The Climb (A Journey Through Psalms for Men)

Book I

Psalm 1

1Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2but whose delight is in the law of the

and who meditates on his law day and night.

3That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

4Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6For the

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 2

1Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain?

2The kings of the earth rise up

and the rulers band together

against the

3“Let us break their chains

and throw off their shackles.”

4The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord scoffs at them.

5He rebukes them in his anger

and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

6“I have installed my king

on Zion, my holy mountain.”

7I will proclaim the

He said to me, “You are my son;

today I have become your father.

8Ask me,

and I will make the nations your inheritance,

the ends of the earth your possession.

9You will break them with a rod of iron;

you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

10Therefore, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

11Serve the

and celebrate his rule with trembling.

12Kiss his son, or he will be angry

and your way will lead to your destruction,

for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

1

How many rise up against me!

2Many are saying of me,

“God will not deliver him.”

3But you,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

4I call out to the

and he answers me from his holy mountain.

5I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, because the

6I will not fear though tens of thousands

assail me on every side.

7Arise,

Deliver me, my God!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw;

break the teeth of the wicked.

8From the

May your blessing be on your people.

Psalm 4

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

1Answer me when I call to you,

my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

2How long will you people turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

3Know that the

the

4Tremble and do not sin;

when you are on your beds,

search your hearts and be silent.

5Offer the sacrifices of the righteous

and trust in the

6Many,

Let the light of your face shine on us.

7Fill my heart with joy

when their grain and new wine abound.

8In peace I will lie down and sleep,

for you alone,

make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 5

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

1Listen to my words,

consider my lament.

2Hear my cry for help,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

3In the morning,

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait expectantly.

4For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;

with you, evil people are not welcome.

5The arrogant cannot stand

in your presence.

You hate all who do wrong;

6you destroy those who tell lies.

The bloodthirsty and deceitful

you,

7But I, by your great love,

can come into your house;

in reverence I bow down

toward your holy temple.

8Lead me,

because of my enemies—

make your way straight before me.

9Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;

their heart is filled with malice.

Their throat is an open grave;

with their tongues they tell lies.

10Declare them guilty, O God!

Let their intrigues be their downfall.

Banish them for their many sins,

for they have rebelled against you.

11But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12Surely,

you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Psalm 6

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to

1

or discipline me in your wrath.

2Have mercy on me,

heal me,

3My soul is in deep anguish.

How long,

4Turn,

save me because of your unfailing love.

5Among the dead no one proclaims your name.

Who praises you from the grave?

6I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping

and drench my couch with tears.

7My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of all my foes.

8Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the

9The

the

10All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;

they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

Psalm 7

A

1

save and deliver me from all who pursue me,

2or they will tear me apart like a lion

and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

3

and there is guilt on my hands—

4if I have repaid my ally with evil

or without cause have robbed my foe—

5then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;

let him trample my life to the ground

and make me sleep in the dust.

6Arise,

rise up against the rage of my enemies.

Awake, my God; decree justice.

7Let the assembled peoples gather around you,

while you sit enthroned over them on high.

8Let the

Vindicate me,

according to my integrity, O Most High.

9Bring to an end the violence of the wicked

and make the righteous secure—

you, the righteous God

who probes minds and hearts.

10My shield is God Most High,

who saves the upright in heart.

11God is a righteous judge,

a God who displays his wrath every day.

12If he does not relent,

he will sharpen his sword;

he will bend and string his bow.

13He has prepared his deadly weapons;

he makes ready his flaming arrows.

14Whoever is pregnant with evil

conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.

15Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out

falls into the pit they have made.

16The trouble they cause recoils on them;

their violence comes down on their own heads.

17I will give thanks to the

I will sing the praises of the name of the

Psalm 8

For the director of music. According to

1

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

in the heavens.

2Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger.

3When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

4what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

5You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

6You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet:

7all flocks and herds,

and the animals of the wild,

8the birds in the sky,

and the fish in the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

9

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 9

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.

1I will give thanks to you,

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

3My enemies turn back;

they stumble and perish before you.

4For you have upheld my right and my cause,

sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.

5You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

6Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,

you have uprooted their cities;

even the memory of them has perished.

7The

he has established his throne for judgment.

8He rules the world in righteousness

and judges the peoples with equity.

9The

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10Those who know your name trust in you,

for you,

11Sing the praises of the

proclaim among the nations what he has done.

12For he who avenges blood remembers;

he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

13

Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

14that I may declare your praises

in the gates of Daughter Zion,

and there rejoice in your salvation.

15The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;

their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

16The

the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

17The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,

all the nations that forget God.

18But God will never forget the needy;

the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

19Arise,

let the nations be judged in your presence.

20Strike them with terror,

let the nations know they are only mortal.

Psalm 10

1Why,

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,

who are caught in the schemes he devises.

3He boasts about the cravings of his heart;

he blesses the greedy and reviles the

4In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;

in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

5His ways are always prosperous;

your laws are rejected by him;

he sneers at all his enemies.

6He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”

He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”

7His mouth is full of lies and threats;

trouble and evil are under his tongue.

8He lies in wait near the villages;

from ambush he murders the innocent.

His eyes watch in secret for his victims;

9like a lion in cover he lies in wait.

He lies in wait to catch the helpless;

he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.

10His victims are crushed, they collapse;

they fall under his strength.

11He says to himself, “God will never notice;

he covers his face and never sees.”

12Arise,

Do not forget the helpless.

13Why does the wicked man revile God?

Why does he say to himself,

“He won’t call me to account”?

14But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;

you consider their grief and take it in hand.

The victims commit themselves to you;

you are the helper of the fatherless.

15Break the arm of the wicked man;

call the evildoer to account for his wickedness

that would not otherwise be found out.

16The

the nations will perish from his land.

17You,

you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

18defending the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that mere earthly mortals

will never again strike terror.

Psalm 11

For the director of music. Of David.

1In the

How then can you say to me:

“Flee like a bird to your mountain.

2For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart.

3When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

4The

the

He observes everyone on earth;

his eyes examine them.

5The

but the wicked, those who love violence,

he hates with a passion.

6On the wicked he will rain

fiery coals and burning sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

7For the

he loves justice;

the upright will see his face.

Psalm 12

For the director of music. According to

1Help,

those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.

2Everyone lies to their neighbor;

they flatter with their lips

but harbor deception in their hearts.

3May the

and every boastful tongue—

4those who say,

“By our tongues we will prevail;

our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

5“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the

“I will protect them from those who malign them.”

6And the words of the

like silver purified in a crucible,

like gold refined seven times.

7You,

and will protect us forever from the wicked,

8who freely strut about

when what is vile is honored by the human race.

Psalm 13

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1How long,

How long will you hide your face from me?

2How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3Look on me and answer,

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

4and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6I will sing the

for he has been good to me.

Psalm 14

For the director of music. Of David.

1The fool says in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;

there is no one who does good.

2The

on all mankind

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

3All have turned away, all have become corrupt;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.

4Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;

they never call on the

5But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,

for God is present in the company of the righteous.

6You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,

but the

7Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

1

Who may live on your holy mountain?

2The one whose walk is blameless,

who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from their heart;

3whose tongue utters no slander,

who does no wrong to a neighbor,

and casts no slur on others;

4who despises a vile person

but honors those who fear the

who keeps an oath even when it hurts,

and does not change their mind;

5who lends money to the poor without interest;

who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things

will never be shaken.

Psalm 16

A

1Keep me safe, my God,

for in you I take refuge.

2I say to the

apart from you I have no good thing.”

3I say of the holy people who are in the land,

“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”

4Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.

I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods

or take up their names on my lips.

5

you make my lot secure.

6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

7I will praise the

even at night my heart instructs me.

8I keep my eyes always on the

With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

10because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

11You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 17

A prayer of David.

1Hear me,

listen to my cry.

Hear my prayer—

it does not rise from deceitful lips.

2Let my vindication come from you;

may your eyes see what is right.

3Though you probe my heart,

though you examine me at night and test me,

you will find that I have planned no evil;

my mouth has not transgressed.

4Though people tried to bribe me,

I have kept myself from the ways of the violent

through what your lips have commanded.

5My steps have held to your paths;

my feet have not stumbled.

6I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;

turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

7Show me the wonders of your great love,

you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes.

8Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

9from the wicked who are out to destroy me,

from my mortal enemies who surround me.

10They close up their callous hearts,

and their mouths speak with arrogance.

11They have tracked me down, they now surround me,

with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

12They are like a lion hungry for prey,

like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

13Rise up,

with your sword rescue me from the wicked.

14By your hand save me from such people,

from those of this world whose reward is in this life.

May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;

may their children gorge themselves on it,

and may there be leftovers for their little ones.

15As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;

when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

Psalm 18

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the

1I love you,

2The

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3I called to the

and I have been saved from my enemies.

4The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6In my distress I called to the

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

7The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

8Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

9He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

10He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13The

the voice of the Most High resounded.

14He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

15The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

17He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the

19He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

20The

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

21For I have kept the ways of the

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

22All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

23I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

24The

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

26to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

27You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

28You,

my God turns my darkness into light.

29With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

30As for God, his way is perfect:

The

he shields all who take refuge in him.

31For who is God besides the

And who is the Rock except our God?

32It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

33He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

34He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

36You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

37I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

38I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

39You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

40You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

41They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—

to the

42I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled them like mud in the streets.

43You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

44foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

45They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

46The

Exalted be God my Savior!

47He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

48who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

49Therefore I will praise you,

I will sing the praises of your name.

50He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

to David and to his descendants forever.

Psalm 19

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

3They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

4Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

5It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

7The law of the

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the

making wise the simple.

8The precepts of the

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the

giving light to the eyes.

9The fear of the

enduring forever.

The decrees of the

and all of them are righteous.

10They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

11By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

12But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

13Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

14May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1May the

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

2May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

3May he remember all your sacrifices

and accept your burnt offerings.

4May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

5May we shout for joy over your victory

and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the

6Now this I know:

The

He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary

with the victorious power of his right hand.

7Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the

8They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

9

Answer us when we call!