Great Psalm

1 How happy is he who cares for the poor! The Lord delivers him in times of adversity.

2 The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will make you happy in the land and will not give you over to the desire of your enemies.

3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed, and from sickness he will restore him.

4 I said, “Mercy, Lord! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

5 My enemies say maliciously about me: “When will he die? When will your name disappear?”

6 Whenever someone comes to visit me, he speaks falsely, fills his heart with slander and then spreads them wherever he goes.

7 All those who hate me gather together and whisper against me, imagining that the worst will happen to me:

8 “A terrible plague overthrew him; he is in bed and will never get up.”

9 Even my best friend, whom I trusted and shared my bread, has turned against me.

10 But you, Lord, have mercy on me; lift me up, that I may repay them.

11 I know that you love me, because my enemy does not triumph over me.

12 Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me before you forever.

13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and amen!