Psalms 51; Psalms 52; Psalms 53; Psalms 54; Psalms 55; Psalms 56; Psalms 57

1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love! Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!

2 Wash me completely clean of my guilt; purify me from my sin!

3 Because I know my wrongdoings, my sin is always right in front of me.

4 I've sinned against you—you alone. I've committed evil in your sight. That's why you are justified when you render your verdict, completely correct when you issue your judgment.

5 Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin, from the moment my mother conceived me.

6 And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places; you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.

7 Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and celebration again; let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.

9 Hide your face from my sins; wipe away all my guilty deeds!

10 Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!

11 Please don't throw me out of your presence; please don't take your holy spirit away from me.

12 Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach wrongdoers your ways, and sinners will come back to you.

14 Deliver me from violence, God, God of my salvation, so that my tongue can sing of your righteousness.

15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

16 You don't want sacrifices. If I gave an entirely burned offering, you wouldn't be pleased.

17 A broken spirit is my sacrifice, God. You won't despise a heart, God, that is broken and crushed.

18 Do good things for Zion by your favor. Rebuild Jerusalem's walls.

19 Then you will again want sacrifices of righteousness— entirely burned offerings and complete offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

1 Hey, powerful person! Why do you brag about evil? God's faithful love lasts all day long.

2 Your tongue devises destruction: it's like a sharpened razor, causing deception.

3 You love evil more than good; you love lying more than speaking what is right. Selah

4 You love all destructive words; you love the deceiving tongue.

5 But God will take you down permanently; he will snatch you up, tear you out of your tent, and uproot you from the land of the living! Selah

6 The righteous will see and be in awe; they will laugh at those people:

7 "Look at them! They didn't make God their refuge. Instead, they trusted in their own great wealth. They sought refuge in it—to their own destruction!"

8 But I am like a green olive tree in God's house; I trust in God's faithful love forever and always.

9 I will give thanks to you, God, forever, because you have acted. In the presence of your faithful people, I will hope in your name because it's so good.

1 Fools say in their hearts, There's no God. They are corrupt and do horrible deeds; not one of them does anything good.

2 God looks down from heaven on humans to see if anyone is wise, to see if anyone seeks God.

3 But all have turned away. Everyone is corrupt. No one does good— not even one person!

4 Are they dumb—these evildoers— devouring my people like they are eating bread but never calling on God?

5 There, where there was nothing to fear, they will be in utter panic because God will scatter the bones of those who attacked you. You will put them to shame because God has rejected them.

6 Let Israel's salvation come out of Zion! When God changes his people's circumstances for the better, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will celebrate!

1 God! Save me by your name; defend me by your might!

2 God! Hear my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth!

3 The proud have come up against me; violent people want me dead. They pay no attention to God. Selah

4 But look here: God is my helper; my Lord sustains my life.

5 He will bring disaster on my opponents. By your faithfulness, God, destroy them!

6 I will sacrifice to you freely; I will give thanks to your name, LORD, because it's so good,

7 and because God has delivered me from every distress. My eyes have seen my enemies' defeat.

1 God, listen to my prayer; don't avoid my request!

2 Pay attention! Answer me! I can't sit still while complaining. I'm beside myself

3 over the enemy's noise, at the wicked person's racket, because they bring disaster on me and harass me furiously.

4 My heart pounds in my chest because death's terrors have reached me.

5 Fear and trembling have come upon me; I'm shaking all over.

6 I say to myself, I wish I had wings like a dove! I'd fly away and rest.

7 I'd run so far away! I'd live in the desert. Selah far from the rushing wind and storm.

8 I'd hurry to my hideout,

9 Baffle them, my Lord! Confuse their language because I see violence and conflict in the city.

10 Day and night they make their rounds on its walls, and evil and misery live inside it.

11 Disaster lives inside it; oppression and fraud never leave the town square.

12 It's not an enemy that is insulting me— I could handle that. It's not someone who hates me who is exalted over me— I could hide from them.

13 No. It's you, my equal, my close companion, my good friend!

14 It was so pleasant when together we entered God's house with the crowd.

15 Let death devastate my enemies; let them go to the grave alive because evil lives with them— even inside them!

16 But I call out to God, and the LORD will rescue me.

17 At evening, morning, and midday I complain and moan so that God will hear my voice.

18 He saves me, unharmed, from my struggle, though there are many who are out to get me.

19 God, who is enthroned from ancient days, will hear and humble them Selah because they don't change and they don't worship God.

20 My friend attacked his allies, breaking his covenant.

21 Though his talk is smoother than butter, war is in his heart; though his words are more silky than oil, they are really drawn swords:

22 "Cast your burden on the LORD— he will support you! God will never let the righteous be shaken!"

23 But you, God, bring the wicked down to the deepest pit. Let bloodthirsty and treacherous people not live out even half their days. But me? I trust in you!

1 God, have mercy on me because I'm being trampled. All day long the enemy oppresses me.

2 My attackers trample me all day long because I have so many enemies. Exalted one,

3 whenever I'm afraid, I put my trust in you—

4 in God, whose word I praise. I trust in God; I won't be afraid. What can mere flesh do to me?

5 All day long they frustrate my pursuits; all their thoughts are evil against me.

6 They get together and set an ambush— they are watching my steps, hoping for my death.

7 Don't rescue them for any reason! In wrath bring down the people, God!

8 You yourself have kept track of my misery. Put my tears into your bottle— aren't they on your scroll already?

9 Then my enemies will retreat when I cry out. I know this because God is mine.

10 God: whose word I praise. The LORD: whose word I praise.

11 I trust in God; I won't be afraid. What can anyone do to me?

12 I will fulfill my promises to you, God. I will present thanksgiving offerings to you

13 because you have saved my life from death, saved my feet from stumbling so that I can walk before God in the light of life.

1 Have mercy on me, God; have mercy on me because I have taken refuge in you. I take refuge in the shadow of your wings until destruction passes by.

2 I call out to God Most High— to God, who comes through for me.

3 He sends orders from heaven and saves me, rebukes the one who tramples me. Selah God sends his loyal love and faithfulness.

4 My life is in the middle of a pack of lions. I lie down among those who devour humans. Their teeth are spears and arrows; their tongues are sharpened swords.

5 Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven! Let your glory be over all the earth!

6 They laid a net for my feet to bring me down; they dug a pit for me, but they fell into it instead! Selah

7 My heart is unwavering, God— my heart is unwavering. I will sing and make music.

8 Wake up, my glory! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn itself!

9 I will give thanks to you, my Lord, among all the peoples; I will make music to you among the nations

10 because your faithful love is as high as heaven; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

11 Exalt yourself, God, higher than heaven! Let your glory be over all the earth!