I Take Refuge in You

¹O LORD my God, I take refuge in You;save me and deliver me from all my pursuers,

²or they will shred my soul like a lionand tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

³O LORD my God, if I have done this,if injustice is on my hands,

⁴if I have rewarded my allywith evil,if I have plundered my foe without cause,

⁵then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me;may he trample me to the groundand leave my honor in the dust.Selah

⁶Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;rise up against the fury of my enemies.Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.

⁷Let the assembled peoples gather around You;take Your seat over them on high.

⁸The LORD judges the peoples;vindicate me, O LORD,according to my righteousness and integrity.

⁹Put an end to the evil of the wicked,but establish the righteous,O righteous God who searches hearts and minds.

¹⁰My shield is with God,who saves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a righteous judgeand a God who feels indignation each day.

¹²If one does not repent,God will sharpen His sword;He has bent and strung His bow.

¹³He has prepared His deadly weapons;He ordains His arrows with fire.

¹⁴Behold, the wicked man travails with evil;he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a hole and hollowed it out;he has fallen into a pit of his own making.

¹⁶His trouble recoils on himself,and his violence falls on his own head.

¹⁷I will thank the LORD for His righteousnessand sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Contend with My Opponents, O LORD

¹Contend with my opponents, O LORD;fight against those who fight against me.

²Take up Your shield and buckler;arise and come to my aid.

³Draw the spear and javelinagainst my pursuers;say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”

⁴May those who seek my lifebe disgraced and put to shame;may those who plan to harm mebe driven back and confounded.

⁵May they be like chaff in the wind,as the angel of the LORD drives them away.

⁶May their path be dark and slick,as the angel of the LORD pursues.

⁷For without cause they laid their net for me;without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

⁸May ruin befall them by surprise;may the net they hid ensnare them;may they fall into the hazard they created.

⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the LORDand exult in His salvation.

¹⁰All my bones will exclaim,“Who is like You, O LORD,who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor,the poor and needy from the robber?”

¹¹Hostile witnesses come forward;they make charges I know nothing about.

¹²They repay me evil for good,to the bereavement of my soul.

¹³Yet when they were ill,I put on sackcloth;I humbled myself with fasting,but my prayers returned unanswered.

¹⁴I paced aboutas for my friend or brother;I was bowed down with grief,like one mourning for his mother.

¹⁵But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee;they gathered together against me.Assailants I did not knowslandered me without ceasing.

¹⁶Like godless jesters at a feast,they gnashed their teeth at me.

¹⁷How long, O Lord, will You look on?Rescue my soul from their ravages,my precious life from these lions.

¹⁸Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly;I will praise You among many people.

¹⁹Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause,nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.

²⁰For they do not speak peace,but they devise deceitful schemesagainst those who live quietly in the land.

²¹They gape at me and say,“Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”

²²O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent.O Lord, be not far from me.

²³Awake and rise to my defense,to my cause, my God and my Lord!

²⁴Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God,and do not let them gloat over me.

²⁵Let them not say in their hearts,“Aha, just what we wanted!”Let them not say,“We have swallowed him up!”

²⁶May those who gloat in my distressbe ashamed and confounded;may those who exalt themselves over mebe clothed in shame and reproach.

²⁷May those who favor my vindicationshout for joy and gladness;may they always say, “Exalted be the LORDwho delights in His servant’s well-being.”

²⁸Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousnessand Your praises all day long.

Be My Rock of Refuge

¹In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;let me never be put to shame.

²In Your justice, rescue and deliver me;incline Your ear and save me.

³Be my rock of refuge,where I can always go.Give the command to save me,for You are my rock and my fortress.

⁴Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.

⁵For You are my hope, O Lord GOD,my confidence from my youth.

⁶I have leaned on You since birth;You pulled me from my mother’s womb.My praise is always for You.

⁷I have become a portent to many,but You are my strong refuge.

⁸My mouth is filled with Your praiseand with Your splendor all day long.

⁹Do not discard me in my old age;do not forsake me when my strength fails.

¹⁰For my enemies speak against me,and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,

¹¹saying, “God has forsaken him;pursue him and seize him,for there is no one to rescue him.”

¹²Be not far from me, O God.Hurry, O my God, to help me.

¹³May the accusers of my soulbe ashamed and consumed;may those who seek my harmbe covered with scorn and disgrace.

¹⁴But I will always hopeand will praise You more and more.

¹⁵My mouth will declare Your righteousnessand Your salvation all day long,though I cannot know their full measure.

¹⁶I will come in the strength of the Lord GOD;I will proclaim Your righteousness—Yours alone.

¹⁷O God, You have taught me from my youth,and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.

¹⁸Even when I am old and gray,do not forsake me, O God,until I proclaim Your power to the next generation,Your might to all who are to come.

¹⁹Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O God,You who have done great things.Who, O God, is like You?

²⁰Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes,You will revive me once again.Even from the depths of the earthYou will bring me back up.

²¹You will increase my honorand comfort me once again.

²²So I will praise You with the harpfor Your faithfulness, O my God;I will sing praise to You with the lyre,O Holy One of Israel.

²³When I sing praise to Youmy lips will shout for joy,along with my soul,which You have redeemed.

²⁴My tongue will indeed proclaimYour righteousness all day long,for those who seek my harmare disgraced and confounded.

The Psalm of the Cross

¹My God, my God,why have You forsaken me?Why are You so far from saving me,so far from my words of groaning?

²I cry out by day, O my God,but You do not answer,and by night,but I have no rest.

³Yet You are holy,enthroned on the praises of Israel.

⁴In You our fathers trusted;they trusted and You delivered them.

⁵They cried out to You and were set free;they trusted in You and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man,scorned by men and despised by the people.

⁷All who see me mock me;they sneer and shake their heads:

⁸“He trusts in the LORD,let the LORD deliver him;let the LORD rescue him,since He delights in him.”

⁹Yet You brought me forth from the womb;You made me secure at my mother’s breast.

¹⁰From birth I was cast upon You;from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

¹¹Be not far from me,for trouble is nearand there is no one to help.

¹²Many bulls surround me;strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹³They open their jaws against melike lions that roar and maul.

¹⁴I am poured out like water,and all my bones are disjointed.My heart is like wax;it melts away within me.

¹⁵My strengthis dried up like a potsherd,and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.You lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs surround me;a band of evil men encircles me;they have pierced my hands and feet.

¹⁷I can count all my bones;they stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸They divide my garments among themand cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹But You, O LORD, be not far off;O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword,my precious life from the power of wild dogs.

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion;at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!

²²I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;I will praise You in the assembly.

²³You who fear the LORD, praise Him!All descendants of Jacob, honor Him!All offspring of Israel, revere Him!

²⁴For He has not despised or detestedthe torment of the afflicted.He has not hidden His face from him,but has attended to his cry for help.

²⁵My praise for You resounds in the great assembly;I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.

²⁶The poor will eat and be satisfied;those who seek the LORD will praise Him.May your hearts live forever!

²⁷All the ends of the earthwill remember and turn to the LORD.All the families of the nationswill bow down before Him.

²⁸For dominion belongs to the LORDand He rules over the nations.

²⁹All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.

³⁰Posterity will serve Him;they will declare the Lord to a new generation.

³¹They will come and proclaim His righteousnessto a people yet unborn—all that He has done.