There those who [are perverse and] do evil have fallen;
They have been thrust down and cannot rise.

Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness.

Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in Him also and He will do it.

Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him;
Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

Cease from anger and abandon wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evil.

For yet a little while and the wicked one will be gone [forever];
Though you look carefully where he used to be, he will not be [found].

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

The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow
To cast down the afflicted and the needy,
To slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character].

They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have plenty and be satisfied.

All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his descendants are a blessing.

Depart from evil and do good;
And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever.

The wicked lies in wait for the righteous
And seeks to kill him.

The Lord will not leave him in his hand
Or let him be condemned when he is judged.

Wait for and expect the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
[In the end] when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

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

I am bent over and greatly bowed down;
I go about mourning all day long.

Those who seek my life lay snares for me,
And those who seek to injure me threaten mischievous things and destruction;
They devise treachery all the day long.

For in You, O Lord, I hope;
You will answer, O Lord my God.

For I am ready to fall;
My sorrow is continually before me.

For I do confess my guilt and iniquity;
I am filled with anxiety because of my sin.

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

Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my Salvation.

“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].

“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.

“And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait?
My hope [my confident expectation] is in You.

“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.

I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear [with great reverence]
And will trust confidently in the Lord.

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.

Sacrifice and meal offering You do not desire, nor do You delight in them;
You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word];
Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.

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

For innumerable evils have encompassed me;
My sins have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

Be pleased, O Lord, to save me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.

Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back [in defeat] and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.

Let those be appalled and desolate because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha [rejoicing in my misfortune]!”

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.

The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;
And he will be called blessed in the land;
You do not hand him over to the desire of his enemies.

As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

My enemies speak evil of me, saying,
“When will he die and his name perish?”

And when one comes to see me, he speaks empty words,
While his heart gathers malicious gossip [against me];
When he goes away, he tells it [everywhere].

All who hate me whisper together about me;
Against me they devise my hurt [imagining the worst for me], saying,

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

But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and restore me [to health],
So that I may repay them.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting [from this age to the next, and forever].
Amen and Amen (so be it).

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

These things I [vividly] remember as I pour out my soul;
How I used to go along before the great crowd of people and lead them in procession to the house of God [like a choirmaster before his singers, timing the steps to the music and the chant of the song],
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a great crowd keeping a festival.

Deep calls to deep at the [thundering] sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song will be with me,
A prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

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

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.

Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God, my exceeding joy;
With the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God!

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

In God we have boasted all the day long,
And we will praise and give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.

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

My dishonor is before me all day long,
And humiliation has covered my face,

All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].

If we had forgotten the name of our God
Or stretched out our hands to a strange god,

But for Your sake we are killed all the day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Awaken, do not reject us forever.

Why do You hide Your face
And forget our affliction and our oppression?

For our life has melted away into the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.

Rise up! Come be our help,
And ransom us for the sake of Your steadfast love.

My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my psalm to the King.
My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.

And in Your majesty ride on triumphantly
For the cause of truth and humility and righteousness;
Let Your right hand guide You to awesome things.

Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear [to my instruction]:
Forget your people and your father’s house;

She will be brought to the King in embroidered garments;
The virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.

I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the peoples will praise and give You thanks forever and ever.

God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable],
A very present and well-proved help in trouble.

He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.

O clap your hands, all you people;
Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

The princes of the people have gathered together as the people of the God of Abraham,
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is highly exalted.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, His holy mountain.

Fair and beautiful in elevation, the joy of all the earth,
Is Mount Zion [the City of David] in the far north,
The city of the great King.

They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were stricken with terror, they fled in alarm.

As is Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness (rightness, justice).

I will incline my ear and consent to a proverb;
On the lyre I will unfold my riddle.

None of them can by any means redeem [either himself or] his brother,
Nor give to God a ransom for him—

For the ransom of his soul is too costly,
And he should cease trying forever—

For he sees that even wise men die;
The fool and the stupid alike perish
And leave their wealth to others.

Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever,
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have named their lands after their own names [ignoring God].

He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never again see the light.

The mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting [from east to west].

He summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:

“Gather My godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”

“Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.

“I do not reprove you for your sacrifices;
Your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

“Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;

Call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you shall honor and glorify Me.”

But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite My statutes
Or to take My covenant on your lips?

“You give your mouth to evil
And your tongue frames deceit.

“Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to rescue [you].

“He who offers a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way rightly [who follows the way that I show him],
I shall show the salvation of God.”

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.