Help Me, O Lord My God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 tBe not silent, O uGod of my praise!
2 For wicked and vdeceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me wwithout cause.
4 In return for my love they xaccuse me,
but I ygive myself to prayer.1
5 So they zreward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 aAppoint a wicked man bagainst him;
let an accuser stand cat his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his dprayer be counted as sin!
8 May his edays be few;
may fanother take his goffice!
9 May his hchildren be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children iwander about and beg,
jseeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May kthe creditor seize all that he has;
may kstrangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to lextend kindness to him,
nor any to mpity his fatherless children!
13 May his nposterity be cut off;
may his oname be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May pthe iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
and let not the sin of his mother be qblotted out!
15 rLet them be before the Lord continually,
that he may scut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued tthe poor and needy
and uthe brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 vHe loved to curse; let curses come2 upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far3 from him!
18 He wclothed himself with cursing as his coat;
may it xsoak4 into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my yaccusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O God my Lord,
deal on my behalf zfor your name’s sake;
because your asteadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am bpoor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like ca shadow at evening;
I am dshaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak ethrough fasting;
my fbody has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am gan object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they hwag their heads.
26 iHelp me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them jknow that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it!
28 kLet them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but lyour servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be mclothed with dishonor;
may they nbe wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will opraise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands pat the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to tLilies. Of David.
1 Save me, O God!
For uthe waters have come up to my neck.1
2 I sink in deep vmire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood wsweeps over me.
3 xI am weary with my crying out;
ymy throat is parched.
zMy eyes grow dim
with awaiting for my God.
4 bMore in number than the hairs of my head
are cthose who hate me dwithout cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
ethose who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you fbe put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become ha stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For izeal for your house has consumed me,
and jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled2 my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made ksackcloth my clothing,
I became la byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who msit in the gate,
and the drunkards make nsongs about me.
13 But as for me, my oprayer is to you, O Lord.
At pan acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in qthe mire;
rlet me be delivered from my enemies
and from sthe deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your vsteadfast love is good;
according to your abundant wmercy, xturn to me.
17 yHide not your face from your servant,
zfor I am in distress; amake haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my breproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 bReproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in cdespair.
I dlooked for epity, but there was none,
and for fcomforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me gpoison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me hsour wine to drink.
22 iLet their own jtable before them become a snare;
kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.3
23 lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
mand make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 nMay their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they opersecute him whom pyou have struck down,
and they recount the pain of qthose you have wounded.
27 rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.4
28 Let them be sblotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be tenrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, uset me on high!
30 I will vpraise the name of God with a song;
I will wmagnify him with xthanksgiving.
31 This will yplease the Lord more than an ox
or a bull zwith horns and hoofs.
32 When athe humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, alet your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 Let cheaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For dGod will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so vfar from saving me, from the words of my wgroaning?
2 O my God, I cry by xday, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are yholy,
zenthroned on athe praises1 of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they bcried and were rescued;
in you they ctrusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am da worm and not a man,
escorned by mankind and fdespised by the people.
7 All who see me gmock me;
they make mouths at me; they hwag their heads;
8 i“He trusts in the Lord; let him jdeliver him;
let him rescue him, for he kdelights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who ltook me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from mmy mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not nfar from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is onone to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
pstrong bulls of qBashan surround me;
13 they ropen wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am spoured out like water,
and all my bones are tout of joint;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is wdried up like a potsherd,
and my xtongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For ydogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers zencircles me;
they have apierced my hands and feet2—
17 I can count all my bones—
they bstare and gloat over me;
18 cthey divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, ndo not be far off!
O you my help, dcome quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of ethe dog!
21 Save me from fthe mouth of the lion!
22 hI will tell of your name to my ibrothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who jfear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, kglorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of lthe afflicted,
and he has not mhidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he ncried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great ocongregation;
my pvows I will qperform before those who fear him.
26 rThe afflicted4 shall seat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts tlive forever!
27 All uthe ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all vthe families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For wkingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall ybow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not zkeep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ageneration;
31 they shall bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet cunborn,
that he has done it.
You Will Not Abandon My Soul
A hMiktam1 of David.
1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I itake refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
jI have no good apart from you.”
3 As for kthe saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.2
4 The sorrows of those who run after3 another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or ltake their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is mmy chosen portion and my ncup;
you hold my olot.
6 pThe lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who qgives me counsel;
in rthe night also my sheart instructs me.4
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my xwhole being5 rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to ySheol,
11 You make known to me cthe path of life;
in your presence there is dfullness of joy;
at your right hand are epleasures forevermore.