He Will Not Forsake His Saints

Of David.

¹Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

²For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

³Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.1

⁴Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

⁶He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

⁷Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

⁸Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

⁹For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

¹⁰In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

¹¹But the meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace.

¹²The wicked plots against the righteous

and gnashes his teeth at him,

¹³but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose way is upright;

¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶Better is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will remain forever;

¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times;

in the days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked will perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows but does not pay back,

but the righteous is generous and gives;

²²for those blessed by the Lord2 shall inherit the land,

but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

²³The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

²⁴though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord upholds his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging for bread.

²⁶He is ever lending generously,

and his children become a blessing.

²⁷Turn away from evil and do good;

so shall you dwell forever.

²⁸For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land

and dwell upon it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

³²The wicked watches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

³³The Lord will not abandon him to his power

or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴Wait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

³⁵I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,

spreading himself like a green laurel tree.3

³⁶But he passed away,4 and behold, he was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace.

³⁸But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.