Psalm 27-32

Lexham English Bible

27 Yahweh is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
Yahweh is the refuge of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
² When evildoers drew near against me to eat my flesh—
my adversaries and my enemies who drew near to me—
they themselves stumbled and fell.
³ Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear.
Though war arise against me,
even in this I will remain confident.
⁴ One thing I have asked from Yahweh;
it I will seek:
that I may dwell in the house^[b] of Yahweh all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of Yahweh,
and to consider^[c] his temple.
⁵ Because he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble.
He will conceal me in the hiding place of his tent.
He will set me high upon a rock.
⁶ And now my head will be high over my enemies round about me.
And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.
⁷ Hear, O Yahweh, my voice when I call,
and be gracious to me and answer me.
⁸ On your behalf my heart says, “Seek my face.”
Your face, O Yahweh, I do seek.
⁹ Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my help; do not abandon nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
¹⁰ If my father or my mother forsake me,
then Yahweh will receive me.
¹¹ Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
¹² Do not give me over to the desire of my enemies,
because false witnesses have arisen against me,
and each breathing out violence.^[d]
13 Surely^[e] I believe that I will see the goodness of Yahweh
in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for Yahweh.
Be strong and let your heart show strength,
and wait for Yahweh.

28 To you, O Yahweh, I call.
O my rock, do not be deaf to me.
Or else, if you are silent to me,
then I will become like those descending to the pit.
² Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your holy inner sanctuary.
³ Do not drag me away with the wicked
or with the workers of evil,
who speak of peace with their neighbors,
while evil is in their heart.
⁴ Give to them according to their work,
even according to the evil of their deeds.
Give to them according to the work of their hands;
repay them their rightful due.
⁵ Because they do not regard the works of Yahweh,
nor the work of his hands,
he will destroy them
and not rebuild them.
⁶ Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
⁷ Yahweh is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts him and I am helped.
So my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will give thanks to him.
⁸ Yahweh is their strength,
and he is the refuge for the salvation of his anointed one.
⁹ Save your people
and bless your heritage.
Shepherd them also and carry them always.

29 Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of God,^[h]
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
² Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due^[i] his name.
Worship Yahweh in holy array.
³ The voice of Yahweh is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders.
Yahweh is over many waters.
⁴ The voice of Yahweh is powerful.
The voice of Yahweh is majestic.
⁵ The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars.
Yahweh shatters even the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ And he makes them skip like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of Yahweh flashes^[j] flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness.
Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of Yahweh causes deer^[k] to give birth
and strips the forests bare.
And at his temple all in it say, “Glory!”
¹⁰ Yahweh sits enthroned at the flood,
and Yahweh sits as king forever.
¹¹ May Yahweh give strength to his people.
May Yahweh bless his people with peace.

30 I will exalt you, O Yahweh,
because you have drawn me up,
and have not made my enemies rejoice over me.
² O Yahweh, my God,
I cried for help to you,
and you healed me.
³ O Yahweh, you have brought my life up from Sheol.
You preserved me alive
from among those going down ^[n] to the pit.
⁴ Sing praises to Yahweh, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy fame.^[o]
5 For there is a moment in his anger;
there is a lifetime in his favor.
Weeping lodges for the evening,
but in the morning comes rejoicing.
⁶ But as for me, I had said in my prosperity,
“I shall not be moved ever.”
⁷ O Yahweh, by your favor
you caused my strong mountain to stand.
You hid your face. I was bewildered.
⁸ To you, O Yahweh, I called,
and to the Lord I pleaded for grace saying,
⁹ “What gain is there in my death,^[p]
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
¹⁰ “O Yahweh, hear and be gracious to me.
O Yahweh, be my helper.”
¹¹ You have turned my wailing into my dancing.
You have removed my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy
¹² so that I^[q] may sing praises to you
and not be quiet.
O Yahweh, my God,
I will give thanks to you forever.

31 In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge.
Let me not be put to shame ever.
Deliver me by your righteousness.
² Incline your ear to me.
Quickly deliver me.
Become my rock of refuge,
a fortified keep^[s] to save me.
³ For you are my rock and my fortress.
So, for the sake of your name,
lead me and guide me.
⁴ Bring me out of the net that they have secretly set for me,
for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Yahweh, faithful God.^[t]
6 I hate those devoted to useless idols,
but I trust Yahweh.
⁷ I will exult and rejoice in your loyal love.
Because you have seen my misery,
you know the distresses of my life.^[u]
8 And you have not delivered me
into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a broad place.
⁹ Be gracious to me, O Yahweh,
because I have distress.
My eye wastes away because of vexation,
along with my soul and my body.^[v]
10 For my life is at an end with sorrow,
and my years with sighing.
My strength stumbles because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
¹¹ Because of all my adversaries I have become a disgrace,
especially to my neighbors,
and a dread to my acquaintances.
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
¹² I have become forgotten like one dead, out of mind.^[w]
I am like a destroyed vessel.
¹³ For I hear the rumor of many,
“Terror on every side!”
When conspiring together against me,
they have plotted to take my life.
¹⁴ But as for me, I trust you, O Yahweh.
I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My times^[x] are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
¹⁶ Shine your face upon your servant.
Save me by your loyal love.
¹⁷ O Yahweh, let me not be put to shame, for I call on you.
Let the wicked be put to shame.
Let them go silently^[y] to Sheol.
¹⁸ Let lying lips be dumb,
that speak against the righteous^[z] unrestrained
with arrogance and contempt.
¹⁹ How abundant is your goodness
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you perform for those who take refuge in you
before the children of humankind.
²⁰ You will hide them in the protection of your presence
from the plots of man.
You will hide them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
²¹ Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has worked marvelously his loyal love to me
in a besieged city.
²² As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from before your eyes.”
However you heard the voice of my supplications
when I cried to you for help.
²³ Love Yahweh, all you his faithful ones.
Yahweh preserves the faithful
but repays abundantly the one who acts arrogantly.
²⁴ Be strong and let your^[aa] heart show strength,
all you who wait for Yahweh.

32 Happy is he whose transgression is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
² Happy is a person to whom Yahweh does not impute iniquity
and in whose spirit there is not deceit.
³ When I kept silent, my bones were worn out
due to my groaning all the day.
⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
My vigor was changed into the dry heat of summer. Selah
⁵ I made known my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not cover.
I said, “I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin. Selah
⁶ Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
at the time for finding you.
Surely at the flood of many waters they will not reach him.
⁷ You are my hiding place;
from trouble you preserve me.
With cries of deliverance you surround me. Selah
⁸ I^[ac] will instruct you and teach you
in the way that you should go.
I will advise you with my eye upon you.
⁹ Do not be like a horse or like a mule, without understanding;
that needs his tackle—bridle and rein—for restraint
or he would not come near you.
¹⁰ Many are the pains of the wicked,
but for the one who trusts Yahweh
loyal love surrounds him.
¹¹ Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright of heart.