Psalms For Protection,

Safety And Security

Psalm 12

A Psalm of David.

The choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.

1 Help, Lord; for there is no longer any that is Godly;

for the faithful have vanished from among

the sons of men.

2 Every one utters lies to his neighbour;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 Let the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

4 those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is our master?"

5 "Because the poor are despoiled,

because the needy groan,

I will now arise," says the Lord;

"I will place him in the safety for which he longs."

6 The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,

silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

7 Do thou, O Lord, protect us,

guard us ever from this generation.

8 On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

1 Hear a just cause, O Lord;

attend to my cry!

Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

2 From thee let my vindication come!

Let thy eyes see the right!

3 If thou triest my heart, if thou visitest me by night,

if thou testest me,

thou wilt find no wickedness in me;

my mouth does not transgress.

4 With regard to the works of men,

by the word of thy lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.

5 My steps have held fast to thy paths,

my feet have not slipped.

Yet, man is not righteous enough by himself.

6 I call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God;

incline thy ear to me, hear my words.

7 Wondrously show thy steadfast love,

O saviour of those who seek refuge

from their adversaries at thy right hand.

8 Keep me as the apple of the eye;

hide me in the shadow of thy wings,

9 from the wicked who despoil me,

my deadly enemies who surround me.

10 They close their hearts to pity;

with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

11 They track me down; now they surround me;

they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.

12 They are like a lion eager to tear,

as a young lion lurking in ambush.

13 Arise, O Lord! Confront them,

Overthrow them!

Deliver my life from the wicked by thy

sword,

14 from men by thy hand, O Lord,

from men whose portion in life is of the

world.

Let their belly be filled with what thou hast

stored up for them;

15 As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with

beholding thy form.

(Last part of verse 14 was removed,

because a child should not suffer

for the sins of the parents.)

Psalm 37

A Psalm of David.

1 Fret not yourself because of the wicked,

be not envious of wrongdoers!

2 For they will soon fade like the grass,

and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

so you will dwell in the land,

and enjoy security.

4 Take delight in the Lord,

and He will give you

the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in Him, and He will act.

6 He will bring forth your vindication

as the light,

and your right as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord,

and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over him

who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

9 For the wicked shall be cut off;

but those who wait for the Lord

shall possess the land.

10 Yet a little while,

and the wicked will be no more;

though you look well at his place,

he will not be there.

11 But the meek shall possess the land,

and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

12 The wicked plots against the righteous,

and gnashes his teeth at him;

13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows,

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those who walk uprightly;

15 their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is a little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will abide forever;

19 they are not put to shame in evil times,

in the days of famine they have abundance.

20 But the wicked perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory

of the pastures,

they vanish--like smoke they vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows, and cannot pay back,

but the righteous is generous and gives;

22 for those blessed by the Lord shall possess

the land,

but those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a man are from the Lord,

and he establishes him

in whose way He delights;

24 though the Godly falls,

he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord is the stay of his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old;

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging bread.

26 He is ever giving liberally and lending,

and his children become a blessing.

27 Depart from evil, and do good;

so shall you abide forever .

28 For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake His saints.

The righteous shall be preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall possess the land,

and dwell upon it forever .

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

32 The wicked watches the righteous,

and seeks to slay him.

33 The Lord will not abandon the righteous to his enemies,

or let him be condemned when he is

brought to trial.

34 Wait for the Lord, and keep to His way,

and He will exalt you to possess the land;

you will look on the destruction of the wicked.

35 I have seen a wicked man overbearing,

and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.

36 Again I passed by, and, lo, he was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless man,

and behold the upright,

for there is posterity for the man of peace.

38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

He is their refuge in the time of trouble.

40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;

He delivers them from the wicked, and

saves them,

because they take refuge in Him.

Psalm 52

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg,

the Edomite, came and told Saul, "David has come

to the house of Ahimelech."

1 Why do you boast, O mighty man,

of mischief done against the Godly?

2 All the day you are plotting destruction.

Your tongue is like a sharp razor,

you worker of treachery.

3 You love evil more than good,

and lying more than speaking the truth.

4 You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

5 But God will break you down forever;

He will snatch and tear you from your tent;

He will uproot you from the land of the

living.

6 The righteous shall see, and marvel,

and shall laugh at him, saying,

7 "See the man who would not make God his refuge,

but trusted in the abundance of his riches,

and sought refuge in his wealth!"

8 But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

forever and ever.

9 I will thank thee forever,

because thou hast done it.

I will proclaim thy name, for it is good,

in the presence of the godly.

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,

who abides in the shadow of the Almighty,

2 will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress;

my God, in whom I trust."

3 For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence;

4 He will cover you with His pinions,

and under His wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand;

but it will not come near you.

8 You will only look with your eyes

and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,

the Most High your habitation,

10 no evil shall befall you,

no scourge come near your tent.

11 For He will give his angels charge of you

to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the adder,

the young lion and the serpent you will

trample under foot.

14 Because he cleaves to me in love,

I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will rescue him and honour him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

and show him my salvation.

Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From whence does my help come?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let my foot be moved,

He who keeps me will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is my keeper;

the Lord is my shade

on my right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite me by day,

nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep me from all evil;

He will keep my life.

8 The Lord will keep

my going out and my coming in

from this time forth and forever more.

(The psalm started with ‘my’ and changed to ‘your’.

For consistency, only ‘my’ was allowed.)

Psalm 125

A Song of Ascents.

1 Those who trust in the Lord are

like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides forever

2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,

so the Lord is round about His people,

from this time forth and forever more.

3 For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest

upon the land allotted to the righteous,

lest the righteous put forth their hands to do wrong.

4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,

and to those who are upright in their hearts!

5 But those who turn aside upon their crooked ways

the Lord will lead away with evildoers!

Peace be in Israel!

Psalm 127

A Song of Ascents.

Of Solomon.

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labour in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

2 It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for He gives to his beloved sleep.

3 Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the sons of one's youth.

5 Happy is the man who has

his quiver full of them!

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 140

To the choirmaster.

A Psalm of David.

1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

preserve me from violent men,

2 who plan evil things in their heart,

and stir up wars continually.

3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,

and under their lips is the poison of vipers.

4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from violent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet.

5 Arrogant men have hidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread a net,

by the wayside they have set snares for me.

6 I say to the Lord, Thou art my God;

give ear to the voice of my supplications, O Lord!

7 O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,

thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

8 Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further his evil plot!

9 Those who surround me lift up their head,

let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

10 Let burning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into pits, no more to rise!

11 Let not the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

12 I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the afflicted,

and executes justice for the needy.

13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to thy name;

the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

Psalm 141

A Psalm of David.

1 I call upon thee, O Lord;

make haste to me!

Give ear to my voice,

when I call to thee!

2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee,

and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice!

3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord,

keep watch over the door of my lips!

4 Incline not my heart to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with men who work iniquity;

and let me not eat of their dainties!

5 Let a good man strike

or rebuke me in kindness,

but let the oil of the wicked

never anoint my head;

for my prayer is continually

against their wicked deeds.

6 When they are given over

to those who shall condemn them,

then they shall learn that the word of the

Lord is true.

7 As a rock which one cleaves

and shatters on the land,

so shall their bones

be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.

8 But my eyes are toward thee, O Lord God;

in thee I seek refuge;

leave me not defenseless!

9 Keep me from the trap

which they have laid for me,

and from the snares of evildoers!

10 Let the wicked together fall

into their own nets,

while I escape.