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New Testament
Psalm 23-28
Psalm 23
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
A psalm by David.
The Shepherd Provides for His People
1The Lord is my shepherd.
I lack nothing.
2He causes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
The Shepherd Protects His People
4Even 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.
The Royal Host Provides for His People
5You set a table for me in the presence of my foes.
My cup is overflowing.
6Surely goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life,
Psalm 24
The King of Glory
By David. A psalm.
The King of Glory Owns the Whole World
1The earth is the Lord's
and everything that fills it,
the world and all who live in it,
2because he founded it on the seas,
The King of Glory Is Served by a Holy People
3Who may go up to the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
whose soul is not set on what is false,
who does not swear deceitfully.
5He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God who saves him.
6Such are the people of Jacob
who look for the Lord,
The King of Glory Comes
7Lift up your heads, you gates.
Lift yourselves up, you ancient doors,
and the King of Glory will come in.
8Who is this King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, you gates.
Lift up, you ancient doors,
and the King of Glory will come in.
10Who is he, this King of Glory?
The Lord of Armies—he is the King of Glory. Interlude
Psalm 25
Teach Me Your Ways
By David.
A Prayer for Protection
1To you, O Lord, I will lift up my soul.
2In you I have trusted, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame.
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.
3All who hope in you will never be put to shame,
but those who are treacherous for no reason will be put to shame.
A Prayer for Forgiveness
4Make known to me your ways, O Lord.
Teach me your paths.
5Make me walk in your truth and teach me,
because you are the God who saves me.
In you I hope all day long.
6Remember, O Lord, your compassion and your mercy,
7Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways.
According to your mercy remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord.
8Good and upright is the Lord.
Therefore, he instructs sinners in the right way.
9He directs the humble to what is just,
and he teaches the humble his way.
10All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11For the sake of your name, O Lord,
you forgive my guilt, although it is great.
A Prayer for a Godly Life
12Who, then, is the man who fears the Lord?
The Lord will instruct him in the way he chooses.
13That man will enjoy a good life,
and his descendants will possess the land.
His covenant will give them knowledge.
A Second Prayer for Protection
15My eyes are always on the Lord,
because he frees my feet from the net.
16Turn toward me and be gracious to me,
because I am lonely and afflicted.
Bring me out of my anguish.
18See my affliction and my trouble,
and take away all my sins.
19See my enemies
—how they have increased,
and how violently they hate me!
20Guard my life and rescue me.
Do not let me be put to shame,
for I have taken refuge in you.
21May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because I wait for you.
22Redeem Israel, O God, from all its distress!
Psalm 26
Vindicate Me, O Lord
By David.
Affirmation of Innocence and Plea for Judgment
1Judge me favorably, O Lord,
because I have walked in my integrity.
In the Lord I have trusted. I have not wavered.
2Test me, O Lord, and examine me.
Refine my thoughts and my emotions,
3for your mercy is in front of my eyes,
and I keep walking in your truth.
Separation from Evil
4I do not sit with deceivers.
I do not associate with hypocrites.
5I hate the company of evildoers.
I do not sit with the wicked.
Affirmation of Innocence and Love for God
6I wash my hands from sin,
so I can march around your altar, O Lord,
7to shout thanks to you
and to proclaim all your wonderful deeds.
8
Lord, I love the house where you reside,
the place where your glory dwells.
Separation from Evil
9Do not snatch my soul away along with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10who grasp wicked schemes in their hands,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
Affirmation of Innocence and Prayer for Redemption
11But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
12My feet stand on level ground.
In the assemblies I will bless the Lord.
Psalm 27
The Stronghold of My Life
By David
Safe in God's Stronghold
1The Lord is my light and my salvation
—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life
—of whom shall I be afraid?
2When evildoers advance against me to eat my flesh,
when my foes and my enemies come against me,
it is they who will stumble and fall.
3If an army lines up against me, my heart will not fear.
If war rises against me, even then I will keep trusting.
Happy in God's Temple
4One thing I ask from the Lord. This is what I seek:
that I live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord,
5Yes, he will hide me in his shelter on the day of trouble.
He will hide me in his tent.
He will set me high on a rock.
6Then my head will be lifted up above the enemies who surround me.
I will offer sacrifices at his tent with a joyful shout.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Confident in Prayer
7Hear me, O Lord. With my voice I call.
Be merciful to me and answer me.
8When you say, “Seek my face,” my heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have been my help.
Do not reject me or forsake me, O God who saves me.
10If my father and my mother abandoned me,
the Lord would take me in.
Walking in God's Path
11
Lord, teach me your way,
and lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
12Do not give me up to the desire of my foes,
because false witnesses rise up against me,
and so do those who breathe out violence.
At Home in God's Land
13Unless I was confident to see the goodness of the Lord
14Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart,
and wait for the Lord!
Psalm 28
My Rock
By David.
Protect Me from the Wicked
1O Lord, I keep calling to you.
My Rock, do not be deaf to me.
If you remain silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit.
2Hear the sound of my plea for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those evildoers.
They speak peace to their neighbors but hide evil in their hearts.
Punish the Wicked
4Give to them what they have done to others.
According to their evil actions,
according to the deeds of their hands, punish them.
Repay to them what they deserve.
5Because they do not recognize the works of the Lord
or the deeds of his hands,
he will tear them down and not build them up.
Then I Will Praise You
6Blessed be the Lord,
because he has heard the sound of my plea for mercy.
7The Lord is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I am helped.
My heart also celebrates.
With my song I will give thanks to him.
8The Lord is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed king.
9Save your people, and bless the people that belong to you.
Shepherd them, and carry them forever.
Footnotes
- 23:5 Scenting someone with perfumed olive oil was a part of celebrations. The verb used here is not the verb used for anointing someone to an office.
- 23:6 Literally for length of days or for days without end
- 24:2 Or ocean currents
- 24:6 Literally this is the generation (or circle) of those who seek him, who seek your face Jacob. The syntax of the verse is difficult. It appears that in the Hebrew Jacob should be understood as an apposition to those who seek him. The Greek reads the generation of those who look for him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
- 24:6 The Hebrew selah seems to indicate a musical interlude for reflection.
- 25:6 Or from of old
- 25:14 The Hebrew word used here implies the kind of advice given by a close friend and confidant.
- 25:17 Or, following an alternate reading of the Hebrew, relieve the distress of my heart
- 27:4 The Hebrew word hekal, usually translated temple, means big house. It can refer to a palace or a temple. It can apply to the tent sanctuaries built by Moses and David and to the temple building constructed by Solomon.
- 27:13 As it stands, the Hebrew text is an incomplete sentence which calls for a conclusion such as “I would have lost hope.” As the text stands, the construction breaks off and jumps to a positive affirmation. Some Hebrew manuscripts omit the initial word unless and have a positive statement: I am confident that I will…