Sixteen verses for a hurt that will not let go, grouped from naming the wound to seeking peace.
The psalms rarely tell anyone to forgive another person. What they do is name betrayal plainly, admit bitterness, and hand anger to God instead of acting on it. They describe God as ready to forgive and slow to anger, and they pray for people who repaid good with evil. Some of the same psalms also ask for harsh judgment on enemies, and this page does not hide that.
The verses run in order: naming the hurt, remembering the forgiveness you have received, letting go of revenge, and seeking reconciliation. Each one is shown in full with a note on what it says. Tick the ones you want and print them as a single sheet.
The psalms do not treat betrayal as small. These verses name the hurt and the anger before anything is let go.
But it was you, a man like me,my companion, and my familiar friend.
But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
The psalm names who did it and how close they were: my companion and my familiar friend. Verse 12 says an enemy's insult could have been endured.
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,who ate bread with me,has lifted up his heel against me.
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
The friend who turned had eaten bread with the writer. In John 13:18 Jesus quotes this verse about the one who would betray him.
For my soul was grieved.I was embittered in my heart.
Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
Bitterness admitted plainly: my soul was grieved, I was embittered in my heart. The next verse calls that state senseless.
Trust in him at all times, you people.Pour out your heart before him.God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Pour out your heart before him. Whatever is in the heart is spoken to God, not swallowed.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath. The reason given is practical: fretting leads only to evildoing.
The psalms speak far more about God forgiving than about people forgiving each other. These describe how God forgives.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,nor repaid us for our iniquities.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us. The verse describes a debt deliberately left unpaid.
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,Lord, who could stand?
If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
If you kept a record of sins, who could stand. The question applies to everyone, including the reader.
For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
God is called ready to forgive and abundant in loving kindness to all who call on him. Forgiveness is described as something God is prepared for, not reluctant about.
Verses where the writer is wronged and chooses prayer, or turns the search on himself.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.I afflicted my soul with fasting.My prayer returned into my own bosom.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
When they were sick, the writer wore sackcloth and fasted for them. Verse 12 says the same people repaid him evil for good.
In return for my love, they are my adversaries;but I am in prayer.
For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
In return for my love they are my adversaries, but I am in prayer. The rest of Psalm 109 asks for harsh judgment, so this verse is the calm point in an angry psalm.
if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me(yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),
If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
Before asking for justice, the writer checks his own hands: if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me.
See if there is any wicked way in me,and lead me in the everlasting way.
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
See if there is any wicked way in me. The request turns the search inward rather than toward the person who caused the hurt.
For making peace with someone, including when the other side does not want it.
Depart from evil, and do good.Seek peace, and pursue it.
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Seek peace, and pursue it. Peace is something to go after, not only wait for. 1 Peter 3:11 quotes this verse in a passage about not repaying evil for evil.
For my brothers’ and companions’ sakes,I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
For the sake of brothers and companions, the writer says peace be within you. The words are spoken over Jerusalem, for the sake of the people in it.
I am for peace,but when I speak, they are for war.
I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. An honest verse for a reconciliation the other side refuses.
Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness;let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head;don’t let my head refuse it;Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
Correction from a righteous person is called kindness, like oil on the head. It fits the side of reconciliation where you are the one being corrected.
Not in those words. The psalms describe God as forgiving, and they show writers praying for people who wronged them, as in Psalm 35:13 and Psalm 109:4. They also contain prayers for judgment on enemies, such as Psalm 109:6 to 20, and they hand vengeance to God in Psalm 94:1 rather than taking it. The plain command to forgive others comes in the New Testament, for example Matthew 6:14, rather than in the psalms.
No psalm is titled that way, but Psalm 73:21 admits being embittered in heart, and Psalm 37:8 says to cease from anger and forsake wrath. Psalm 62:8 says to pour out your heart before God.
Psalm 55:12 to 14 describes being wronged by a close companion who once walked to God's house with the writer. Psalm 41:9 speaks of a trusted friend who ate bread with him and turned.
Psalm 34:14 says to seek peace and pursue it, and Psalm 133 describes how good it is for brothers to live together in unity. Psalm 120:7 is for when the other side does not want peace.
Psalm 103:10 to 12 says God has not repaid us for our iniquities and has removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. Psalm 130:4 says there is forgiveness with God.
The psalms do not treat anger as something to hide. Many of them voice it directly to God, and Psalm 37:8, while it says to cease from anger, gives the reason that fretting leads to evildoing.
Psalms for Forgiveness and RepentancePsalms for AngerPsalms for Enemies and People Who Are Against YouPsalms for a Broken HeartPsalms about Mercy and GracePsalms for Peace of Mind and Comfort