1  To you, O Lord, I call;

^jmy rock, be not deaf to me,

lest, if you ^kbe silent to me,

I become like those who ^lgo down to the pit.

2  ^mHear the voice of my pleas for mercy,

when I cry to you for help,

when I ⁿlift up my hands

^otoward your most holy sanctuary.¹

3  Do not ^pdrag me off with the wicked,

with the workers of evil,

^qwho speak peace with their neighbors

while evil is in their hearts.

4  ^rGive to them according to their work

and according to the evil of their deeds;

give to them according to the work of their hands;

^srender them their due reward.

5  Because they ^tdo not regard the works of the Lord

or the work of his hands,

he will tear them down and build them up no more.

6  Blessed be the Lord!

For he has ^uheard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

7  The Lord is my strength and ^vmy shield;

in him my heart ^wtrusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my ^xsong I give thanks to him.

8  The Lord is the strength of his people;²

he is ^ythe saving refuge of his anointed.

9  Oh, save your people and bless ^zyour heritage!

^aBe their shepherd and ^bcarry them forever.

2  “Today also my ^rcomplaint is bitter;¹

my ^shand is heavy on account of my groaning.

3  Oh, ^tthat I knew where I might find him,

that I might come even to his ^useat!

4  I would ^vlay my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

5  I would know what he would answer me

and understand what he would say to me.

6  Would he ^wcontend with me in the greatness of his power?

No; he would pay attention to me.

7  There an upright man could argue with him,

and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

8  “Behold, ^xI go forward, but he is not there,

and backward, but I do not perceive him;

9  on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;

he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

10  But he ^yknows ^zthe way that I ^atake;

when he has ^btried me, I shall come out as gold.

11  My foot ^chas held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have ^dnot turned aside.

12  I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

I have ^etreasured the words of his mouth more than my ^fportion of food.

13  But he is unchangeable,² and ^gwho can turn him back?

What he ^hdesires, that he does.

14  For he will complete what he ⁱappoints for me,

and many such things are ^jin his mind.

15  Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

when I consider, I am in dread of him.

16  God has made my ^kheart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me;

17  yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,

nor because thick darkness covers my face.