Psalm 33 New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 33

¹ Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy.

⁴ For the word of the Lord is right and true;
    he is faithful in all he does.
⁵ The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars^[a];
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
¹¹ But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
    the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.
¹³ From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth—
¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸ But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

It is a great blessing
    when people are forgiven for the wrongs they have done,
    when their sins are erased.
² It is a great blessing
    when the Lord says they are not guilty,
    when they don’t try to hide their sins.

³ Lord, I prayed to you again and again,
    but I did not talk about my sins.
    So I only became weaker and more miserable.
⁴ Every day you made life harder for me.
    I became like a dry land in the hot summertime. Selah

⁵ But then I decided to confess my sins to the Lord.
    I stopped hiding my guilt and told you about my sins.
    And you forgave them all! Selah

⁶ That is why your loyal followers pray to you while there is still time.
    Then when trouble rises like a flood, it will not reach them.
⁷ You are a hiding place for me.
    You protect me from my troubles.
You surround me and protect me,
    so I sing about the way you saved me. Selah

⁸ The Lord says, “I will teach you
    and guide you in the way you should live.
    I will watch over you and be your guide.
⁹ Don’t be like a stupid horse or mule that will not come to you
    unless you put a bit in its mouth and pull it with reins.”

¹⁰ Many pains will come to the wicked,
    but the Lord’s faithful love will surround those who trust in him.
¹¹ Good people, rejoice and be very happy in the Lord.
    All you who want to do right, rejoice!

^1-2 I run to you, God; I run for dear life.
    Don’t let me down!
    Take me seriously this time!
Get down on my level and listen,
    and please—no procrastination!
Your granite cave a hiding place,
    your high cliff aerie a place of safety.

^3-5 You’re my cave to hide in,
    my cliff to climb.
Be my safe leader,
    be my true mountain guide.
Free me from hidden traps;
    I want to hide in you.
I’ve put my life in your hands.
    You won’t drop me,
    you’ll never let me down.

^6-13 I hate all this silly religion,
    but you, God, I trust.
I’m leaping and singing in the circle of your love;
    you saw my pain,
    you disarmed my tormentors,
You didn’t leave me in their clutches
    but gave me room to breathe.
Be kind to me, God—
    I’m in deep, deep trouble again.
I’ve cried my eyes out;
    I feel hollow inside.
My life leaks away, groan by groan;
    my years fade out in sighs.
My troubles have worn me out,
    turned my bones to powder.
To my enemies I’m a monster;
    I’m ridiculed by the neighbors.
My friends are horrified;
    they cross the street to avoid me.
They want to blot me from memory,
    forget me like a corpse in a grave,
    discard me like a broken dish in the trash.
The street-talk gossip has me
    “criminally insane”!
Behind locked doors they plot
    how to ruin me for good.

^14-18 Desperate, I throw myself on you:
    you are my God!
Hour by hour I place my days in your hand,
    safe from the hands out to get me.
Warm me, your servant, with a smile;
    save me because you love me.
Don’t embarrass me by not showing up;
    I’ve given you plenty of notice.
Embarrass the wicked, stand them up,
    leave them stupidly shaking their heads
    as they drift down to hell.
Gag those loudmouthed liars
    who heckle me, your follower,
    with jeers and catcalls.

^19-22 What a stack of blessing you have piled up
    for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
    to escape an unkind world.
You hide them safely away
    from the opposition.
As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces,
    you silence the poisonous gossip.
Blessed God!
    His love is the wonder of the world.
Trapped by a siege, I panicked.
    “Out of sight, out of mind,” I said.
But you heard me say it,
    you heard and listened.

²³ Love God, all you saints;
    God takes care of all who stay close to him,
But he pays back in full
    those arrogant enough to go it alone.

²⁴ Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up.
    Expect God to get here soon.

¹ I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
    and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
² O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
    and you have healed me.
³ O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
    restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

⁴ Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
    and give thanks to his holy name.
⁵ For his anger is but for a moment;
    his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.

⁶ As for me, I said in my prosperity,
    “I shall never be moved.”
⁷ By your favor, O Lord,
    you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
    I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, O Lord, I cried,
    and to the Lord I made supplication:
⁹ “What profit is there in my death,
    if I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it tell of your faithfulness?
¹⁰ Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
    O Lord, be my helper!”

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into dancing;
    you have taken off my sackcloth
    and clothed me with joy,
¹² so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.