• The Nearness of God Is My Good

  • 1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!
  • 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, My steps had almost slipped.
  • 3 For I was envious of the boastful, I saw the peace of the wicked.
  • 4 For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat.
  • 5 They are not in trouble as other men, And they are not stricken along with the rest of mankind.
  • 6 Therefore lofty pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them.
  • 7 Their eye bulges from fatness; The delusions of their heart overflow.
  • 8 They scoff and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high.
  • 9 They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue goes through the earth.
  • 10 Therefore his people return here, to his place, And waters of fullness are drunk by them.
  • 11 They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
  • 12 Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
  • 13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence;
  • 14 For I have been stricken all day long And reproved every morning.
  • 15 If I had said, “I will recount thus,” Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
  • 16 When I gave thought to know this, It was trouble in my sight
  • 17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.
  • 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction.
  • 19 How they become desolate in a moment! They are completely swept away by terrors!
  • 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.
  • 21 When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within,
  • 22 Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like an animal before You.
  • 23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.
  • 24 With Your counsel You will lead me, And afterward take me in glory.
  • 25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
  • 26 My flesh and my heart fail, But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.
  • 27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed everyone who is unfaithful to You.
  • 28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have set Lord Yahweh as my refuge, That I may recount all Your works.