Save Me, O My God
A Psalm of David, nwhen he fled from Absalom his son.
1 O Lord, ohow many are my foes!
Many are prising against me;
2 many are saying of my soul,
3 But you, O Lord, are ra shield sabout me,
my glory, and tthe lifter of my head.
4 I ucried aloud to the Lord,
5 I xlay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
6 I ywill not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have zset themselves against me all around.
7 aArise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you bstrike all my enemies on the cheek;
you cbreak the teeth of the wicked.
8 dSalvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
Answer Me When I Call
To the echoirmaster: with estringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my frighteousness!
You have ggiven me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
2 O men,2 how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after hlies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has iset apart jthe godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
lponder in your own hearts mon your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer nright sacrifices,
and put your otrust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
pLift up qthe light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put rmore joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will both slie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me tdwell in safety.
The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.
1 Save, O Lord, for mthe godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone nutters lies to his neighbor;
3 May the Lord cut off all oflattering lips,
the tongue that makes qgreat boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because rthe poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
sI will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the tsafety for which he longs.”
6 uThe words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
you will guard us2 from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.
How Long, O Lord?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 vHow long, O Lord? Will you wforget me forever?
How long will you xhide your face from me?
2 How long must I take ycounsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 zConsider and answer me, O Lord my God;
alight up my eyes, lest bI sleep the sleep of death,
4 clest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am dshaken.
5 But I have etrusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall frejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield
Of David.
1 To you, O Lord, I call;
jmy rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you kbe silent to me,
I become like those who lgo down to the pit.
2 mHear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I nlift up my hands
3 Do not pdrag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
qwho speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 rGive to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
srender them their due reward.
5 Because they tdo not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has uheard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and vmy shield;
in him my heart wtrusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my xsong I give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;2
he is ythe saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless zyour heritage!
Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with fstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David.
1 gGive ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless hin my complaint and I imoan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they jdrop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 nyes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from othe raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, pdivide their tongues;
for I see qviolence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and riniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
soppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who tdeals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 uBut it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked in vthe throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol walive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16 But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 xEvening and ymorning and at znoon
I autter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for bmany are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is centhroned from of old, Selah
because they do not dchange
and do not fear God.
20 My companion2 estretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21 His fspeech was gsmooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were hdrawn swords.
22 iCast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
jhe will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, kwill cast them down
into lthe pit of destruction;
men of mblood and treachery
shall not nlive out half their days.
But I will otrust in you.