God the King of the Earth.
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
O aclap your hands, all peoples;
bShout to God with the voice of joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is to be afeared,
A bgreat King over all the earth.
3 He asubdues peoples under us
And nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our ainheritance for us,
The bglory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.
5 God has aascended with a shout,
The Lord, with the bsound of a trumpet.
6 aSing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to bour King, sing praises.
7 For God is the aKing of all the earth;
Sing praises bwith a skillful psalm.
8 God areigns over the nations,
God sits on bHis holy throne.
9 The aprinces of the people have assembled themselves as the bpeople of the God of Abraham,
For the cshields of the earth belong to God;
He is dhighly exalted.
The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
aGreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the bcity of our God, His choly mountain.
2 aBeautiful in elevation, bthe joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The ccity of the great King.
3 God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a astronghold.
4 For, lo, the akings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were aterrified, they fled in alarm.
6 Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as of aa woman in childbirth.
7 With the aeast wind
You bbreak the cships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God;
God will aestablish her forever. Selah.
9 We have thought on aYour lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your aname, O God,
So is Your bpraise to the ends of the earth;
Your cright hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount aZion be glad,
Let the adaughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion and go around her;
Count her atowers;
13 Consider her aramparts;
Go through her palaces,
That you may btell it to the next generation.
14 For such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will aguide us until death.
The Folly of Trusting in Riches.
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
aHear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all binhabitants of the world,
2 Both alow and high,
Rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will aspeak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be bunderstanding.
4 I will incline my ear to aa proverb;
bI will express my criddle on the harp.
5 Why should I afear in days of adversity,
When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,
6 Even those who atrust in their wealth
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
7 No man can by any means aredeem his brother
Or give to God a bransom for him—
8 For athe redemption of his soul is costly,
And he should cease trying forever—
9 That he should alive on eternally,
That he should not bundergo decay.
10 For he sees that even awise men die;
The bstupid and the senseless alike perish
And cleave their wealth to others.
11 Their ainner thought is that their houses bare forever
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have ccalled their lands after their own names.
12 But aman in his pomp will not endure;
He is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the away of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who bapprove their words. Selah.
14 As sheep they are appointed afor Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
And the bupright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for Sheol cto consume
So that they have no habitation.
15 But God will aredeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
For bHe will receive me. Selah.
16 Do not be afraid awhen a man becomes rich,
When the glory of his house is increased;
17 For when he dies he will acarry nothing away;
His glory will not descend after him.
18 Though while he lives he acongratulates himself—
And though men praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 He shall ago to the generation of his fathers;
They will never see bthe light.
20 aMan in his pomp, yet without understanding,
Is blike the beasts that perish.
God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
aThe Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth bfrom the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, athe perfection of beauty,
God bhas shone forth.
3 May our God acome and not keep silence;
bFire devours before Him,
And it is very ctempestuous around Him.
4 He asummons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My agodly ones to Me,
Those who have made a bcovenant with Me by csacrifice.”
6 And the aheavens declare His righteousness,
For bGod Himself is judge. Selah.
7 “aHear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, byour God.
8 “I do anot reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 “I shall take no ayoung bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10 “For aevery beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 “I know every abird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
12 “If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the aworld is Mine, and all it contains.
13 “Shall I eat the flesh of abulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 “Offer to God aa sacrifice of thanksgiving
And bpay your vows to the Most High;
15 aCall upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall brescue you, and you will chonor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of My statutes
And to take aMy covenant in your mouth?
17 “For you ahate discipline,
And you bcast My words behind you.
18 “When you see a thief, you aare pleased with him,
And you bassociate with adulterers.
19 “You alet your mouth loose in evil
And your btongue frames deceit.
20 “You sit and aspeak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 “These things you have done and aI kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will breprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who aforget God,
Or I will btear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.
23 “He who aoffers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who borders his way aright
I shall cshow the salvation of God.”
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
aBe gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of bYour compassion cblot out my transgressions.
2 aWash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And bcleanse me from my sin.
3 For I aknow my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 aAgainst You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is bevil in Your sight,
So that cYou are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was abrought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire atruth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will bmake me know wisdom.
7 Purify me awith hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be bwhiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear ajoy and gladness,
Let the bbones which You have broken rejoice.
9 aHide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 aCreate in me a bclean heart, O God,
And renew a csteadfast spirit within me.
11 aDo not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your bHoly Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the ajoy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a bwilling spirit.
13 Then I will ateach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be bconverted to You.
14 Deliver me from abloodguiltiness, O God, bthe God of my salvation;
Then my ctongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, aopen my lips,
That my mouth may bdeclare Your praise.
16 For You ado not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a abroken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18 aBy Your favor do good to Zion;
bBuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in arighteous sacrifices,
In bburnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the choir director. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
Why do you aboast in evil, O mighty man?
The blovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises adestruction,
Like a bsharp razor, cO worker of deceit.
3 You alove evil more than good,
bFalsehood more than speaking what is right. Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O adeceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and atear you away from your tent,
And buproot you from the cland of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous will asee and fear,
And will blaugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But atrusted in the abundance of his riches
And bwas strong in his evil desire.”
8 But as for me, I am like a agreen olive tree in the house of God;
I btrust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
9 I will agive You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, bfor it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.