³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.^[b]
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.

⁷ Be 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!

⁸ Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
⁹ For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

¹⁰ In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in abundant peace.

¹² The wicked plots against the righteous
    and gnashes his teeth at him,
¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
    for he sees that his day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose way is upright;
¹⁵ their sword shall enter their own heart,
    and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ Better is the little that the righteous has
    than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
    but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
    and their heritage will remain forever;
¹⁹ they are not put to shame in evil times;
    in the days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰ But the wicked will perish;
    the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
    they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

²¹ The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
    but the righteous is generous and gives;
²² for those blessed by the Lord^[c] shall inherit the land,
    but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

²³ The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
    when he delights in his way;
²⁴ though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
    for the Lord upholds his hand.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children begging for bread.
²⁶ He is ever lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.

²⁷ Turn away from evil and do good;
    so shall you dwell forever.
²⁸ For the Lord loves justice;
    he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹ The righteous shall inherit the land
    and dwell upon it forever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
    and his tongue speaks justice.
³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
    his steps do not slip.

³² The wicked watches for the righteous
    and seeks to put him to death.
³³ The Lord will not abandon him to his power
    or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴ Wait 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.

³⁵ I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
    spreading himself like a green laurel tree.^[d]
36 But he passed away,^[e] and behold, he was no more;
    though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷ Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
    for there is a future for the man of peace.
³⁸ But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
    the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹ The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
⁴⁰ The Lord helps them and delivers them;
    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    because they take refuge in him.

ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

REVERENCE

God’s Praiseworthy Attributes:

• Protects and provides for his people. – vv. 1-4
• Worthy of praise. – vv. 3, 18, 20, 22, 40
• God is our refuge. – vv. 22, 24, 40
• He is trustworthy and righteous. – vv. 3, 5, 29, 39
• Protests us from evil. – vv. 9, 20, 22, 28
• Watches over his people. – vv. 11, 18, 23, 32, 33
• Delivers from all fear. – vv. 34, 39, 40
• Delivers us out of trouble. – vv. 39, 40
• Has an inheritance for his people. – vv. 18, 22, 29
• Source of peace. – v. 37
• He is holy. – vv. 17, 40

Possible Prayer Prompts:

• Lord, I praise you in the midst of my problems because you are ______.
• Thank you for protecting my family from evil…
• I worship you for being my provider…
• I praise you Lord because You have delivered me from…
• I praise you because you have an inheritance for me…
• Thank you for being my refuge…
• Lord, I fear/reverence You because You…

Response

• I confess I do not trust you when…
• I confess that I am becoming weary…
• I confess my faith gets weak when…
• I confess that I want to strike back at my enemies…
• I confess my anger to you…

RequestS

• Lord turn my worry into worship…
• Lord help me to pray for my enemies…
• Help me to be patient with….
• Help me to stop leaning on my own understanding…
• Give me grace to seek and pursue peace this week with…
• Teach me how to turn to you in my time of need…
• Teach me how to be patient and refrain from anger…

Readiness

• Lord, I am trusting you in spite of…
• Lord, I will trust you to provide for …
• Lord, give me grace not to fear…
• Lord, I will trust you and be patient in…