Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

wouldn’t God have found this out,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?

If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and everything in it is Mine.

You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;
You are not pleased with a burnt offering.

“Here is the man
who would not make God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
taking refuge in his destructive behavior.”

Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

I said, “If only I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.

How far away I would flee;
I would stay in the wilderness.Selah

I would hurry to my shelter
from the raging wind and the storm.”

If I had been aware of malice in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.

Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my deceitful enemies, who would destroy me,
are powerful.
Though I did not steal, I must repay.

If I had decided to say these things aloud,
I would have betrayed Your people.

Then they would not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not loyal
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Listen, My people, and I will admonish you.
Israel, if you would only listen to Me!

If only My people would listen to Me
and Israel would follow My ways,

I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn My hand against their foes.”

Those who hate the Lord
would pretend submission to Him;
their doom would last forever.

But He would feed Israel with the best wheat.
“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”

Better a day in Your courts
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather be at the door of the house of my God
than to live in the tents of wicked people.

If the Lord had not been my helper,
I would soon rest in the silence of death.

They soon forgot His works
and would not wait for His counsel.

So He said He would have destroyed them—
if Moses His chosen one
had not stood before Him in the breach
to turn His wrath away from destroying them.

So He raised His hand against them with an oath
that He would make them fall in the desert

and would disperse their descendants
among the nations,
scattering them throughout the lands.

For He stands at the right hand of the needy
to save him from those who would condemn him.

Then I would not be ashamed
when I think about all Your commands.

If Your instruction had not been my delight,
I would have died in my affliction.

then they would have swallowed us alive
in their burning anger against us.

Then the waters would have engulfed us;
the torrent would have swept over us;

the raging waters would have swept over us.

If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with You.

God, if only You would kill the wicked—
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me—