The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV
Page 255
Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.
15He made a pit and dug it out,
qAnd has fallen into the ditch which he made.
16rHis trouble shall return upon his own head,
And his violent dealing shall come down on 5his own crown.
17I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness,
And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
Psalm 8
The Glory of the LORD in Creation
To the Chief Musician. 1On the instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David.
1O LORD, our Lord,
How aexcellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have bset Your glory above the heavens!
2cOut of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have 2ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence dthe enemy and the avenger.
3When I econsider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4fWhat is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You gvisit3 him?
5For You have made him a little lower than 4the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6hYou have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
iYou have put all things under his feet,
7All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
9jO LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Psalm 9
Prayer and Thanksgiving for the LORD’s Righteous Judgments
To the Chief Musician. To the tune of 1“Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.
1I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
2I will be glad and arejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, bO Most High.
3When my enemies turn back,
They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
4For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
5You have rebuked the 2nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have cblotted out their name forever and ever.
6O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
And you have destroyed cities;
Even their memory has dperished.
7eBut the LORD shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
8fHe shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
9The LORD also will be a grefuge3 for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
10And those who hknow Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion!
iDeclare His deeds among the people.
12jWhen He avenges blood, He remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the 4humble.
13Have mercy on me, O LORD!
Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
14That I may tell of all Your praise
In the gates of 5the daughter of Zion.
I will krejoice in Your salvation.
15lThe 6nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
16The LORD is mknown by the judgment He executes;
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.
nMeditation.7 Selah
17The wicked shall be turned into hell,
And all the 8nations othat forget God.
18pFor the needy shall not always be forgotten;
qThe expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
19Arise, O LORD,
Do not let man prevail;
Let the 9nations be judged in Your sight.
20Put them in fear, O LORD,
That the 10nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah
Psalm 10
A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil
1Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
2The wicked in his pride 1persecutes the poor;
aLet them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
3For the wicked bboasts of his heart’s desire;
2He cblesses the greedy and renounces the LORD.
4The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
3God is in none of his dthoughts.
5His ways 4are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
6eHe has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
fI shall never be in adversity.”
7gHis mouth is full of cursing and hdeceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
8He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
9He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
10So 5he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his 6strength.
11He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”
12Arise, O LORD!
O God, ilift up Your hand!
Do not forget the jhumble.
13Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.”
14But You have kseen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless lcommits7 himself to You;
mYou are the helper of the fatherless.
15Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16nThe LORD is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
17LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
18To 8do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may 9oppress no more.
Psalm 11
Faith in the LORD’s Righteousness
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1In athe LORD I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2For look! bThe wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot 1secretly at the upright in heart.
3cIf the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
4The LORD is in His holy temple,
The LORD’s dthrone is in heaven;
eHis eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
5The LORD ftests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
gShall be 2the portion of their cup.
7For the LORD is righteous,
He hloves righteousness;
3His countenance beholds the upr
ight.
Psalm 12
Man’s Treachery and God’s Constancy
To the Chief Musician. aOn 1an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
1Help,2 LORD, for the godly man bceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2cThey speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and 3a double heart they speak.
3May the LORD 4cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks 5proud things,
4Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6The words of the LORD are dpure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7You shall keep them, O LORD,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men. Messianic Prophecies in the Psalms
Psalm 13
Trust in the Salvation of the LORD
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
aHow long will You hide Your face from me?
2How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
bEnlighten my eyes,
cLest I sleep the sleep of death;
4Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 14
Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
(Ps. 53:1–6)
1The afool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.
2bThe LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
3cThey have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And ddo not call on the LORD?
5There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
6You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the LORD is his erefuge.
7fOh,1 that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
gWhen the LORD brings back 2the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.
Psalm 15
The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the LORD
A Psalm of David.
1LORD, awho may 1abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
2He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the btruth in his heart;
3He who cdoes not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
dNor does he 2take up a reproach against his friend;
4eIn whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the LORD;
He who fswears to his own hurt and does not change;
5He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things gshall never be moved.
Psalm 16
The Hope of the Faithful, and the Messiah’s Victory
A aMichtam of David.
1Preserve1 me, O God, for in You I put my trust.
2O my soul, you have said to the LORD,
“You are my Lord,
bMy goodness is nothing apart from You.”
3As for the saints who are on the earth,
“They are the excellent ones, in cwhom is all my delight.”
4Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;
Their drink offerings of dblood I will not offer,
eNor take up their names on my lips.
5O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You 2maintain my lot.
6The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
7I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel;
My 3heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
8fI have set the LORD always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will 4rest in hope.
10gFor You will not leave my soul in 5Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to 6see corruption.
11You will show me the hpath of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 17
Prayer with Confidence in Final Salvation
A Prayer of David.
1Hear a just cause, O LORD,
Attend to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.
2Let my vindication come from Your presence;
Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.
3You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
aYou have 1tried me and have found 2nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not btransgress.
4Concerning the works of men,
By the word of Your lips,
I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.
5cUphold my steps in Your paths,
That my footsteps may not slip.
6dI have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God;
Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.
7Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand,
O You who 3save those who trust in You
From those who rise up against them.
8Keep me as the 4apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
9From the wicked who oppress me,
From my deadly enemies who surround me.
10They have closed up their efat hearts;
With their mouths they fspeak proudly.
11They have now surrounded us in our steps;
They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,
12As a lion is eager to tear his prey,
And like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13Arise, O LORD,
Confront him, cast him down;
Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,
14With Your hand from men, O LORD,
From men of the world who have their portion in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure.
They are satisfied with children,
And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.
15As for me, gI will see Your face in righteousness;
hI shall be satisfied when I iawake in Your likeness.
Psalm 18
God the Sovereign Savior
(2 Sam. 22:1–51)
To the Chief Musi
cian. A Psalm of David athe servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of bthis song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
1I cWILL love You, O LORD, my strength.
2The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my 1strength, din whom I will trust;
My shield and the 2horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3I will call upon the LORD, ewho is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
4fThe pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of 3ungodliness made me afraid.
5The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6In my distress I called upon the LORD,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7gThen the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9hHe bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10iAnd He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
jHe flew upon the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness His secret place;
kHis canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12lFrom the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13The LORD thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered mHis voice,
4Hailstones and coals of fire.
14nHe sent out His arrows and scattered 5the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O LORD,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16oHe sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my support.
19pHe also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
20qThe LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands