Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself [is] Judge. Selah

So that men will say, "Surely [there is] a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth."

He raises the poor out of the dust, [And] lifts the needy out of the ash heap,

That He may seat [him] with princes -- With the princes of His people.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.

He raises the poor from the dust [And] lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set [them] among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth [are] the LORD's, And He has set the world upon them.

For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from [being] king."

So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, [who is] better than you.

Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons."

Now Abner had communicated with the elders of Israel, saying, "In time past you were seeking for David [to be] king over you.

"Now then, do [it!] For the LORD has spoken of David, saying, 'By the hand of My servant David, I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and the hand of all their enemies.' "

"Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.' "

So David said to Michal, "[It was] before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play [music] before the LORD.

'And command them to say to their masters, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel -- thus you shall say to your masters:

'And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.

'And it shall be, [that] the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,' says the LORD, 'with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what [is] in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.

"You, O king, [are] a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;

"O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor.

He has put down the mighty from [their] thrones, And exalted [the] lowly.

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

For if their being cast away [is] the reconciling of the world, what [will] their acceptance [be] but life from the dead?

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called [me] through His grace,