The Righteous and the Ungodly

11 Happy is the man who does not go in the company of sinners, or take his place in the way of evil-doers, or in the seat of those who do not give honour to the Lord. 2 But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and whose mind is on his law day and night. 3 He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time, whose leaves will ever be green; and he will do well in all his undertakings.

4 The evil-doers are not so; but are like the dust from the grain, which the wind takes away. 5 For this cause there will be no mercy for sinners when they are judged, and the evil-doers will have no place among the upright, 6 Because the Lord sees the way of the upright, but the end of the sinner is destruction.

The Reign of the LORD's Anointed

21 Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish? 2 The kings of the earth have taken their place, and the rulers are fixed in their purpose, against the Lord, and against the king of his selection, saying, 3 Let their chains be broken, and their cords taken from off us. 4 Then he whose seat is in the heavens will be laughing: the Lord will make sport of them. 5 Then will his angry words come to their ears, and by his wrath they will be troubled: 6 But I have put my king on my holy hill of Zion.

7 I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being. 8 Make your request to me, and I will give you the nations for your heritage, and the farthest limits of the earth will be under your hand. 9 They will be ruled by you with a rod of iron; they will be broken like a potter's vessel.

10 So now be wise, you kings: take his teaching, you judges of the earth. 11 Give worship to the Lord with fear, kissing his feet and giving him honour, 12 For fear that he may be angry, causing destruction to come on you, because he is quickly moved to wrath. Happy are all those who put their faith in him.

The Inhabitants of God's Holy Hill

151 Lord, who may have a resting-place in your tent, a living-place on your holy hill? 2 He who goes on his way uprightly, doing righteousness, and saying what is true in his heart; 3 Whose tongue is not false, who does no evil to his friend, and does not take away the good name of his neighbour; 4 Who gives honour to those who have the fear of the Lord, turning away from him who has not the Lord's approval. He who takes an oath against himself, and makes no change. 5 He who does not put out his money at interest, or for payment give false decisions against men who have done no wrong. He who does these things will never be moved.

A Cry of Anguish and Song of Praise

221 My God, my God, why are you turned away from me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my crying? 2 O my God, I make my cry in the day, and you give no answer; and in the night, and have no rest. 3 But you are holy, O you who are seated among the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers had faith in you: they had faith and you were their saviour. 5 They sent up their cry to you and were made free: they put their faith in you and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man; cursed by men, and looked down on by the people. 7 I am laughed at by all those who see me: pushing out their lips and shaking their heads they say, 8 He put his faith in the Lord; let the Lord be his saviour now: let the Lord be his saviour, because he had delight in him. 9 But it was you who took care of me from the day of my birth: you gave me faith even from my mother's breasts. 10 I was in your hands even before my birth; you are my God from the time when I was in my mother's body.

11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near; there is no one to give help. 12 A great herd of oxen is round me: I am shut in by the strong oxen of Bashan. 13 I saw their mouths wide open, like lions crying after food. 14 I am flowing away like water, and all my bones are out of place: my heart is like wax, it has become soft in my body. 15 My throat is dry like a broken vessel; my tongue is fixed to the roof of my mouth, and the dust of death is on my lips. 16 Dogs have come round me: I am shut in by the band of evil-doers; they made wounds in my hands and feet. 17 I am able to see all my bones; their looks are fixed on me: 18 They make a division of my robes among them, by the decision of chance they take my clothing. 19 Do not be far from me, O Lord: O my strength, come quickly to my help. 20 Make my soul safe from the sword, my life from the power of the dog. 21 Be my saviour from the lion's mouth; let me go free from the horns of the cruel oxen.

22 I will give the knowledge of your name to my brothers: I will give you praise among the people. 23 You who have fear of the Lord, give him praise; all you seed of Jacob, give him glory; go in fear of him, all you seed of Israel. 24 For he has not been unmoved by the pain of him who is troubled; or kept his face covered from him; but he has given an answer to his cry. 25 My praise will be of you in the great meeting: I will make my offerings before his worshippers. 26 The poor will have a feast of good things: those who make search for the Lord will give him praise: your heart will have life for ever. 27 All the ends of the earth will keep it in mind and be turned to the Lord: all the families of the nations will give him worship. 28 For the kingdom is the Lord's; he is the ruler among the nations. 29 All the fat ones of the earth will give him worship; all those who go down to the dust will make themselves low before him, even he who has not enough for the life of his soul. 30 A seed will be his servant; the doings of the Lord will be made clear to the generation which comes after. 31 They will come and make his righteousness clear to a people of the future because he has done this.

The LORD Is My Shepherd

231 The Lord takes care of me as his sheep; I will not be without any good thing. 2 He makes a resting-place for me in the green fields: he is my guide by the quiet waters. 3 He gives new life to my soul: he is my guide in the ways of righteousness because of his name. 4 Yes, though I go through the valley of deep shade, I will have no fear of evil; for you are with me, your rod and your support are my comfort. 5 You make ready a table for me in front of my haters: you put oil on my head; my cup is overflowing. 6 Truly, blessing and mercy will be with me all the days of my life; and I will have a place in the house of the Lord all my days.

The King of Glory

241 The earth is the Lord's, with all its wealth; the world and all the people living in it. 2 For by him it was based on the seas, and made strong on the deep rivers.

3 Who may go up into the hill of the Lord? and who may come into his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a true heart; whose desire has not gone out to foolish things, who has not taken a false oath. 5 He will have blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of those whose hearts are turned to you, even to your face, O God of Jacob. (Selah.)

7 Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is the King of glory? The Lord of strength and power, the Lord strong in war. 9 Let your heads be lifted up, O doors; let them be lifted up, O you eternal doors: that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is the King of glory? The Lord of armies, he is the King of glory. (Selah.)

God Is the King of All the Earth

471 O make a glad noise with your hands, all you peoples; letting your voices go up to God with joy. 2 For the Lord Most High is to be feared; he is a great King over all the earth. 3 He will put down the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet. 4 He will give us our heritage, the glory of Jacob who is dear to him. (Selah.)

5 God has gone up with a glad cry, the Lord with the sound of the horn. 6 Give praises to God, make songs of praise; give praises to our King, make songs of praise. 7 For God is the King of all the earth; make songs of praise with knowledge. 8 God is the ruler over the nations; God is on the high seat of his holy rule. 9 The rulers of the peoples have come together, with the people of the God of Abraham; because the powers of the earth are God's: he is lifted up on high.

The God of Sinai and of the Sanctuary

681 Let God be seen, and let his haters be put to flight; let those who are against him be turned back before him. 2 Let them be like smoke before the driving wind; as wax turning soft before the fire, so let them come to an end before the power of God. 3 But let the upright be glad; let them have delight before God; let them be full of joy. 4 Make songs to God, make songs of praise to his name; make a way for him who comes through the waste lands; his name is Jah; be glad before him. 5 A father to those who have no father, a judge of the widows, is God in his holy place. 6 Those who are without friends, God puts in families; he makes free those who are in chains; but those who are turned away from him are given a dry land.

7 O God, when you went out before your people, wandering through the waste land; (Selah.) 8 The earth was shaking and the heavens were streaming, because God was present; even Sinai itself was moved before God, the God of Israel. 9 You, O God, did freely send the rain, giving strength to the weariness of your heritage. 10 Those whose resting-place was there, even the poor, were comforted by your good things, O God. 11 The Lord gives the word; great is the number of the women who make it public. 12 Kings of armies quickly go in flight: and the women in the houses make a division of their goods. 13 Will you take your rest among the flocks? like the wings of a dove covered with silver, and its feathers with yellow gold. 14 When the Most High put the kings to flight, it was as white as snow in Salmon.

15 A hill of God is the hill of Bashan; a hill with high tops is the hill of Bashan. 16 Why are you looking with envy, you high hills, on the hill desired by God as his resting-place? truly, God will make it his house for ever. 17 The war-carriage of God is among Israel's thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai to the holy place. 18 You have gone up on high, taking your prisoners with you; you have taken offerings from men; the Lord God has taken his place on the seat of his power. 19 Praise be to the Lord, who is our support day by day, even the God of our salvation. (Selah.) 20 Our God is for us a God of salvation; his are the ways out of death. 21 The heads of the haters of God will be crushed; even the head of him who still goes on in his evil ways.

22 The Lord said, I will make them come back from Bashan, and from the deep parts of the sea; 23 So that your foot may be red with blood, and the tongues of your dogs with the same. 24 We see your going, O God: even the going of my God, my King, into the holy place. 25 The makers of songs go before, the players of music come after, among the young girls playing on brass instruments. 26 Give praise to God in the great meeting; even the Lord, you who come from the fountain of Israel. 27 There is little Benjamin ruling them, the chiefs of Judah and their army, the rulers of Zebulun and the rulers of Naphtali. 28 O God, send out your strength; the strength, O God, with which you have done great things for us, 29 Out of your Temple in Jerusalem. 30 Say sharp words to the beast among the water-plants, the band of strong ones, with the lords of the peoples, put an end to the people whose delight is in war. 31 Kings will give you offerings, they will come out of Egypt; from Pathros will come offerings of silver; Ethiopia will be stretching out her hands to God.

32 Make songs to God, you kingdoms of the earth; O make songs of praise to the Lord; (Selah.) 33 To him who goes or the clouds of heaven, the heaven which was from earliest times; he sends out his voice of power. 34 Make clear that strength is God's: he is lifted up over Israel, and his power is in the clouds. 35 O God, you are to be feared in your holy place: the God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God.