The Message (MSG)

1-3 Good people, cheerGod!

Right-living people sound best when praising.

Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!

Play his praise on a grand piano!

Invent your own new song to him;

give him a trumpet fanfare.

4-5 ForGod’s Word is solid to the core;

everything he makes is sound inside and out.

He loves it when everything fits,

when his world is in plumb-line true.

Earth is drenched

inGod’s affectionate satisfaction.

6-7 The skies were made byGod’s command;

he breathed the word and the stars popped out.

He scooped Sea into his jug,

put Ocean in his keg.

8-9 Earth-creatures, bow beforeGod;

world-dwellers—down on your knees!

Here’s why: he spoke and there it was,

in place the moment he said so.

10-12 Godtakes the wind out of Babel pretense,

he shoots down the world’s power-schemes.

God’s plan for the world stands up,

all his designs are made to last.

Blessed is the country withGodfor God;

blessed are the people he’s put in his will.

13-15 From high in the skiesGodlooks around,

he sees all Adam’s brood.

From where he sits

he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.

He has shaped each person in turn;

now he watches everything we do.

16-17 No king succeeds with a big army alone,

no warrior wins by brute strength.

Horsepower is not the answer;

no one gets by on muscle alone.

18-19 Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him,

the ones who are looking for his love.

He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times;

in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

20-22 We’re depending onGod;

he’s everything we need.

What’s more, our hearts brim with joy

since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.

Love us,God, with all you’ve got—

that’s what we’re depending on.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/33-0c68d4d8c31200b71ee576fdeae69b7b.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm, When He Outwitted Abimelech and Got Away

1 I blessGodevery chance I get;

my lungs expand with his praise.

2 I live and breatheGod;

if things aren’t going well, hear this and be happy:

3 Join me in spreading the news;

together let’s get the word out.

4 Godmet me more than halfway,

he freed me from my anxious fears.

5 Look at him; give him your warmest smile.

Never hide your feelings from him.

6 When I was desperate, I called out,

andGodgot me out of a tight spot.

7 God’s angel sets up a circle

of protection around us while we pray.

8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—

how goodGodis.

Blessed are you who run to him.

9 WorshipGodif you want the best;

worship opens doors to all his goodness.

10 Young lions on the prowl get hungry,

butGod-seekers are full of God.

11 Come, children, listen closely;

I’ll give you a lesson inGodworship.

12 Who out there has a lust for life?

Can’t wait each day to come upon beauty?

13 Guard your tongue from profanity,

and no more lying through your teeth.

14 Turn your back on sin; do something good.

Embrace peace—don’t let it get away!

15 Godkeeps an eye on his friends,

his ears pick up every moan and groan.

16 Godwon’t put up with rebels;

he’ll cull them from the pack.

17 Is anyone crying for help?Godis listening,

ready to rescue you.

18 If your heart is broken, you’ll findGodright there;

if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.

19 Disciples so often get into trouble;

still,Godis there every time.

20 He’s your bodyguard, shielding every bone;

not even a finger gets broken.

21 The wicked commit slow suicide;

they waste their lives hating the good.

22 Godpays for each slave’s freedom;

no one who runs to him loses out.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/34-b72007467852a179356778dd0af27cec.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm

1-3 Harass these hecklers,God,

punch these bullies in the nose.

Grab a weapon, anything at hand;

stand up for me!

Get ready to throw the spear, aim the javelin,

at the people who are out to get me.

Reassure me; let me hear you say,

“I’ll save you.”

4-8 When those thugs try to knife me in the back,

make them look foolish.

Frustrate all those

who are plotting my downfall.

Make them like cinders in a high wind,

withGod’s angel working the bellows.

Make their road lightless and mud-slick,

withGod’s angel on their tails.

Out of sheer cussedness they set a trap to catch me;

for no good reason they dug a ditch to stop me.

Surprise them with your ambush—

catch them in the very trap they set,

the disaster they planned for me.

9-10 But let me run loose and free,

celebratingGod’s great work,

Every bone in my body laughing, singing, “God,

there’s no one like you.

You put the down-and-out on their feet

and protect the unprotected from bullies!”

11-12 Hostile accusers appear out of nowhere,

they stand up and badger me.

They pay me back misery for mercy,

leaving my soul empty.

13-14 When they were sick, I dressed in black;

instead of eating, I prayed.

My prayers were like lead in my gut,

like I’d lost my best friend, my brother.

I paced, distraught as a motherless child,

hunched and heavyhearted.

15-16 But when I was down

they threw a party!

All the nameless riffraff of the town came

chanting insults about me.

Like barbarians desecrating a shrine,

they destroyed my reputation.

17-18 God, how long are you going

to stand there doing nothing?

Save me from their brutalities;

everything I’ve got is being thrown to the lions.

I will give you full credit

when everyone gathers for worship;

When the people turn out in force

I will say my Hallelujahs.

19-21 Don’t let these liars, my enemies,

have a party at my expense,

Those who hate me for no reason,

winking and rolling their eyes.

No good is going to come

from that crowd;

They spend all their time cooking up gossip

against those who mind their own business.

They open their mouths

in ugly grins,

Mocking, “Ha-ha, ha-ha, thought you’d get away with it?

We’ve caught you hands down!”

22 Don’t you see what they’re doing,God?

You’re not going to let them

Get by with it, are you? Not going to walk off

withoutdoingsomething, are you?

23-26 Please get up—wake up! Tend to my case.

My God, my Lord—my life is on the line.

Do what you think is right,God, my God,

but don’t make me pay for their good time.

Don’t let them say to themselves,

“Ha-ha, we got what we wanted.”

Don’t let them say,

“We’ve chewed him up and spit him out.”

Let those who are being hilarious

at my expense

Be made to look ridiculous.

Make them wear donkey’s ears;

Pin them with the donkey’s tail,

who made themselves so high and mighty!

27-28 But those who want

the best for me,

Let them have the last word—a glad shout!—

and say, over and over and over,

“Godis great—everything works

together for good for his servant.”

I’ll tell the world how great and good you are,

I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/35-4279c9598912495206577f7c9cddc527.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm

1-4 The God-rebel tunes in to sedition—

all ears, eager to sin.

He has no regard for God,

he stands insolent before him.

He has smooth-talked himself

into believing

That his evil

will never be noticed.

Words gutter from his mouth,

dishwater dirty.

Can’t remember when he

did anything decent.

Every time he goes to bed,

he fathers another evil plot.

When he’s loose on the streets,

nobody’s safe.

He plays with fire

and doesn’t care who gets burned.

5-6 God’s love is meteoric,

his loyalty astronomic,

His purpose titanic,

his verdicts oceanic.

Yet in his largeness

nothing gets lost;

Not a man, not a mouse,

slips through the cracks.

7-9 How exquisite your love, O God!

How eager we are to run under your wings,

To eat our fill at the banquet you spread

as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.

You’re a fountain of cascading light,

and you open our eyes to light.

10-12 Keep on loving your friends;

do your work in welcoming hearts.

Don’t let the bullies kick me around,

the moral midgets slap me down.

Send the upstarts sprawling

flat on their faces in the mud.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/36-a0260c73d697d8b1fac1c28ddfddeb9f.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm

1-2 Don’t bother your head with braggarts

or wish you could succeed like the wicked.

In no time they’ll shrivel like grass clippings

and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.

3-4 Get insurance withGodand do a good deed,

settle down and stick to your last.

Keep company withGod,

get in on the best.

5-6 Open up beforeGod, keep nothing back;

he’ll do whatever needs to be done:

He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day

and stamp you with approval at high noon.

7 Quiet down beforeGod,

be prayerful before him.

Don’t bother with those who climb the ladder,

who elbow their way to the top.

8-9 Bridle your anger, trash your wrath,

cool your pipes—it only makes things worse.

Before long the crooks will be bankrupt;

God-investors will soon own the store.

10-11 Before you know it, the wicked will have had it;

you’ll stare at his once famous place and—nothing!

Down-to-earth people will move in and take over,

relishing a huge bonanza.

12-13 Bad guys have it in for the good guys,

obsessed with doing them in.

ButGodisn’t losing any sleep; to him

they’re a joke with no punch line.

14-15 Bullies brandish their swords,

pull back on their bows with a flourish.

They’re out to beat up on the harmless,

or mug that nice man out walking his dog.

A banana peel lands them flat on their faces—

slapstick figures in a moral circus.

16-17 Less is more and more is less.

One righteous will outclass fifty wicked,

For the wicked are moral weaklings

but the righteous areGod-strong.

18-19 Godkeeps track of the decent folk;

what they do won’t soon be forgotten.

In hard times, they’ll hold their heads high;

when the shelves are bare, they’ll be full.

20 God-despisers have had it;

God’s enemies are finished—

Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time,

vanished like smoke in thin air.

21-22 Wicked borrows and never returns;

Righteous gives and gives.

Generous gets it all in the end;

Stingy is cut off at the pass.

23-24 Stalwart walks in step withGod;

his path blazed byGod, he’s happy.

If he stumbles, he’s not down for long;

Godhas a grip on his hand.

25-26 I once was young, now I’m a graybeard—

not once have I seen an abandoned believer,

or his kids out roaming the streets.

Every day he’s out giving and lending,

his children making him proud.

27-28 Turn your back on evil,

work for the good and don’t quit.

Godloves this kind of thing,

never turns away from his friends.

28-29 Live this way and you’ve got it made,

but bad eggs will be tossed out.

The good get planted on good land

and put down healthy roots.

30-31 Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone,

rolls virtue around on his tongue.

His heart pumps God’s Word like blood through his veins;

his feet are as sure as a cat’s.

32-33 Wicked sets a watch for Righteous,

he’s out for the kill.

God, alert, is also on watch—

Wicked won’t hurt a hair of his head.

34 Wait passionately forGod,

don’t leave the path.

He’ll give you your place in the sun

while you watch the wicked lose it.

35-36 I saw Wicked bloated like a toad,

croaking pretentious nonsense.

The next time I looked there was nothing—

a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.

37-38 Keep your eye on the healthy soul,

scrutinize the straight life;

There’s a future

in strenuous wholeness.

But the willful will soon be discarded;

insolent souls are on a dead-end street.

39-40 The spacious, free life is fromGod,

it’s also protected and safe.

God-strengthened, we’re delivered from evil—

when we run to him, he saves us.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/37-c3a6e5e8bbf28b7ff62e0c264d6e0551.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm

1-2 Take a deep breath,God; calm down—

don’t be so hasty with your punishing rod.

Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood;

my backside smarts from your caning.

3-4 I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months

because of your accusation.

My bones are brittle as dry sticks

because of my sin.

I’m swamped by my bad behavior,

collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt.

5-8 The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots

because I’ve lived so badly.

And now I’m flat on my face

feeling sorry for myself morning to night.

All my insides are on fire,

my body is a wreck.

I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it—

my life is a vomit of groans.

9-16 Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight,

my groans an old story to you.

My heart’s about to break;

I’m a burned-out case.

Cataracts blind me to God and good;

old friends avoid me like the plague.

My cousins never visit,

my neighbors stab me in the back.

My competitors blacken my name,

devoutly they pray for my ruin.

But I’m deaf and mute to it all,

ears shut, mouth shut.

I don’t hear a word they say,

don’t speak a word in response.

What I do,God, is wait for you,

wait for my Lord, my God—youwillanswer!

I wait and pray so they won’t laugh me off,

won’t smugly strut off when I stumble.

17-20 I’m on the edge of losing it—

the pain in my gut keeps burning.

I’m ready to tell my story of failure,

I’m no longer smug in my sin.

My enemies are alive and in action,

a lynch mob after my neck.

I give out good and get back evil

from God-haters who can’t stand a God-lover.

21-22 Don’t dump me,God;

my God, don’t stand me up.

Hurry and help me;

I want some wide-open space in my life!

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/38-0f22f6e38cac66492a2097f8ca04d21c.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm

1-3 I’m determined to watch steps and tongue

so they won’t land me in trouble.

I decided to hold my tongue

as long as Wicked is in the room.

“Mum’s the word,” I said, and kept quiet.

But the longer I kept silence

The worse it got—

my insides got hotter and hotter.

My thoughts boiled over;

I spilled my guts.

4-6 “Tell me, what’s going on,God?

How long do I have to live?

Give me the bad news!

You’ve kept me on pretty short rations;

my life is a string too short to be saved.

Oh! we’re all puffs of air.

Oh! we’re all shadows in a campfire.

Oh! we’re just spit in the wind.

We make our pile, and then we leave it.

7-11 “What am I doing in the meantime, Lord?

Hoping, that’s what I’m doing—hoping

You’ll save me from a rebel life,

save me from the contempt of dunces.

I’ll say no more, I’ll shut my mouth,

since you, Lord, are behind all this.

But I can’t take it much longer.

When you put us through the fire

to purge us from our sin,

our dearest idols go up in smoke.

Are we also nothing but smoke?

12-13 “Ah,God, listen to my prayer, my

cry—open your ears.

Don’t be callous;

just look at these tears of mine.

I’m a stranger here. I don’t know my way—

a migrant like my whole family.

Give me a break, cut me some slack

before it’s too late and I’m out of here.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/39-4eea8c98d614ddb51f663b5d01cadf35.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm

1-3 I waited and waited and waited forGod.

At last he looked; finally he listened.

He lifted me out of the ditch,

pulled me from deep mud.

He stood me up on a solid rock

to make sure I wouldn’t slip.

He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,

a praise-song to our God.

More and more people are seeing this:

they enter the mystery,

abandoning themselves toGod.

4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over toGod,

turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,”

ignore what the world worships;

The world’s a huge stockpile

ofGod-wonders and God-thoughts.

Nothing and no one

comes close to you!

I start talking about you, telling what I know,

and quickly run out of words.

Neither numbers nor words

account for you.

6 Doing something for you, bringing something to you—

that’s not what you’re after.

Being religious, acting pious—

that’s not what you’re asking for.

You’ve opened my ears

so I can listen.

7-8 So I answered, “I’m coming.

I read in your letter what you wrote about me,

And I’m coming to the party

you’re throwing for me.”

That’s when God’s Word entered my life,

became part of my very being.

9-10 I’ve preached you to the whole congregation,

I’ve kept back nothing,God—you know that.

I didn’t keep the news of your ways

a secret, didn’t keep it to myself.

I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough.

I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth

For myself alone. I told it all,

let the congregation know the whole story.

11-12 NowGod, don’t hold out on me,

don’t hold back your passion.

Your love and truth

are all that keeps me together.

When troubles ganged up on me,

a mob of sins past counting,

I was so swamped by guilt

I couldn’t see my way clear.

More guilt in my heart than hair on my head,

so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.

13-15 Soften up,God, and intervene;

hurry and get me some help,

So those who are trying to kidnap my soul

will be embarrassed and lose face,

So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable

will be heckled and disgraced,

So those who pray for my ruin

will be booed and jeered without mercy.

16-17 But all who are hunting for you—

oh, let them sing and be happy.

Let those who know what you’re all about

tell the world you’re great and not quitting.

And me? I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing:

make something of me.

You can do it; you’ve got what it takes—

but God, don’t put it off.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/40-17906d2222bad29af9f154551bb02430.mp3?version_id=97—

A David Psalm

1-3 Dignify those who are down on their luck;

you’ll feel good—that’swhatGoddoes.

Godlooks after us all,

makes us robust with life—

Lucky to be in the land,

we’re free from enemy worries.

Whenever we’re sick and in bed,

Godbecomes our nurse,

nurses us back to health.

4-7 I said, “God, be gracious!

Put me together again—

my sins have torn me to pieces.”

My enemies are wishing the worst for me;

they make bets on what day I will die.

If someone comes to see me,

he mouths empty platitudes,

All the while gathering gossip about me

to entertain the street-corner crowd.

These “friends” who hate me

whisper slanders all over town.

They form committees

to plan misery for me.

8-9 The rumor goes out, “He’s got some dirty,

deadly disease. The doctors

have given up on him.”

Even my best friend, the one I always told everything

—he ate meals at my house all the time!—

has bitten my hand.

10 God, give grace, get me up on my feet.

I’ll show them a thing or two.

11-12 Meanwhile, I’m sure you’re on my side—

no victory shouts yet from the enemy camp!

You know me inside and out, you hold me together,

you never fail to stand me tall in your presence

so I can look you in the eye.

13 Blessed isGod, Israel’s God,

always, always, always.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/41-9649f88ef906d3b6907e845761fceb3f.mp3?version_id=97—

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

1-3 A white-tailed deer drinks

from the creek;

I want to drink God,

deep draughts of God.

I’m thirsty for God-alive.

I wonder, “Will I ever make it—

arrive and drink in God’s presence?”

I’m on a diet of tears—

tears for breakfast, tears for supper.

All day long

people knock at my door,

Pestering,

“Where is this God of yours?”

4 These are the things I go over and over,

emptying out the pockets of my life.

I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,

right out in front,

Leading them all,

eager to arrive and worship,

Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—

celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!

5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

Why are you crying the blues?

Fix my eyes on God—

soon I’ll be praising again.

He puts a smile on my face.

He’s my God.

6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse

everything I know of you,

From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,

including Mount Mizar.

Chaos calls to chaos,

to the tune of whitewater rapids.

Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers

crash and crush me.

ThenGodpromises to love me all day,

sing songs all through the night!

My life is God’s prayer.

9-10 Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God,

“Why did you let me down?

Why am I walking around in tears,

harassed by enemies?”

They’re out for the kill, these

tormentors with their obscenities,

Taunting day after day,

“Where is this God of yours?”

11 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

Why are you crying the blues?

Fix my eyes on God—

soon I’ll be praising again.

He puts a smile on my face.

He’s my God.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/PSA/42-16c3b8384a794b3c07ab17fcc248b206.mp3?version_id=97—