I said, 'Listen, my people! I will warn you! O Israel, if only you would obey me!

But my people did not obey me; Israel did not submit to me.

If only my people would obey me! If only Israel would keep my commands!

(May those who hate the Lord cower in fear before him! May they be permanently humiliated!)

O my God, make them like dead thistles, like dead weeds blown away by the wind!

May they be humiliated and continually terrified! May they die in shame!

I desperately want to be in the courts of the Lord's temple. My heart and my entire being shout for joy to the living God.

Even the birds find a home there, and the swallow builds a nest, where she can protect her young near your altars, O Lord who rules over all, my king and my God.

O Lord, sovereign God, hear my prayer! Listen, O God of Jacob! (Selah)

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.

A prayer of David. Listen O Lord! Answer me! For I am oppressed and needy.

Protect me, for I am loyal! O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry out to you all day long!

O Lord, hear my prayer! Pay attention to my plea for mercy!

In my time of trouble I cry out to you, for you will answer me.

O Lord, teach me how you want me to live! Then I will obey your commands. Make me wholeheartedly committed to you!

O Lord, my God, I will give you thanks with my whole heart! I will honor your name continually!

For you will extend your great loyal love to me, and will deliver my life from the depths of Sheol.

O God, arrogant men attack me; a gang of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life.

Turn toward me and have mercy on me! Give your servant your strength! Deliver your slave!

Show me evidence of your favor! Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed, for you, O Lord, will help me and comfort me.

I mention Rahab and Babylon to my followers. Here are Philistia and Tyre, along with Ethiopia. It is said of them, "This one was born there."

A song, a psalm written by the Korahites; for the music director; according to the machalath-leannoth style; a well-written song by Heman the Ezrachite. O Lord God who delivers me! By day I cry out and at night I pray before you.

Listen to my prayer! Pay attention to my cry for help!

For my life is filled with troubles and I am ready to enter Sheol.

They treat me like those who descend into the grave. I am like a helpless man,

You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, in the dark places, in the watery depths.

Your anger bears down on me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)

You cause those who know me to keep their distance; you make me an appalling sight to them. I am trapped and cannot get free.

My eyes grow weak because of oppression. I call out to you, O Lord, all day long; I spread out my hands in prayer to you.

As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord; in the morning my prayer confronts you.

O Lord, why do you reject me, and pay no attention to me?

I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.

Your anger overwhelms me; your terrors destroy me.

They surround me like water all day long; they join forces and encircle me.

You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.

The Lord said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

I have discovered David, my servant. With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.

My hand will support him, and my arm will strengthen him.

He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love, and by my name he will win victories.

He will call out to me, 'You are my father, my God, and the protector who delivers me.'

I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, the most exalted of the earth's kings.

I will always extend my loyal love to him, and my covenant with him is secure.

If his sons reject my law and disobey my regulations,

if they break my rules and do not keep my commandments,

But I will not remove my loyal love from him, nor be unfaithful to my promise.

I will not break my covenant or go back on what I promised.

Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness, I will never deceive David.

His dynasty will last forever. His throne will endure before me, like the sun,

Take note of my brief lifespan! Why do you make all people so mortal?

May your servants see your work! May their sons see your majesty!

May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! Make our endeavors successful! Yes, make them successful!

I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust --

Though a thousand may fall beside you, and a multitude on your right side, it will not reach you.

For you have taken refuge in the Lord, my shelter, the sovereign One.

The Lord says, "Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he is loyal to me.

When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him when he is in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him honor.

I will satisfy him with long life, and will let him see my salvation.

For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work. I will sing for joy because of what you have done.

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.

I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me; I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me.

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

Who will rise up to defend me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?

If the Lord had not helped me, I would have laid down in the silence of death.

If I say, "My foot is slipping," your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.

When worries threaten to overwhelm me, your soothing touch makes me happy.

But the Lord will protect me, and my God will shelter me.

where your ancestors challenged my authority, and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.

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.'

So I made a vow in my anger, 'They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.'"

I will walk in the way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace.

I will favor the honest people of the land, and allow them to live with me. Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me.

Deceitful people will not live in my palace. Liars will not be welcome in my presence.

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord. O Lord, hear my prayer! Pay attention to my cry for help!

Do not ignore me in my time of trouble! Listen to me! When I call out to you, quickly answer me!

For my days go up in smoke, and my bones are charred like a fireplace.

My heart is parched and withered like grass, for I am unable to eat food.

Because of the anxiety that makes me groan, my bones protrude from my skin.

All day long my enemies taunt me; those who mock me use my name in their curses.

For I eat ashes as if they were bread, and mix my drink with my tears,

because of your anger and raging fury. Indeed, you pick me up and throw me away.

My days are coming to an end, and I am withered like grass.

so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion, and praise him in Jerusalem,

He has taken away my strength in the middle of life; he has cut short my days.

I say, "O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! You endure through all generations.

By David. Praise the Lord, O my soul! With all that is within me, praise his holy name!

Praise the Lord, O my soul! Do not forget all his kind deeds!

Praise the Lord, all that he has made, in all the regions of his kingdom! Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are magnificent. You are robed in splendor and majesty.

May the splendor of the Lord endure! May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made!

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist!

May my thoughts be pleasing to him! I will rejoice in the Lord.

May sinners disappear from the earth, and the wicked vanish! Praise the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!

saying, "Don't touch my chosen ones! Don't harm my prophets!"

Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people! Pay attention to me, when you deliver,

so I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, rejoice along with your nation, and boast along with the people who belong to you.

A song, a psalm of David. I am determined, O God! I will sing and praise you with my whole heart.

Rise up above the sky, O God! May your splendor cover the whole earth!

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