Day 161: Psalms 19 - 26

Chapter 19

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster - A Psalm of David

1: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

2: Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

3: There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.

4: Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5: which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

6: Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

8: the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;

9: the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10: More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.

11: Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

12: Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

13: Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

14: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Chapter 20

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster - A Psalm of David

1: May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

2: May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!

3: May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

4: May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!

5: May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

6: Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.

7: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

8: They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

9: O Lord, save the king! May he answer us when we call.

Chapter 21

The King Rejoices in the Lord’s Strength

To the choirmaster - A Psalm of David.

1: 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; 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.

Chapter 22

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn - A Psalm of David.

1: 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 praises 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 feet

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 rescued 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 afflicted 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.

Chapter 23

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David

1: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2: He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

3: He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 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: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever

Chapter 24

The King of Glory

A Psalm of David

1: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof 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 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

Chapter 25

Teach Me Your Paths

Of David

1: 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 friendship 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.

Chapter 26

I Will Bless the Lord

Of David

1: Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

2: Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.

3: For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.

4: I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites.

5: I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.

6: I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord,

7: proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, and telling all your wondrous deeds.

8: O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.

9: Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men,

10: in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.

11: But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.

12: My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the Lord.