Psalm 35–36

Psalm 35

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, stand up against those who stand up against me.

Fight against those who fight against me.

²Pick up your large shields and your small shields.

Rise up and help me.

³Get your spear and javelin ready to fight

against those who are chasing me.

Say to me, “I will save you.”

⁴Let those who are trying to kill me

be brought down in dishonor.

Let those who plan to destroy me

be turned back in terror.

⁵Let them be like straw blowing in the wind,

while the angel of the Lord drives them away.

⁶Let their path be dark and slippery,

while the angel of the Lord chases them.

⁷They set a trap for me without any reason.

Without any reason they dug a pit to catch me.

⁸So let them be destroyed without warning.

Let the trap they set for me catch them.

Let them fall into the pit and be destroyed.

⁹Then I will be full of joy because of what the Lord has done.

I will be glad because he has saved me.

¹⁰My whole being will cry out,

“Who is like you, Lord?

You save poor people from those who are too strong for them.

You save poor and needy people from those who rob them.”

¹¹Mean people come forward to give witness against me.

They ask me things I don’t know anything about.

¹²They pay me back with evil, even though I was good to them.

They leave me without hope.

¹³But when they were sick, I put on black clothes.

I made myself low by going without food.

My prayers for them weren’t always answered.

¹⁴So I went around crying

as if I were crying over my friend or relative.

I bowed my head in sadness

as if I were sobbing over my mother.

¹⁵But when I tripped and fell, they were all very happy.

Attackers gathered against me when I didn’t even know it.

They kept on telling lies about me.

¹⁶They were like ungodly people. They made fun of me.

They ground their teeth at me in hate.

¹⁷Lord, how much longer will you just look on?

Save me from their deadly attacks.

Save the only life I have.

Save me from those lions.

¹⁸I will give you thanks in the whole community.

Among all of your people I will praise you.

¹⁹Don’t let those who are my enemies without any reason

laugh at me and make fun of me.

Don’t let those who hate me without any reason

wink at me with an evil purpose.

²⁰They don’t speak words of peace.

They make up false charges

against those who live quietly in the land.

²¹They open their mouths wide at me. They make fun of me.

They say, “With our own eyes we have seen what you did.”

²²Lord, you have seen this. Don’t be silent.

Lord, don’t be far away from me.

²³Wake up! Rise up to help me!

My God and Lord, stand up for me.

²⁴Lord my God, when you hand down your sentence, let it be in my favor.

You always do what is right.

Don’t let my enemies have the joy of seeing me fall.

²⁵Don’t let them think, “That’s exactly what we wanted!”

Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶Let all those who laugh at me because I’m in trouble

be ashamed and bewildered.

Let all who think they are better than I am

put on shame and dishonor as if they were clothes.

²⁷Let those who are happy when my name is cleared

shout with joy and gladness.

Let them always say, “May the Lord be honored.

He is pleased when everything goes well with the one who serves him.”

²⁸You always do what is right. My tongue will speak about it

and praise you all day long.

Psalm 36

For the director of music. A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord.

¹Here are the words God has given me to say

about the evil ways of anyone who sins.

He doesn’t have any respect for God.

²He praises himself so much

that he can’t see his sin or hate it.

³His mouth speaks words that are evil and false.

He has stopped being wise. He has stopped doing good.

⁴Even as he lies in bed he makes evil plans.

He commits himself to a sinful way of life.

He never says no to what is wrong.

⁵Lord, your love is as high as the heavens.

Your faithful love reaches up to the skies.

⁶You are as holy as the mountains are high.

You are as honest as the oceans are deep.

Lord, you keep people and animals safe.

⁷How priceless your faithful love is!

Important and ordinary people alike

find safety in the shadow of your wings.

⁸They eat well because there is more than enough in your house.

You let them drink from your river that flows with good things.

⁹You have the fountain of life.

We are filled with light because you give us light.

¹⁰Keep on loving those who know you.

Keep on doing right to those whose hearts are honest.

¹¹Don’t let the feet of those who are proud step on me.

Don’t let the hands of those who are evil drive me away.

¹²See how those who do evil have fallen!

They are thrown down. They aren’t able to get up.