1
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
2
in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my
enemies triumph over me.
3
No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame who are
treacherous without excuse.
4
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
5
guide me un your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6
Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
7
Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to
your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
8
Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
10
All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep
the demands of his covenant.
11
For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though
it is great.
12
Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way
chosen for him.
13
He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit
the land.
14
The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant
known to them.
15
My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.
16
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17
The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish.
18
Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.
19
See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me!
20
Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take
refuge in you.
21
May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.
22
Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!
May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.
* 21
if ever we needed two powerful forces to preserve us along life’s way, they are integrity and uprightness. The psalmist asks for these to be his bodyguards, to protect him step by step. Uprightness makes us learn God’s requirements and strive to fulfill them. Integrity – being what we say we are – keeps us from claiming to be upright while living as if we do not know God. Uprightness says, “This is the Shepherd’s way,” and integrity says, “I will walk consistently in it.”