Psalm 54–56

Psalm 54

For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a maskil by David when people from the city of Ziph told Saul that David was hiding among them. 

¹O God, save me by your name, 

and defend me with your might. 

²O God, hear my prayer, 

and open your ears to the words from my mouth. 

³Strangers have attacked me. 

Ruthless people seek my life. 

They do not think about God. 

Selah 

⁴God is my helper! 

The Lord is the provider for my life. 

⁵My enemies spy on me. 

Pay them back with evil. 

Destroy them with your truth! 

⁶I will make a sacrifice to you along with a freewill offering. 

I will give thanks to your good name, O Lord. 

⁷Your name rescues me from every trouble. 

My eyes will gloat over my enemies. 

Psalm 55

For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a maskil by David. 

¹Open your ears to my prayer, O God. 

Do not hide from my plea for mercy. 

²Pay attention to me, and answer me. 

My thoughts are restless, and I am confused 

³because my enemy shouts at me 

and a wicked person persecutes me. 

They bring misery crashing down on me, 

and they attack me out of anger. 

⁴My heart is in turmoil. 

The terrors of death have seized me. 

⁵Fear and trembling have overcome me. 

Horror has overwhelmed me. 

⁶I said, “If only I had wings like a dove— 

I would fly away and find rest. 

⁷Indeed, I would run far away. 

I would stay in the desert. 

Selah 

⁸I would hurry to find shelter 

from the raging wind and storm.” 

⁹Completely confuse their language, O Lord, 

because I see violence and conflict in the city. 

¹⁰Day and night they go around on ⸤top of⸥ the city walls. 

Trouble and misery are everywhere. 

¹¹Destruction is everywhere. 

Oppression and fraud never leave the streets.^a

¹²If an enemy had insulted me, 

then I could bear it. 

If someone who hated me had attacked me, 

then I could hide from him. 

¹³But it is you, my equal, 

my best friend, 

one I knew so well! 

¹⁴We used to talk to each other in complete confidence 

and walk into God’s house with the festival crowds. 

¹⁵Let death suddenly take ⸤wicked people⸥! 

Let them go into the grave while they are still alive, 

because evil lives in their homes as well as in their hearts. 

¹⁶But I call on God, 

and the Lord saves me. 

¹⁷Morning, noon, and night I complain and groan, 

and he listens to my voice. 

¹⁸With ⸤his⸥ peace, he will rescue my soul 

from the war waged against me, 

because there are many ⸤soldiers fighting⸥ against me. 

¹⁹God will listen. 

The one who has sat enthroned from the beginning 

will deal with them. 

Selah 

They never change. They never fear God. 

²⁰⸤My best friend⸥ has betrayed his friends. 

He has broken his solemn promise. 

²¹His speech is smoother than butter, 

but there is war in his heart. 

His words are more soothing than oil, 

but they are like swords ready to attack. 

²²Turn your burdens over to the Lord, 

and he will take care of you. 

He will never let the righteous person stumble. 

²³But you, O God, will throw ⸤wicked people⸥ into the deepest pit. 

Bloodthirsty and deceitful people will not live out half their days. 

But I will trust you. 

Psalm 56

For the choir director; according to yonath elem rechokim;^aa miktam by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath. 

¹Have pity on me, O God, because people are harassing me. 

All day long warriors oppress me. 

²All day long my enemies spy on me. 

They harass me. 

There are so many fighting against me. 

³Even when I am afraid, I still trust you. 

⁴I praise God’s word. 

I trust God. 

I am not afraid. 

What can mere flesh ⸤and blood⸥ do to me? 

⁵All day long my enemies twist my words. 

Their every thought is an evil plan against me. 

⁶They attack, and then they hide. 

They watch my every step as they wait to take my life. 

⁷With the wrong they do, can they escape? 

O God, angrily make the nations fall. 

⁸(You have kept a record of my wanderings. 

Put my tears in your bottle. 

They are already in your book.) 

⁹Then my enemies will retreat when I call ⸤to you⸥. 

This I know: God is on my side. 

¹⁰I praise God’s word. 

I praise the Lord’s word. 

¹¹I trust God. 

I am not afraid. 

What can mortals do to me? 

¹²I am bound by my vows to you, O God. 

I will keep my vows by offering songs of thanksgiving to you. 

¹³You have rescued me from death. 

You have kept my feet from stumbling 

so that I could walk in your presence, in the light of life.