1Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are of a pure heart.2But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped;3For I was envious at the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked.4For they have no pangs in their death, and their body is well nourished;5They have not the hardships of mankind, neither are they plagued like other men:6Therefore pride encompasseth them as a neck-chain, violence covereth them as a garment;7Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart:8They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily:9They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.10Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fulness are wrung out to them.11And they say, How can *God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?12Behold, these are the wicked, and they prosper in the world: they heap up riches.13Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency:14For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.15If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children.16When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes;17Until I went into the sanctuaries of *God; then understood I their end.18Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins.19How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors.20As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image.21When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins,22Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was as a beast with thee.23Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand;24Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me.25Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee.26My flesh and my heart faileth: God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever.27For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee.28But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may declare all thy works.

An instruction: of Asaph.1Why, O God, hast thou cast off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?2Remember thine assembly, which thou hast purchased of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the portion of thine inheritance, this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.3Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual desolations: everything in the sanctuary hath the enemy destroyed.4Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy place of assembly; they set up their signs for signs.5A man was known as he could lift up axes in the thicket of trees;6And now they break down its carved work altogether, with hatchets and hammers.7They have set on fire thy sanctuary, they have profaned the habitation of thy name to the ground.8They said in their heart, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all *God's places of assembly in the land.9We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.10How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy contemn thy name for ever?11Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom: consume them.12But God is my king of old, accomplishing deliverances in the midst of the earth.13*Thou* didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou didst break the heads of the monsters on the waters:14*Thou* didst break in pieces the heads of leviathan, thou gavest him to be meat to those that people the desert.15*Thou* didst cleave fountain and torrent, *thou* driedst up ever-flowing rivers.16The day is thine, the night also is thine; *thou* hast prepared the moon and the sun:17*Thou* hast set all the borders of the earth; summer and winter -- *thou* didst form them.18Remember this, that an enemy hath reproached Jehovah, and a foolish people have contemned thy name.19Give not up the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the troop of thine afflicted for ever.20Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the dwellings of violence.21Oh let not the oppressed one return ashamed; let the afflicted and needy praise thy name.22Rise up, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day;23Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.

To the chief Musician. 'Destroy not.' A Psalm of Asaph: a Song.1Unto thee we give thanks, O God, we give thanks; and thy name is near: thy marvellous works declare it.2When I shall receive the assembly, I will judge with equity.3The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I have established its pillars. Selah.4I said unto the boastful, Boast not; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:5Lift not up your horn on high; speak not arrogantly with a stiff neck.6For not from the east nor from the west, nor yet from the south doth exaltation come:7For God is the judge; he putteth down one and exalteth another.8For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and it foameth with wine, it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same; yea, the dregs thereof shall all the wicked of the earth drain off, and drink.9But as for me, I will declare for ever; I will sing psalms to the God of Jacob.10And all the horns of the wicked will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.