Psalm 34

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

^[1]Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ²My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. ³Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

⁴I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. ⁵Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. ⁶This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! ⁹Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! ¹⁰The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. ¹²What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? ¹³Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. ¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. ¹⁶The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. ¹⁷When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. ¹⁸The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. ²⁰He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. ²¹Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. ²²The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

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

Psalm 35

Great Is the Lord

Of David.

35:1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! ²Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help! ³Draw the spear and javelin[2] against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!”

⁴Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me! ⁵Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away! ⁶Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

⁷For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.^[3]⁸Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!

⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his salvation. ¹⁰All my bones shall say, “O Lord, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

¹¹Malicious[4] witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. ¹²They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.^[5]¹³But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed[6] on my chest. ¹⁴ I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.

¹⁵But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; ¹⁶like profane mockers at a feast,[7] they gnash at me with their teeth.

¹⁷How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! ¹⁸I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.

¹⁹Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause. ²⁰For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. ²¹They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! our eyes have seen it!”

²²You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! ²³Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord! ²⁴Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me! ²⁵Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me!

²⁷Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!” ²⁸Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.

[2] Or and close the way [3] The word pit is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life [4] Or Violent [5] Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul [6] Or My prayer shall turn back [7] The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain

Psalm 36

How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love

To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord.

36:1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart;^[8]there is no fear of God before his eyes. ²For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. ³The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. ⁴He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.

⁵Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. ⁶Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.

⁷How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. ⁸They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. ⁹For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

¹⁰Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! ¹¹Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. ¹²There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

[8] Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Jerome (compare Septuagint) most Hebrew manuscripts in my heart