Psalm 94

⁵ You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
    abounding in love to all who call to you.
⁶ Hear my prayer, Lord;
    listen to my cry for mercy.
⁷ When I am in distress, I call to you,
    because you answer me.

⁸ Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
    no deeds can compare with yours.
⁹ All the nations you have made
    will come and worship before you, Lord;
    they will bring glory to your name.
¹⁰ For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
    you alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me your way, Lord,
    that I may rely on your faithfulness;
   give me an undivided heart,
    that I may fear your name.
¹² I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
    I will glorify your name forever.
¹³ For great is your love toward me;
    you have delivered me from the depths,
    from the realm of the dead.

¹⁴ Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
    ruthless people are trying to kill me—
    they have no regard for you.
¹⁵ But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
¹⁶ Turn to me and have mercy on me;
    show your strength in behalf of your servant;
   save me, because I serve you
    just as my mother did.
¹⁷ Give me a sign of your goodness,
    that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
    for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

³ Restore us, O God;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

⁴ How long, Lord God Almighty,
    will your anger smolder
    against the prayers of your people?
⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears;
    you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
⁶ You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,
    and our enemies mock us.

⁷ Restore us, God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

⁸ You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹ You cleared the ground for it,
    and it took root and filled the land.
¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹ Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
    its shoots as far as the River.

¹² Why have you broken down its walls
    so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
¹³ Boars from the forest ravage it,
    and insects from the fields feed on it.
¹⁴ Return to us, God Almighty!
    Look down from heaven and see!
   Watch over this vine,
¹⁵  the root your right hand has planted,
    the son you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶ Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
    at your rebuke your people perish.
¹⁷ Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
    the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
¹⁸ Then we will not turn away from you;
    revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹ Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
    I had nearly lost my foothold.
³ For I envied the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.
⁵ They are free from common human burdens;
    they are not plagued by human ills.
⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace;
    they clothe themselves with violence.
⁷ From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
    their evil imaginations have no limits.
⁸ They scoff, and speak with malice;
    with arrogance they threaten oppression.
⁹ Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
    and their tongues take possession of the earth.
¹⁰ Therefore their people turn to them
    and drink up waters in abundance.
¹¹ They say, “How would God know?
    Does the Most High know anything?”

¹² This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

¹³ Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ All day long I have been afflicted,
    and every morning brings new punishments.

¹⁵ If I had spoken out like that,
    I would have betrayed your children.
¹⁶ When I tried to understand all this,
    it troubled me deeply
¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary of God;
    then I understood their final destiny.

¹⁸ Surely you place them on slippery ground;
    you cast them down to ruin.
¹⁹ How suddenly are they destroyed,
    completely swept away by terrors!
²⁰ They are like a dream when one awakes;
    when you arise, Lord,
    you will despise them as fantasies.

²¹ When my heart was grieved
    and my spirit embittered,
²² I was senseless and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast before you.

²³ Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.
²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will take me into glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;
    you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
    I will tell of all your deeds.

² Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
    from the plots of evildoers.
³ They sharpen their tongues like swords
    and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
⁴ They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
    they shoot suddenly, without fear.

⁵ They encourage each other in evil plans,
    they talk about hiding their snares;
    they say, “Who will see it?”
⁶ They plot injustice and say,
    “We have devised a perfect plan!”
    Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.

⁷ But God will shoot them with his arrows;
    they will suddenly be struck down.
⁸ He will turn their own tongues against them
    and bring them to ruin;
    all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
⁹ All people will fear;
    they will proclaim the works of God
    and ponder what he has done.

¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
    and take refuge in him;
    all the upright in heart will glory in him!

³ See how they lie in wait for me!
    Fierce men conspire against me
    for no offense or sin of mine, Lord.
⁴ I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
    Arise to help me; look on my plight!
⁵ You, Lord God Almighty,
    you who are the God of Israel,
   rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
    show no mercy to wicked traitors.

⁶ They return at evening,
    snarling like dogs,
    and prowl about the city.
⁷ See what they spew from their mouths—
    the words from their lips are sharp as swords,
    and they think, “Who can hear us?”
⁸ But you laugh at them, Lord;
    you scoff at all those nations.

⁹ You are my strength, I watch for you;
    you, God, are my fortress,
¹⁰  my God on whom I can rely.

   God will go before me
    and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
¹¹ But do not kill them, Lord our shield,
    or my people will forget.
In your might uproot them
    and bring them down.
¹² For the sins of their mouths,
    for the words of their lips,
    let them be caught in their pride.
   For the curses and lies they utter,
¹³  consume them in your wrath,
    consume them till they are no more.
   Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
    that God rules over Jacob.

¹⁴ They return at evening,
    snarling like dogs,
    and prowl about the city.
¹⁵ They wander about for food
    and howl if not satisfied.
¹⁶ But I will sing of your strength,
    in the morning I will sing of your love;
   for you are my fortress,
    my refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁷ You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
    you, God, are my fortress,
    my God on whom I can rely.

² God looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
   to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
³ Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.

⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing?

   They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on God.
⁵ But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    where there was nothing to dread.
   God scattered the bones of those who attacked you;
    you put them to shame, for God despised them.

⁶ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

² For the Lord Most High is awesome,
    the great King over all the earth.
³ He subdued nations under us,
    peoples under our feet.
⁴ He chose our inheritance for us,
    the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

⁵ God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
    the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
⁷ For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing to him a psalm of praise.

⁸ God reigns over the nations;
    God is seated on his holy throne.
⁹ The nobles of the nations assemble
    as the people of the God of Abraham,
   for the kings of the earth belong to God;
    he is greatly exalted.

⁴ I said, “Have mercy on me, Lord;
    heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
⁵ My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die and his name perish?”
⁶ When one of them comes to see me,
    he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;
    then he goes out and spreads it around.

⁷ All my enemies whisper together against me;
    they imagine the worst for me, saying,
⁸ “A vile disease has afflicted him;
    he will never get up from the place where he lies.”
⁹ Even my close friend,
    someone I trusted,
   one who shared my bread,
    has turned against me.

¹⁰ But may you have mercy on me, Lord;
    raise me up, that I may repay them.
¹¹ I know that you are pleased with me,
    for my enemy does not triumph over me.
¹² Because of my integrity you uphold me
    and set me in your presence forever.

¹³ Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
   Amen and Amen.