Psalm 55

Betrayal of a Friend and Trust in God

55For the music director, with stringed instruments.

A maskil of David.^a

¹Give ear, O God, to my prayer,

and do not hide yourself from my plea.

²Attend to me and answer me.

I am restless in my lamenting and I groan,

³because of the voice of an enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked,

because they bring down evil on me,

and in anger they hold a grudge against me.

⁴My heart trembles within me,

and deathly terrors fall on me.

⁵Fear and trembling come on me,

and horror overwhelms me.

⁶So I say, “Oh, that^b I had wings like a dove.

I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷Look, I would flee far away.

I would dwell in the wilderness. Selah

⁸I would hurry to my refuge

from the raging wind and storm.”

⁹Confuse, O Lord; divide their speech,

because I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls,

and iniquity and trouble are in its midst.

¹¹Destruction is within it,

and oppression and deceit

do not depart from its public square.

¹²For it is not an enemy that taunts me,

or I could bear it.

It is not one who hates me that magnifies himself over me,

or I could hide myself from him.

¹³But it is you, a man my equal,

my friend and confidant.

¹⁴We who would take sweet counsel together;

in the house^c of God

we would walk with the throng.

¹⁵Let death deceive them. May they descend to Sheol alive,

because evil is in their home and heart.^d

¹⁶As for me, I will call to God,

and Yahweh will save me.

¹⁷Morning, noon and night^e I will lament and groan loudly,

and he will hear my voice.

¹⁸He safely redeems my life from the battle against me,^f

because those standing against me are among many.

¹⁹God will hear and answer them,^g

he who is enthroned from of old, Selah

Because they do not change,

and they do not fear God.

²⁰He has put forth his hands against his friends;^h

he has defiled his covenant.

²¹The buttery wordsⁱ of his mouth were smooth,

but there was battle in his heart.

His words were smoother than oil,

but they were drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on Yahweh,

and he will sustain you.

He will never allow the righteous to be moved.^j

²³But you, O God, you will bring them down to the pit of corruption.

The men of bloodshed and deceit will not live half their days,

but I will trust you.