Psalm 108–110

Prayer to Yahweh for Victory over Enemies

108A song. A psalm of David.^a

¹My heart is steadfast, O God.

I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.^b

²Awake, harp and lyre.

I will awake the dawn.^c

³I will give you thanks among the peoples, O Yahweh;

I will give you praise among the nations,

⁴because your loyal love is great above the heavens,

and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

⁵Be exalted above the heavens, O God,

and let your glory be above all the earth,

⁶so that your beloved ones may be rescued.

Save by your right hand and answer me.

⁷God has spoken in his holiness,

“I will exult, I will divide up Shechem,

and portion out the valley of Succoth.

⁸Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine.

And Ephraim is the helmet for^d my head.

Judah is my scepter;^e

⁹Moab is my washing pot.

Over Edom I will cast my sandal;

Over Philistia I will shout in triumph.”

¹⁰Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

¹¹Have you not rejected us, O God,

and not gone out with our armies, O God?

¹²Give us help against the enemy,

for the help of humankind is futile.

¹³Through God we will do valiantly,^f

and it is he who will tread down our enemies.

A Prayer for Help against Enemies

109For the music director. A psalm of David.^a

¹O God of my praise, do not keep silent,

²for wicked and deceitful mouths^b

have opened against me.

They speak to me with a lying tongue.

³They also surround me with words of hate,

and fight me without cause.

⁴In return for my love they accuse me,

though I am in prayer.^c

⁵So they inflicted evil against me in return for good

and hatred in return for my love.

⁶Appoint over him a wicked man,

and let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, let him come out guilty,

and let his prayer^d become as sin.

⁸Let his days be few;

let another take his office.

⁹Let his children be orphans,

and his wife a widow,

¹⁰and let his children wander aimlessly and beg,

and let them plead from their ruins.

¹¹Let the creditor seize all that is his,

and let strangers plunder his property.

¹²Let there be none who extend to him loyal love,

nor any who pities his orphans.

¹³Let his descendants^e be cut off.

Let their name be blotted out in the next generation.

¹⁴Let the iniquity of his ancestors^f be remembered before Yahweh,

and let the sin of his mother not be blotted out.

¹⁵Let them be before Yahweh continually,

that he may cut off their^g memory from the earth,

¹⁶because he did not remember to show loyal love,

but he pursued anyone,^h poor or needy

or brokenhearted, to slay them.

¹⁷Because he loved cursing, let it come upon him.

Because he did not delight in blessing,

let it be far from him.

¹⁸Because he wore a curse as his robe,

let it enter his bodyⁱ like water,

and into his bones like oil.

¹⁹May it be for him like a garment in which he wraps,

and a belt he continually wears.^j

²⁰Let this be the punishment for my accusers from Yahweh,

even those who speak evil against my life.

²¹But you, O Yahweh my Lord,

deal with me for your name’s sake.

Because your loyal love is good, deliver me,

²²for I am poor and needy,

and my heart is wounded within me.

²³Like a lengthening shadow I am passing away;

I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees buckle^k from fasting,

and my body grows lean without fat.

²⁵And so I am a disgrace to them;

when they see me, they shake their heads.^l

²⁶Help me, O Yahweh my God;

save me according to your loyal love,

²⁷that they may know that this is your hand,

that you, O Yahweh, you have done it.

²⁸Let them curse, but you bless.

When they arise, let them be put to shame,

that your servant may be glad.

²⁹Let my accusers put on disgrace,

and let them cover themselves with their shame as with a robe.

³⁰I will give thanks to Yahweh exceedingly with my mouth,

and in the midst of many I will praise him,

³¹for he stands at the right hand of the needy,

to save him from those judging his life.^m

Yahweh Gives Authority to His Messiah

110Of David. A psalm.^a

¹A declaration of Yahweh to my lord,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies your footstool.”

²Yahweh will send out your mighty scepter from Zion;

rule in the midst of your enemies.

³Your people will volunteer^b in the day of your power.^c

In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn,

you will have the dew of your youth.^d

⁴Yahweh has sworn and he will not change his mind,

“You are a priest forever

according to the manner of Melchizedek.”

⁵O Lord, at your right hand

he will shatter kings in the day of his anger.

⁶He will judge among the nations;

he will fill them with corpses.

He will shatter the rulers^e of many countries.

⁷He will drink from the stream by the road;

therefore he will lift up his head.