The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread?

When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

Although my father and my mother have abandoned me,
Yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].

Hear the voice of my supplication (specific requests, humble entreaties) as I cry to You for help,
As I lift up my hands and heart toward Your innermost sanctuary (Holy of Holies).

The Lord is my strength and my [impenetrable] shield;
My heart trusts [with unwavering confidence] in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I shall thank Him and praise Him.

The Lord is their [unyielding] strength,
And He is the fortress of salvation to His anointed.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord makes the doe labor and give birth
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple all are saying, “Glory!”

The Lord sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.

For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may endure for a night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

As for me, in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be moved.”

By Your favor and grace, O Lord, you have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was horrified.

“What profit is there in my blood (death), if I go down to the pit (grave)?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness [to man]?

Be gracious and compassionate to me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
My eye is clouded and weakened by grief, my soul and my body also.

For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And even my body has wasted away.

For I have heard the slander and whispering of many,
Terror is on every side;
While they schemed together against me,
They plotted to take away my life.

How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of man!

Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His marvelous favor and lovingkindness to me [when I was assailed] in a besieged city.

As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from Your eyes.”
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications (specific requests)
When I cried to You [for help].

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven,
And whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my wickedness;
I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found;
Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.

Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart—those with moral integrity and godly character].

For the word of the Lord is right;
And all His work is done in faithfulness.

He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.

He gathers the waters of the sea together as in a wineskin;
He puts the deeps in storehouses.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The king is not saved by the great size of his army;
A warrior is not rescued by his great strength.

A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him [and worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
On those who hope [confidently] in His compassion and lovingkindness,

We wait [expectantly] for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.

Let Your [steadfast] lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
In proportion as we have hoped in You.

O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us lift up His name together.

O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.

O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);
For to those who fear Him there is no want.

Who is the man who desires life
And loves many days, that he may see good?

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).

He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.

Let them be [blown away] like chaff before the wind [worthless, without substance],
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.

All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from him who is too strong for him [to resist alone],
And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment);
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother;
I bowed down in mourning, as one who sorrows for his mother.

Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, that is what we wanted!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up and destroyed him.”

Transgression speaks [like an oracle] to the wicked (godless) [deep] within his heart;
There is no fear (dread) of God before his eyes.

The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

He plans wrongdoing on his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not reject or despise evil.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
Your judgments are like the great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

For with You is the fountain of life [the fountain of life-giving water];
In Your light we see light.

Do not worry because of evildoers,
Nor be envious toward wrongdoers;

For they will wither quickly like the grass,
And fade like the green herb.

He will make your righteousness [your pursuit of right standing with God] like the light,
And your judgment like [the shining of] the noonday [sun].

The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous],
For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.

Better is the little of the righteous [who seek the will of God]
Than the abundance (riches) of many wicked (godless).

But the wicked (ungodly) will perish,
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures and like the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke],
They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

For those blessed by God will [at last] inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

The law of his God is in his heart;
Not one of his steps will slip.

Mark the blameless man [who is spiritually complete], and behold the upright [who walks in moral integrity];
There is a [good] future for the man of peace [because a life of honor blesses one’s descendants].

As for transgressors, they will be completely destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be cut off.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their refuge and stronghold in the time of trouble.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation;
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.

For my iniquities have gone over my head [like the waves of a flood];
As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

For my sides are filled with burning,
And there is no health in my flesh.

Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.

My heart throbs violently, my strength fails me;
And as for the light of my eyes, even that has also gone from me.

Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,
In whose mouth are no arguments.

They repay evil for good, they attack and try to kill me,
Because I follow what is good.

I said, “I will guard my ways
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will muzzle my mouth
While the wicked are in my presence.”

“Lord, let me know my [life’s] end
And [to appreciate] the extent of my days;
Let me know how frail I am [how transient is my stay here].

“Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths,
And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight.
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]! Selah.

“Surely every man walks around like a shadow [in a charade];
Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
Each one builds up riches, not knowing who will receive them.

“I am mute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is You who has done it.

“With rebukes You discipline man for sin;
You consume like a moth what is precious to him;
Surely every man is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]. Selah.

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and listen to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am Your temporary guest,
A sojourner like all my fathers.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not regard the proud nor those who lapse into lies.

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of your wonders,
They would be too many to count.

Then I said, “Behold, I come [to the throne];
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

“I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”

I have proclaimed good news of righteousness [and the joy that comes from obedience to You] in the great assembly;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips [from proclaiming Your righteousness],
As You know, O Lord.

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”

Even though I am afflicted and needy,
Still the Lord takes thought and is mindful of me.
You are my help and my rescuer.
O my God, do not delay.

Blessed [by God’s grace and compassion] is he who considers the helpless;
The Lord will save him in the day of trouble.

“A wicked thing is poured out upon him and holds him;
And when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”

As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me in Your presence forever.

As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks,
So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.

My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

O my God, my soul is in despair within me [the burden more than I can bear];
Therefore I will [fervently] remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of [Mount] Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

As a crushing of my bones [with a sword], my adversaries taunt me,
While they say continually to me, “Where is your God?”

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
Why have you become restless and disquieted within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my [sad] countenance and my God.

We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us
The work You did in their days,
In the days of old.

Through You we will gore our enemies [like a bull];
Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.

But You have saved us from our enemies,
And You have put them to shame and humiliated those who hate us.

But now You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And You do not go out with our armies [to lead us to victory].

You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

You have made us like sheep to be eaten [as mutton]
And have scattered us [in exile] among the nations.

You have made us the reproach and taunt of our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.