Psalm 56–60

PSALM 56

Supplication for Deliverance and Grateful Trust in God.

For the choir director; according to ^†•Mikhtam of David, ^{^}when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

¹Be gracious to me, O God, for man has ^1atrampled upon me;

²Fighting all day long he ^boppresses me.

²My foes have ^1atrampled upon me all day long,

For ²they are many who ^bfight proudly against me.

³¹When I am ^aafraid,

²I will ^bput my trust in You.

^4aIn God, whose word I praise,

In God I have put my trust;

I shall not be afraid.

^bWhat can mere ¹man do to me?

⁵All day long they ^1adistort my words;

All their ^2bthoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They ^1aattack, they lurk,

They ^bwatch my ²steps,

As they have ^cwaited to take my ³life.

⁷Because of wickedness, ^1acast them forth,

In anger ^bput down the peoples, O God!

⁸You ^ahave taken account of my wanderings;

Put my ^btears in Your bottle.

Are they not in ^cYour book?

⁹Then my enemies will ^aturn back ^bin the day when I call;

This I know, ¹that ^cGod is for me.

¹⁰In God, whose word I praise,

In the Lord, whose word I praise,

¹¹In God I have put my ¹trust, I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

¹²Your ^avows are binding upon me, O God;

I will render thank offerings to You.

¹³For You have ^adelivered my soul from death,

¹Indeed ^bmy feet from stumbling,

So that I may ^cwalk before God

In the ^dlight of the ²living.

PSALM 57

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.

For the choir director; set to ^†•Mikhtam of David, ^{^}when he fled from Saul in the cave.

¹Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,

For my soul ^atakes refuge in You;

And in the ^bshadow of Your wings I will take refuge

Until destruction ^cpasses by.

²I will cry to God Most High,

To God who ^aaccomplishes all things for me.

³He will ^asend from heaven and save me;

He reproaches him who ^1btramples upon me.

²Selah.

God will send forth His ^clovingkindness and His ³truth.

⁴My soul is among ^alions;

I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,

Even the sons of men, whose ^bteeth are spears and arrows

And their ^ctongue a sharp sword.

^5aBe exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

⁶They have ¹prepared a ^anet for my steps;

My soul is ^bbowed down;

They ^cdug a pit before me;

They themselves have ^dfallen into the midst of it.

Selah.

^7aMy ^bheart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!

⁸Awake, ^amy glory!

Awake, ^bharp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

^9aI will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to You among the ¹nations.

¹⁰For Your ^alovingkindness is great to the heavens

And Your ¹truth to the clouds.

^11aBe exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

PSALM 58

Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.

For the choir director; set to ^†Al-tashheth. A ^•Mikhtam of David.

¹Do you indeed ¹speak righteousness, O ²gods?

Do you ^ajudge ³uprightly, O sons of men?

²No, in heart you ^awork unrighteousness;

On earth you ^bweigh out the violence of your hands.

³The wicked are estranged ^afrom the womb;

These who speak lies ^bgo astray from ¹birth.

⁴They have venom like the ^avenom of a serpent;

Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,

⁵So that it ^adoes not hear the voice of ^1bcharmers,

Or a skillful caster of spells.

⁶O God, ^ashatter their teeth in their mouth;

Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

⁷Let them ^aflow away like water that runs off;

When he ^1baims his arrows, let them be as ²headless shafts.

⁸Let them be as a snail which ¹melts away as it goes along,

Like the ^amiscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.

⁹Before your ^apots can feel the fire of thorns

He will ^bsweep them away with a whirlwind, the ¹green and the burning alike.

¹⁰The ^arighteous will rejoice when he ^bsees the vengeance;

He will ^cwash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹And men will say, “Surely there is a ^1areward for the righteous;

Surely there is a God who ^bjudges ²on earth!”

PSALM 59

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies.

For the choir director; set to ^†Al-tashheth. A ^•Mikhtam of David, ^{^}when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.

^1aDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

^1bSet me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.

²Deliver me from ^athose who do iniquity

And save me from ^bmen of bloodshed.

³For behold, they ^ahave ¹set an ambush for my ²life;

³Fierce men ⁴launch an attack against me,

^bNot for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord,

^41aFor no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.

^bArouse Yourself to ²help me, and see!

⁵You, ^aO Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,

Awake to ^1bpunish all the nations;

^cDo not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity.

²Selah.

⁶They ^areturn at evening, they howl like a ^bdog,

And go around the city.

⁷Behold, they ^abelch forth with their mouth;

^bSwords are in their lips,

For, they say, “^cWho hears?”

⁸But You, O Lord, ^alaugh at them;

You ^bscoff at all the nations.

⁹Because of ¹his ^astrength I will watch for You,

For God is my ^bstronghold.

¹⁰¹My God ^ain His lovingkindness will meet me;

God will let me ^blook triumphantly upon ²my foes.

¹¹Do not slay them, ^aor my people will forget;

^1bScatter them by Your power, and bring them down,

O Lord, ^cour shield.

¹²¹On account of the ^asin of their mouth and the words of their lips,

Let them even be ^bcaught in their pride,

And on account of ^ccurses and ²lies which they utter.

^131aDestroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more;

That men may ^bknow that God ²rules in Jacob

To the ends of the earth.

Selah.

¹⁴They ^areturn at evening, they howl like a dog,

And go around the city.

¹⁵They ^awander about ¹for food

And ²growl if they are not satisfied.

¹⁶But as for me, I shall ^asing of Your strength;

Yes, I shall ^bjoyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the ^cmorning,

For You have been my ^dstronghold

And a ^erefuge in the day of my distress.

^17aO my strength, I will sing praises to You;

For God is my ^bstronghold, the ¹God who shows me lovingkindness.

PSALM 60

Lament over Defeat in Battle, and Prayer for Help.

For the choir director; according to ^†•Mikhtam of David, to teach; ^{^}when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

¹O God, ^aYou have rejected us. You have ^1bbroken us;

You have been ^cangry; O, ^drestore us.

²You have made the ^1aland quake, You have split it open;

^bHeal its breaches, for it totters.

³You have ^1amade Your people experience hardship;

You have given us ²wine to ^bdrink that makes us stagger.

⁴You have given a ^abanner to those who fear You,

That it may be displayed because of the truth.

¹Selah.

^5aThat Your ^bbeloved may be delivered,

^cSave with Your right hand, and answer ¹us!

⁶God has spoken in His ^1aholiness:

“I will exult, I will portion out ^bShechem and measure out the valley of ^cSuccoth.

⁷“^aGilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;

^bEphraim also is the ¹helmet of My head;

Judah is My ^2cscepter.

⁸“^aMoab is My washbowl;

Over ^bEdom I shall throw My shoe;

Shout loud, O ^cPhilistia, because of Me!”

⁹Who will bring me into the besieged city?

Who ¹will lead me to Edom?

¹⁰Have not You Yourself, O God, ^arejected us?

And ^bwill You not go forth with our armies, O God?

¹¹O give us help against the adversary,

For ^adeliverance ¹by man is in vain.

¹²¹Through God we shall ^ado valiantly,

And it is He who will ^btread down our adversaries.