Loading chapter...
Surely God is good to Israel,Even to such as are pure in heart.But as for me, my feet were almost gone;My steps had well nigh slipped.For I was envious at the arrogant,When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.For there are no pangs in their death;But their strength is firm.They are not in trouble as other men;Neither are they plagued like other men.Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;Violence covereth them as a garment.Their eyes stand out with fatness:They have more than heart could wish.They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:They speak loftily.They have set their mouth in the heavens,And their tongue walketh through the earth.Therefore his people return hither:And waters of a full cup are drained by them.And they say, How doth God know?And is there knowledge in the Most High?Behold, these are the wicked;And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,And washed my hands in innocency;For all the day long have I been plagued,And chastened every morning.If I had said, I will speak thus;Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.When I thought how I might know this,It was too painful for me;Until I went into the sanctuary of God,And considered their latter end.Surely thou settest them in slippery places:Thou castest them down to destruction.How are they become a desolation in a moment!They are utterly consumed with terrors.As a dream when one awaketh,So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.For my soul was grieved,And I was pricked in my heart:So brutish was I, and ignorant;I was as a beast before thee.Nevertheless I am continually with thee:Thou hast holden my right hand.Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,And afterward receive me to glory.Whom have I in heaven but thee?And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.My flesh and my heart faileth;But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.But it is good for me to draw near unto God:I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge,That I may tell of all thy works.