He Will Not Forsake His Saints

1 Of David.

¹uFret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not venvious of wrongdoers!

²For they will soon wfade like xthe grass

and wither ylike the green herb.

³zTrust in the Lord, and do good;

adwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.2

⁴bDelight yourself in the Lord,

and he will cgive you the desires of your heart.

⁵dCommit your way to the Lord;

ztrust in him, and he will act.

⁶eHe will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as fthe noonday.

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

hfret not yourself over the one who iprospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

⁸jRefrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

hFret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

⁹kFor the evildoers shall be cut off,

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

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

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

¹¹But othe meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in pabundant peace.

¹²The wicked qplots against the righteous

and rgnashes his teeth at him,

¹³but the Lord slaughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his tday is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and ubend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose vway is upright;

¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their wbows shall be broken.

¹⁶xBetter is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For ythe arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the Lord zupholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord aknows the days of the blameless,

and their bheritage will remain forever;

¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times;

in cthe days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked will perish;

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

they vanish—like esmoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows but does not pay back,

but the righteous fis generous and gives;

²²for those blessed by the Lord3 shall ginherit the land,

but those cursed by him hshall be cut off.

²³The isteps of a man are jestablished by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

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

for the Lord lupholds his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children mbegging for bread.

²⁶He is ever nlending generously,

and his children become a blessing.

²⁷oTurn away from evil and do good;

so shall you pdwell forever.

²⁸For the Lord qloves justice;

he will not forsake his rsaints.

They are preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be scut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land

and pdwell upon it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

³¹tThe law of his God is in his heart;

his usteps do not slip.

³²The wicked vwatches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

³³The Lord will not wabandon him to his power

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

³⁴yWait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on zwhen the wicked are cut off.

³⁵aI have seen a wicked, ruthless man,

spreading himself like ba green laurel tree.4

³⁶But he passed away,5 and behold, che 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 dpeace.

³⁸But etransgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the future of the wicked fshall be cut off.

³⁹gThe salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in hthe time of trouble.

⁴⁰The Lord helps them and idelivers them;

jhe delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they ktake refuge in him.