Man ate the food of the mighty ones. He sent them more than enough to eat.

They remembered that God was their protector, and that the sovereign God was their deliverer.

He remembered that they were made of flesh, and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.

He sent swarms of biting insects against them, as well as frogs that overran their land.

Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not pray to you!

Why did you break down its walls, so that all who pass by pluck its fruit?

Like the fire that burns down the forest, or the flames that consume the mountainsides,

Then they will know that you alone are the Lord, the sovereign king over all the earth.

How blessed are those who find their strength in you, and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple!

Certainly spending just one day in your temple courts is better than spending a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the entrance to the temple of my God than live in the tents of the wicked.

The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

a God who is honored in the great angelic assembly, and more awesome than all who surround him?

Yes, in your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday that quickly passes, or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.

You bring their lives to an end and they "fall asleep." In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up;

So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely.

You need not fear the terrors of the night, the arrow that flies by day,

the plague that comes in the darkness, or the disease that comes at noon.

When the wicked sprout up like grass, and all the evildoers glisten, it is so that they may be annihilated.

You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox. I am covered with fresh oil.

So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector, is just and never unfair.

O Lord, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you.

The Lord knows that peoples' thoughts are morally bankrupt.

Certainly the Lord does not forsake his people; he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him.

He says, "Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, like they were that day at Massah in the wilderness,

For forty years I was continually disgusted with that generation, and I said, 'These people desire to go astray; they do not obey my commands.'