June 17: Psalms 21–25

Psalms 21–25

Psalms 21–25 (Listen)
The King Rejoices in the Lord’s Strength
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

21   O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,
    and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
2   You have given him his heart’s desire
    and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3   For you meet him with rich blessings;
    you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
4   He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
    length of days forever and ever.
5   His glory is great through your salvation;
    splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6   For you make him most blessed forever;1
    you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7   For the king trusts in the LORD,
    and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

8   Your hand will find out all your enemies;
    your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9   You will make them as a blazing oven
    when you appear.
  The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath,
    and fire will consume them.
10   You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
    and their offspring from among the children of man.
11   Though they plan evil against you,
    though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
12   For you will put them to flight;
    you will aim at their faces with your bows.

13   Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
    We will sing and praise your power.

Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

22   My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2   O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

3   Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises2 of Israel.
4   In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
5   To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6   But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7   All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8   “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9   Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10   On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11   Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

12   Many bulls encompass me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13   they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

14   I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
  my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
15   my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16   For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
  they have pierced my hands and feet3—
17   I can count all my bones—
  they stare and gloat over me;
18   they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

19   But you, O LORD, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20   Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!
  You have rescued4 me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22   I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23   You who fear the LORD, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24   For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
  and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

25   From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26   The afflicted5 shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the LORD!
    May your hearts live forever!

27   All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the LORD,
  and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
28   For kingship belongs to the LORD,
    and he rules over the nations.

29   All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30   Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31   they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.

The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.

23   The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
  He leads me beside still waters.6
3     He restores my soul.
  He leads me in paths of righteousness7
    for his name’s sake.

4   Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,8
    I will fear no evil,
  for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5   You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
  you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6   Surely9 goodness and mercy10 shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
  and I shall dwell11 in the house of the LORD
    forever.12

The King of Glory
A Psalm of David.

24   The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,13
    the world and those who dwell therein,
2   for he has founded it upon the seas
    and established it upon the rivers.

3   Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
    And who shall stand in his holy place?
4   He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not lift up his soul to what is false
    and does not swear deceitfully.
5   He will receive blessing from the LORD
    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6   Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek the face of the God of Jacob.14 Selah

7   Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
8   Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD, strong and mighty,
    the LORD, mighty in battle!
9   Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And lift them up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
10   Who is this King of glory?
    The LORD of hosts,
    he is the King of glory! Selah

Teach Me Your Paths
15 Of David.

25   To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2   O my God, in you I trust;
    let me not be put to shame;
    let not my enemies exult over me.
3   Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
    they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4   Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
    teach me your paths.
5   Lead me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all the day long.

6   Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
    for they have been from of old.
7   Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
    according to your steadfast love remember me,
    for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!

8   Good and upright is the LORD;
    therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9   He leads the humble in what is right,
    and teaches the humble his way.
10   All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
    for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11   For your name’s sake, O LORD,
    pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12   Who is the man who fears the LORD?
    Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13   His soul shall abide in well-being,
    and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14   The friendship16 of the LORD is for those who fear him,
    and he makes known to them his covenant.
15   My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
    for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

16   Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
17   The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
18   Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

19   Consider how many are my foes,
    and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20   Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21   May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you.

22   Redeem Israel, O God,
    out of all his troubles.

Footnotes

[1] 21:6 Or make him a source of blessing forever


[2] 22:3 Or dwelling in the praises


[3] 22:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts like a lion [they are at] my hands and feet


[4] 22:21 Hebrew answered


[5] 22:26 Or The meek


[6] 23:2 Hebrew beside waters of rest


[7] 23:3 Or in right paths


[8] 23:4 Or the valley of deep darkness


[9] 23:6 Or Only


[10] 23:6 Or steadfast love


[11] 23:6 Or shall return to dwell


[12] 23:6 Hebrew for length of days


[13] 24:1 Or and all that fills it


[14] 24:6 Septuagint, Syriac, and two Hebrew manuscripts; Masoretic Text who seek your face, Jacob


[15] 25:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet


[16] 25:14 Or The secret counsel

(ESV)