5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,

your very bones will vibrate with life!

Honor God with everything you own;

give him the first and the best.

Your barns will burst,

your wine vats will brim over.

But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;

don’t sulk under his loving correction.

It’s the child he loves that God corrects;

a father’s delight is behind all this.

1-13 You who sit down in the High God’s presence,

spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,

Say this: "God, you’re my refuge.

I trust in you and I’m safe!"

That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,

shields you from deadly hazards.

His huge outstretched arms protect you—

under them you’re perfectly safe;

his arms fend off all harm.

Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,

not flying arrows in the day,

Not disease that prowls through the darkness,

not disaster that erupts at high noon.

Even though others succumb all around,

drop like flies right and left,

no harm will even graze you.

You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,

watch the wicked turn into corpses.

Yes, because God’s your refuge,

the High God your very own home,

Evil can’t get close to you,

harm can’t get through the door.

He ordered his angels

to guard you wherever you go.

If you stumble, they’ll catch you;

their job is to keep you from falling.

You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,

and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

1-5 Those who trust in God

are like Zion Mountain:

Nothing can move it, a rock-solid mountain

you can always depend on.

Mountains encircle Jerusalem,

and God encircles his people—

always has and always will.

The fist of the wicked

will never violate

What is due the righteous,

provoking wrongful violence.

Be good to your good people, God,

to those whose hearts are right!

God will round up the backsliders,

corral them with the incorrigibles.

Peace over Israel!

1-10 Hallelujah!

Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God,

Who cherish and relish his commandments,

Their children robust on the earth,

And the homes of the upright—how blessed!

Their houses brim with wealth

And a generosity that never runs dry.

Sunrise breaks through the darkness for good people—

God’s grace and mercy and justice!

The good person is generous and lends lavishly;

No shuffling or stumbling around for this one,

But a sterling and solid and lasting reputation.

Unfazed by rumor and gossip,

Heart ready, trusting in God,

Spirit firm, unperturbed,

Ever blessed, relaxed among enemies,

They lavish gifts on the poor—

A generosity that goes on, and on, and on.

An honored life! A beautiful life!

Someone wicked takes one look and rages,

Blusters away but ends up speechless.

There’s nothing to the dreams of the wicked. Nothing.

3,4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed,

settle down and stick to your last.

Keep company with God,

get in on the best.

5,6 Open up before God, keep nothing back;

he’ll do whatever needs to be done:

He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day

and stamp you with approval at high noon.

9,10 God’s a safe-house for the battered,

a sanctuary during bad times.

The moment you arrive, you relax;

you’re never sorry you knocked.

7,8 "But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,

the woman who sticks with God.

They’re like trees replanted in Eden,

putting down roots near the rivers—

Never a worry through the hottest of summers,

never dropping a leaf,

Serene and calm through droughts,

bearing fresh fruit every season.

* * *

1-6 At that time, this song

will be sung in the country of Judah:

We have a strong city, Salvation City,

built and fortified with salvation.

Throw wide the gates

so good and true people can enter.

People with their minds set on you,

you keep completely whole,

Steady on their feet,

because they keep at it and don’t quit.

Depend on God and keep at it

because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.

Those who lived high and mighty

he knocked off their high horse.

He used the city built on the hill

as fill for the marshes.

All the exploited and outcast peoples

build their lives on the reclaimed land.

2 "Yes, indeed—God is my salvation.

I trust, I won’t be afraid.

God—yes God!—is my strength and song,

best of all, my salvation!"

10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,

beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.

I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God

than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.

All sunshine and sovereign is God,

generous in gifts and glory.

He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.

It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

7,8 See those people polishing their chariots,

and those others grooming their horses?

But we’re making garlands for God our God.

The chariots will rust,

those horses pull up lame—

and we’ll be on our feet, standing tall.

5-16 Pushed to the wall, I called to God;

from the wide open spaces, he answered.

God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;

who would dare lay a hand on me?

God’s my strong champion;

I flick off my enemies like flies.

Far better to take refuge in God

than trust in people;

Far better to take refuge in God

than trust in celebrities.

Hemmed in by barbarians,

in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;

Hemmed in and with no way out,

in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;

Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in;

in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt.

I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,

when God grabbed and held me.

God’s my strength, he’s also my song,

and now he’s my salvation.

Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs

in the camp of the saved?

"The hand of God has turned the tide!

The hand of God is raised in victory!

The hand of God has turned the tide!"

10,11 I’m proud to praise God,

proud to praise God.

Fearless now, I trust in God;

what can mere mortals do to me?

5,6 I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—

I’m celebrating your rescue.

I’m singing at the top of my lungs,

I’m so full of answered prayers.

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.

4,5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,

turn your backs on the world’s "sure thing,"

ignore what the world worships;

The world’s a huge stockpile

of God-wonders and God-thoughts.

Nothing and no one

compares to you!

I start talking about you, telling what I know,

and quickly run out of words.

Neither numbers nor words

account for you.

1-4 "Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking."