Psalm 56–59

A Prayer of Trust in God^+r

56 Be merciful to me, O God,

because I am under attack;

my enemies persecute me all the time.

²All day long my opponents attack me.

There are so many who fight against me.

³When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty,

I put my trust in you.

⁴I trust in God and am not afraid;

I praise him for what he has promised.

What can a mere human being do to me?

⁵My enemies make trouble for me all day long;

they are always planning how to hurt me!

⁶They gather in hiding places

and watch everything I do,

hoping to kill me.

⁷Punish^s them, O God, for their evil;

defeat those people in your anger!

⁸You know how troubled I am;

you have kept a record of my tears.

Aren’t they listed in your book?

⁹The day I call to you,

my enemies will be turned back.

I know this: God^t is on my side-

¹⁰the Lord, whose promises I praise.

¹¹In him I trust, and I will not be afraid.

What can a mere human being do to me?

¹²O God, I will offer you what I have promised;

I will give you my offering of thanksgiving,

¹³because you have rescued me from death

and kept me from defeat.

And so I walk in the presence of God,

in the light that shines on the living.

A Prayer for Help^+u

57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful,

because I come to you for safety.

In the shadow of your wings I find protection

until the raging storms are over.

²I call to God, the Most High,

to God, who supplies my every need.

³He will answer from heaven and save me;

he will defeat my oppressors.

God will show me his constant love and faithfulness.

⁴I am surrounded by enemies,

who are like lions hungry for human flesh.

Their teeth are like spears and arrows;

their tongues are like sharp swords.

⁵Show your greatness in the sky, O God,

and your glory over all the earth.

⁶My enemies have spread a net to catch me;

I am overcome with distress.

They dug a pit in my path,

but fell into it themselves.

⁷I have complete confidence, O God;

I will sing and praise you!

⁸Wake up, my soul!

Wake up, my harp and lyre!

I will wake up the sun.

⁹I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations.

I will praise you among the peoples.

¹⁰Your constant love reaches the heavens;

your faithfulness touches the skies.

¹¹Show your greatness in the sky, O God,

and your glory over all the earth.

A Prayer for God to Punish the Wicked^v

58 Do you rulers^w ever give a just decision?

Do you judge everyone fairly?

²No! You think only of the evil you can do,

and commit crimes of violence in the land.

³Evildoers go wrong all their lives;

they tell lies from the day they are born.

⁴They are full of poison like snakes;

they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra,

⁵which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer,

or the chant of the clever magician.

⁶Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God.

⁷May they disappear like water draining away;

may they be crushed like weeds on a path.^x

⁸May they be like snails that dissolve into slime;

may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.

⁹Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds;

in his fierce anger God will blow them away

while they are still living.^y

¹⁰The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished;

they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

¹¹People will say, “The righteous are indeed rewarded;

there is indeed a God who judges the world.”

A Prayer for Safety^+z

59 Save me from my enemies, my God;

protect me from those who attack me!

²Save me from those evil people;

rescue me from those murderers!

³Look! They are waiting to kill me;

cruel people are gathering against me.

It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done,

⁴nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord,

that they hurry to their places.

⁵Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid;

see for yourself, God of Israel!

Wake up and punish the heathen;

show no mercy to evil traitors!

⁶They come back in the evening,

snarling like dogs as they go about the city.

⁷Listen to their insults and threats.

Their tongues are like swords in their mouths,

yet they think that no one hears them.

⁸But you laugh at them, Lord;

you mock all the heathen.

⁹I have confidence in your strength;

you are my refuge, O God.

¹⁰My God loves me and will come to me;

he will let me see my enemies defeated.

¹¹Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget.

Scatter them by your strength and defeat them,

O Lord, our protector.

¹²Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful;

may they be caught in their pride!

Because they curse and lie,

¹³destroy them in your anger;

destroy them completely.

Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel,

that his rule extends over all the earth.

¹⁴My enemies come back in the evening,

snarling like dogs as they go about the city,

¹⁵like dogs roaming about for food

and growling if they do not find enough.

¹⁶But I will sing about your strength;

every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love.

You have been a refuge for me,

a shelter in my time of trouble.

¹⁷I will praise you, my defender.

My refuge is God,

the God who loves me.