Surely God Is Good to Israel

¹Surely God is good to Israel,to those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;my steps had nearly slipped.

³For I envied the arrogantwhen I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴They have no struggle in their death;their bodies are well-fed.

⁵They are free of the burdens others carry;they are not afflicted like other men.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;a garment of violence covers them.

⁷From their prosperity proceeds iniquity;the imaginations of their hearts run wild.

⁸They mock and speak with malice;with arrogance they threaten oppression.

⁹They set their mouths against the heavens,and their tongues strut across the earth.

¹⁰So their peoplereturn to this placeand drink up waters in abundance.

¹¹The wicked say, “How can God know?Does the Most High have knowledge?”

¹²Behold, these are the wicked—always carefree as they increase their wealth.

¹³Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure;in innocence I have washed my hands.

¹⁴For I am afflicted all day longand punished every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak this way,”then I would have betrayed Your children.

¹⁶When I tried to understand all this,it was troublesome in my sight

¹⁷until I entered God’s sanctuary;then I discerned their end.

¹⁸Surely You set them on slick ground;You cast them down into ruin.

¹⁹How suddenly they are laid waste,completely swept away by terrors!

²⁰Like one waking from a dream,so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

²¹When my heart was grievedand I was pierced within,

²²I was senseless and ignorant;I was a brute beast before You.

²³Yet I am always with You;You hold my right hand.

²⁴You guide me with Your counsel,and later receive me in glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but You?And on earth I desire no one besides You.

²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail,but God is the strengthof my heartand my portion forever.

²⁷Those far from You will surely perish;You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.

²⁸But as for me, it is good to draw near to God.I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,that I may proclaim all Your works.

You Have Searched Me and Known Me

¹O LORD, You have searched meand known me.

²You know when I sit and when I rise;You understand my thoughts from afar.

³You search out my path and my lying down;You are aware of all my ways.

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,You know all about it, O LORD.

⁵You hem me in behind and before;You have laid Your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,too lofty for me to attain.

⁷Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?Where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸If I ascend to the heavens, You are there;if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn,if I settle by the farthest sea,

¹⁰even there Your hand will guide me;Your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,and the light become night around me”—

¹²even the darkness is not dark to You,but the night shines like the day,for darkness is as light to You.

¹³For You formed my inmost being;You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise You,for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Marvelous are Your works,and I know this very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from Youwhen I was made in secret,when I was woven togetherin the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body;all my days were written in Your bookand ordained for mebefore one of them came to be.

¹⁷How precious to me are Your thoughts,O God,how vast is their sum!

¹⁸If I were to count them,they would outnumber the grains of sand;and when I awake,I am still with You.

¹⁹O God, that You would slay the wicked—away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

²⁰who speak of You deceitfully;Your enemies take Your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD,and detest those who rise against You?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred;I count them as my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;test me and know my concerns.

²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me;lead me in the way everlasting.

Vindicate Me, O LORD

¹Vindicate me, O LORD!For I have walked with integrity;I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

²Test me, O LORD, and try me;examine my heartand mind.

³For Your loving devotion is before my eyes,and I have walked in Your truth.

⁴I do not sit with deceitful men,nor keep company with hypocrites.

⁵I hate the mob of evildoers,and refuse to sit with the wicked.

⁶I wash my hands in innocencethat I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

⁷to raise my voice in thanksgivingand declare all Your wonderful works.

⁸O LORD, I love the house where You dwell,the place where Your glory resides.

⁹Do not take my soul away with sinners,or my life with men of bloodshed,

¹⁰in whose hands are wicked schemes,whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹But I will walk with integrity;redeem me and be merciful to me.

¹²My feet stand on level ground;in the congregations I will bless the LORD.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;His loving devotion endures forever.

²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy

³and gathered from the lands,from east and west, from north and south.

⁴Some wandered in desert wastelands,finding no path to a city in which to dwell.

⁵They were hungry and thirsty;their soul fainted within them.

⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He delivered them from their distress.

⁷He led them on a straight pathto reach a city where they could live.

⁸Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

⁹For He satisfies the thirstyand fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,prisoners in affliction and chains,

¹¹because they rebelled against the words of Godand despised the counsel of the Most High.

¹²He humbled their hearts with hard labor;they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He saved them from their distress.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of deathand broke away their chains.

¹⁵Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

¹⁶For He has broken down the gates of bronzeand cut through the bars of iron.

¹⁷Fools, in their rebellious ways,and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.

¹⁸They loathed all foodand drew near to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He saved them from their distress.

²⁰He sent forth His word and healed them;He rescued them from the Pit.

²¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

²²Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgivingand declare His works with rejoicing.

²³Others went out to sea in ships,conducting trade on the mighty waters.

²⁴They saw the works of the LORD,and His wonders in the deep.

²⁵For He spoke and raised a tempestthat lifted the waves of the sea.

²⁶They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths;their courage melted in their anguish.

²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards,and all their skill was useless.

²⁸Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He brought them out of their distress.

²⁹He calmed the storm to a whisper,and the waves of the seawere hushed.

³⁰They rejoiced in the silence,and He guided them to the harbor they desired.

³¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

³²Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the peopleand praise Him in the council of the elders.

³³He turns rivers into deserts,springs of water into thirsty ground,

³⁴and fruitful land into fields of salt,because of the wickedness of its dwellers.

³⁵He turns a desert into pools of waterand a dry land into flowing springs.

³⁶He causes the hungry to settle there,that they may establish a city in which to dwell.

³⁷They sow fields and plant vineyardsthat yield a fruitful harvest.

³⁸He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;He does not let their herds diminish.

³⁹When they are decreased and humbledby oppression, evil, and sorrow,

⁴⁰He pours out contempt on the noblesand makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

⁴¹But He lifts the needy from afflictionand increases their families like flocks.

⁴²The upright see and rejoice,and all iniquity shuts its mouth.

⁴³Let him who is wise pay heed to these thingsand consider the loving devotion of the LORD.