<p class="poetry">I am not condemning<n id="1" /> you because of your sacrifices,p> <p class="poetry">or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">He alone is my protector<n id="1" /> and deliverer.p> <p class="poetry">He is my refuge;<n id="2" /> I will not be upended.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">If I had harbored sin in my heart,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the Lord would not have listened.p>

<p class="poetry">God deserves praise,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for<n id="2" /> he did not reject my prayerp> <p class="poetry">or abandon his love for me!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They are immune to the trouble common to men;p> <p class="poetry">they do not suffer as other men do.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Whom do I have in heaven but you?p> <p class="poetry">I desire no one but you on earth.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">For victory does not come from the east or west,p> <p class="poetry">or from the wilderness.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">They did not keep their covenant with God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and they refused to obey<n id="2" /> his law.p>

<p class="poetry">because they did not have faith in God,p> <p class="poetry">and did not trust his ability to deliver them.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">They were not really committed to him,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and they were unfaithful to his covenant.p>

<p class="poetry">Yet they challenged and defied<n id="1" /> the sovereign God,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and did not obey<n id="3" /> his commands.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">He rejected the tent of Joseph;p> <p class="poetry">he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.p>

<p class="poetry">If his sons reject my lawp> <p class="poetry">and disobey my regulations,p>

<p class="poetry">if they break<n id="1" /> my rulesp> <p class="poetry">and do not keep my commandments,p>

<p class="poetry">But I will not remove<n id="1" /> my loyal love from him,p> <p class="poetry">nor be unfaithful to my promise.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">You need not fear the terrors of the night,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the arrow that flies by day,p>

<p class="poetry">Though a thousand may fall beside you,p> <p class="poetry">and a multitude on your right side,p> <p class="poetry">it<n id="1" /> will not reach you.p>

<p class="poetry">Then they say, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> does not see this;p> <p class="poetry">the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will have nothing to do with a perverse person;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will not permit<n id="2" /> evil.p>

<p class="poetry">He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.<n id="2" />p>