“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”

He sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His words.

Then He brought them out with silver and gold,
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.

He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to illumine by night.

Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses,
But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.

They quickly forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,

Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe in His word,

But grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.

They did not destroy the peoples,
As the Lord commanded them,

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;
They did not find a way to an inhabited city.

Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly,
And He does not let their cattle decrease.

Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us?
And will You not go forth with our armies, O God?

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
O God of my praise,
Do not be silent!

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness,
But persecuted the afflicted and needy man,
And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.

He also loved cursing, so it came to him;
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

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

He will not fear evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

His heart is upheld, he will not fear,
Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.

The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor do any who go down into silence;

The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?

I will not die, but live,
And tell of the works of the Lord.

The Lord has disciplined me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.

Then I shall not be ashamed
When I look upon all Your commandments.

I shall keep Your statutes;
Do not forsake me utterly!

With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.

I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.

I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.

I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!

Incline my heart to Your testimonies
And not to dishonest gain.

And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I wait for Your ordinances.

I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings
And shall not be ashamed.

The arrogant utterly deride me,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.

O Lord, I remember Your name in the night,
And keep Your law.

I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.

The cords of the wicked have encircled me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.

May my heart be blameless in Your statutes,
So that I will not be ashamed.

Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
I do not forget Your statutes.

The arrogant have dug pits for me,
Men who are not in accord with Your law.

They almost destroyed me on earth,
But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts.

If Your law had not been my delight,
Then I would have perished in my affliction.

I have not turned aside from Your ordinances,
For You Yourself have taught me.

My life is continually in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.

Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.

Ayin.
I have done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to my oppressors.

Be surety for Your servant for good;
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.

Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

My eyes shed streams of water,
Because they do not keep Your law.

I am small and despised,
Yet I do not forget Your precepts.

My eyes anticipate the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word.

Resh.
Look upon my affliction and rescue me,
For I do not forget Your law.

Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.

Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies.

I behold the treacherous and loathe them,
Because they do not keep Your word.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.

He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.

The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

A Song of Ascents, of David.
“Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say,

“Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us,

Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth.

For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous,
So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.

With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his bosom;

A Song of Ascents, of David.
O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.

“Surely I will not enter my house,
Nor lie on my bed;

I will not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,

For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your anointed.

The Lord has sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.

A Song of Ascents.
Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord,
Who serve by night in the house of the Lord!

They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;

They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.

The moon and stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”

Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set snares for me. Selah.

“Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.

“May a slanderer not be established in the earth;
May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”

Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds of wickedness
With men who do iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me;
It is oil upon the head;
Do not let my head refuse it,
For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.

For my eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.

And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no man living is righteous.

Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.

Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.

He has not dealt thus with any nation;
And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.
Praise the Lord!

He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which will not pass away.

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.

My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,