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

Samekh.
I hate those who are double-minded,
But I love and treasure Your law.

You are my hiding place and my shield;
I wait for Your word.

Uphold me according to Your word [of promise], so that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope [in Your great goodness].

You have turned Your back on all those who wander from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is useless.

You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross [for they have no value];
Therefore I love Your testimonies.

My flesh trembles in [reverent] fear of You,
And I am afraid and in awe of Your judgments.

You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness
And in great faithfulness.

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your law is truth.

Trouble and anguish have found me,
Yet Your commandments are my delight and my joy.

I rise before dawn and cry [in prayer] for help;
I wait for Your word.

My eyes anticipate the night watches and I awake before the call of the watchman,
That I may meditate on Your word.

The sum of Your word is truth [the full meaning of all Your precepts],
And every one of Your righteous ordinances endures forever.

Shin.
Princes persecute me without cause,
But my heart stands in [reverent] awe of Your words [so I can expect You to help me].

I rejoice at Your word,
As one who finds great treasure.

Let my lips speak praise [with thanksgiving],
For You teach me Your statutes.

In my trouble I cried to the Lord,
And He answered me.

I am for peace, but when I speak,
They are for war.

The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in [everything that you do]
From this time forth and forever.

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Unto you I lift up my eyes,
O You who are enthroned in the heavens!

Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious and favorable toward us,
For we are greatly filled with contempt.

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say,

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

Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation]
Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.

Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
And to those who are upright in their hearts.

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion (Jerusalem),
We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal].

Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the stream-beds in the South (the Negev) [are restored by torrents of rain].

They who sow in tears shall reap with joyful singing.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.

How blessed [happy and fortunate] is the man whose quiver is filled with them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies [in gatherings] at the [city] gate.

Blessed [happy and sheltered by God’s favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience],
Who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within the innermost part of your house;
Your children will be like olive plants
Around your table.

Nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”

I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits,
And in His word do I hope.

O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.

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.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob (Israel).”

Behold, we heard of it at Ephrathah;
We found it in the field of Jaar.

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

The Lord swore to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“One of your descendants I will set upon your throne.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious oil [of consecration] poured on the head,
Coming down on the beard,
Even the beard of Aaron,
Coming down upon the edge of his [priestly] robes [consecrating the whole body].

It is like the dew of [Mount] Hermon
Coming down on the hills of Zion;
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life forevermore.

Behold, bless and praise the Lord, all servants of the Lord (priests, Levites),
Who stand and serve by night in the house of the Lord.

Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
And bless the Lord.

You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,

Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all deeps—

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

Those who make idols are like them [absolutely worthless—spiritually blind, deaf, and powerless];
So is everyone who trusts in and relies on them.

To Him who struck the firstborn of Egypt,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

With a strong hand and with an outstretched arm,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

Who [faithfully] remembered us in our lowly condition,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we [captives] sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].

On the willow trees in the midst of Babylon
We hung our harps.

For there they who took us captive demanded of us a song with words,
And our tormentors [who made a mockery of us demanded] amusement, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a strange and foreign land?

Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom,
The day of [the fall of] Jerusalem,
Who said “Down, down [with her]
To her very foundation.”

On the day I called, You answered me;
And You made me bold and confident with [renewed] strength in my life.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.

The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me;
Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever—
Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.

Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken],
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

You have enclosed me behind and before,
And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.

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

If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

For they speak against You wickedly,
Your enemies take Your name in vain.

And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

They devise evil things in their hearts;
They continually [gather together and] stir up wars.

“O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of battle.

“Those who surround me raise their heads;
May the mischief of their own lips come upon them.

“Do not let a slanderer be established in the earth;
Let evil quickly hunt the violent man [to overthrow him and stop his evil acts].”

I know [with confidence] that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
And [will secure] justice for the poor.

Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;
The upright will dwell in Your presence.

Lord, I call upon You; hurry to me.
Listen to my voice when I call to You.

Do not incline my heart to [consent to or tolerate] any evil thing,
Or to practice deeds of wickedness
With men who plan and do evil;
And let me not eat of their delicacies (be tempted by their gain).

Let the righteous [thoughtfully] strike (correct) me—it is a kindness [done to encourage my spiritual maturity].
It is [the choicest anointing] oil on the head;
Let my head not refuse [to accept and acknowledge and learn from] it;
For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.

Their [wicked, godless] judges are thrown down the sides of the rocky cliff,
And they [who followed them] will hear my words, for they are pleasant (just).

As when the one plows and breaks open the ground [and the soil scatters behind him],
Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol [by the injustices of the wicked].

For my eyes are toward You, O God, the Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not pour out my life nor leave me defenseless.

Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
While I pass by and safely escape [from danger].

When my spirit was overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness],
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have hidden a trap for me.

Look to the right [the point of attack] and see;
For there is no one who has regard for me [to act in my favor].
Escape has failed me and I have nowhere to run;
No one cares about my life.

I cried out to You, O Lord;
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.

Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Listen to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, and in Your righteousness.

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

For the enemy has persecuted me,
He has crushed my life down to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.

Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness];
My heart grows numb within me.

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that You have done;
I ponder the work of Your hands.

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For I trust in You.
Teach me the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.