1A melody of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to the pure in heart.2But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; my steps had nearly lost their footing.3For I was jealous of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.4For there are no bonds at their death, and their strength is fat.5They are not in the trouble of man, and with man they are not stricken.6Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.7Their eyes bulge from fatness; the imaginations of their hearts overflow.8They mock and speak with evil; they speak oppression from on high.9They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.10Therefore his people turn here, and abundant waters are drained out for them.11And they say, "How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?"12Behold, these are the wicked and at ease forever; they increase in wealth.13Surely in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.14And I have been stricken all the day, and my rebuke comes every morning.15If I had said, "I will recount thus," behold, I would have acted treacherously against the generation of your children.16And I considered to know this; it was troublesome in my eyes.17Until I came into the sanctuaries of God, then I discerned their end.18Surely you set them in slippery places; you cast them down to desolations.19How they are become a horror in a moment! They are finished, swept away by terrors.20Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise their image.21When my heart was embittered and I was pierced in my kidneys.22And I was brutish and did not know; I was like an animal with you.23Nevertheless I am continually with you; you have grasped my right hand.24You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me to glory.25Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you I have no desire on earth.26My flesh and my heart fail; God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.27For behold, those far from you shall perish; you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you.28But as for me, the nearness of God is good for me; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may recount all your works.