You, by your power, defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land; you crushed the people living there and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.

Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs; you have covered us with darkness.

If we had rejected our God, and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,

would not God discover it, for he knows one's thoughts?

Yet because of you we are killed all day long; we are treated like sheep at the slaughtering block.

Appear in your majesty and be victorious! Ride forth for the sake of what is right, on behalf of justice! Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts!

Your arrows are sharp and penetrate the hearts of the king's enemies. Nations fall at your feet.

Princesses are among your honored guests, your bride stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir.

The princess looks absolutely magnificent, decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold.

God lives within it, it cannot be moved. God rescues it at the break of dawn.

For the music director; by the Korahites; a psalm. All you nations, clap your hands! Shout out to God in celebration!

He picked out for us a special land to be a source of pride for Jacob, whom he loves. (Selah)

It is lofty and pleasing to look at, a source of joy to the whole earth. Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; it is the city of the great king.

Look at them shake uncontrollably, like a woman writhing in childbirth.

We heard about God's mighty deeds, now we have seen them, in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, in the city of our God. God makes it permanently secure. (Selah)

Walk around Zion! Encircle it! Count its towers!

Consider its defenses! Walk through its fortresses, so you can tell the next generation about it!

Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all it contains belong to me.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats?

Against you -- you above all -- I have sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. So you are just when you confront me; you are right when you condemn me.

Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.

Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! Fortify the walls of Jerusalem!

For the music director; a well-written song by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: "David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech." Why do you boast about your evil plans, O powerful man? God's loyal love protects me all day long!

Your tongue carries out your destructive plans; it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver.

Yet God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. He will scoop you up and remove you from your home; he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)

For the music director; according to the machalath style; a well-written song by David. Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They sin and commit evil deeds; none of them does what is right.

God looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.

Everyone rejects God; they are all morally corrupt. None of them does what is right, not even one!

All those who behave wickedly do not understand -- those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to God.

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: "David is hiding with us." O God, deliver me by your name! Vindicate me by your power!

O God, listen to my prayer! Pay attention to what I say!

May those who wait to ambush me be repaid for their evil! As a demonstration of your faithfulness, destroy them!

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you! I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good!

because of what the enemy says, and because of how the wicked pressure me, for they hurl trouble down upon me and angrily attack me.

Day and night they walk around on its walls, while wickedness and destruction are within it.

Disaster is within it; violence and deceit do not depart from its public square.

Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me, or else I could bear it; it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me, or else I could hide from him.

But it is you, a man like me, my close friend in whom I confided.

As for me, I will call out to God, and the Lord will deliver me.

In God -- I boast in his promise -- in God I trust, I am not afraid. What can mere men do to me?

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

in God I trust, I am not afraid. What can mere men do to me?

I cry out for help to the sovereign God, to the God who vindicates me.

They have prepared a net to trap me; I am discouraged. They have dug a pit for me. They will fall into it! (Selah)

Awake, my soul! Awake, O stringed instrument and harp! I will wake up at dawn!

No! You plan how to do what is unjust; you deal out violence in the earth.

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

Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.

The godly will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

For look, they wait to ambush me; powerful men stalk me, but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord.

Look, they hurl insults at me and openly threaten to kill me, for they say, "Who hears?"

But you, O Lord, laugh in disgust at them; you taunt all the nations.

You are my source of strength! I will wait for you! For God is my refuge.

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)

They wander around looking for something to eat; they refuse to sleep until they are full.

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 made the earth quake; you split it open. Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall.

God has spoken in his sanctuary: "I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem; the Valley of Succoth I will measure off.

From the most remote place on earth I call out to you in my despair. Lead me up to an inaccessible rocky summit!

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David. For God alone I patiently wait; he is the one who delivers me.

Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! For he is the one who gives me confidence.

Trust in him at all times, you people! Pour out your hearts before him! God is our shelter! (Selah)

Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression! Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery! If wealth increases, do not become attached to it!

and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. For you repay men for what they do.

in order to shoot down the innocent in secluded places. They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.

They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed. They plan how to hide snares, and boast, "Who will see them?"

But God will shoot at them; suddenly they will be wounded by an arrow.

and all people will fear. They will proclaim what God has done, and reflect on his deeds.

You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance, O God, our savior. All the ends of the earth trust in you, as well as those living across the wide seas.

You visit the earth and give it rain; you make it rich and fertile with overflowing streams full of water. You provide grain for them, for you prepare the earth to yield its crops.

For the music director; a song, a psalm. Shout out praise to God, all the earth!

You allowed men to ride over our heads; we passed through fire and water, but you brought us out into a wide open place.

Come! Listen, all you who are loyal to God! I will declare what he has done for me.

I cried out to him for help and praised him with my tongue.

Then those living on earth will know what you are like; all nations will know how you deliver your people.

When the sovereign judge scatters kings, let it snow on Zalmon!

Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks, at the mountain where God has decided to live? Indeed the Lord will live there permanently!

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

as you come out of your temple in Jerusalem! Kings bring tribute to you.

You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! It is the God of Israel who gives the people power and strength. God deserves praise!

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!

Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me; drunkards mock me in their songs.

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

Pour out your judgment on them! May your raging anger overtake them!

The descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who are loyal to him will live in it.

As for me, I will wait continually, and will continue to praise you.

For he will rescue the needy when they cry out for help, and the oppressed who have no defender.

May there be an abundance of grain in the earth; on the tops of the mountains may it sway! May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon! May its crops be as abundant as the grass of the earth!

But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my feet almost slid out from under me.

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

They say, "How does God know what we do? Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?"

Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer.

When I tried to make sense of this, it was troubling to me.

Hurry and look at the permanent ruins, and all the damage the enemy has done to the temple!

They set your sanctuary on fire; they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.

Do not disregard what your enemies say, or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you.

God says, "At the appointed times, I judge fairly.

For the Lord holds in his hand a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices, and pours it out. Surely all the wicked of the earth will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop."

As for me, I will continually tell what you have done; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob!

At the sound of your battle cry, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse "fell asleep."