Psalm 4–10

Psalm 4

For the director of music. A psalm of David to be played on stringed instruments.

¹My faithful God,

answer me when I call out to you.

Give me rest from my trouble.

Show me your favor. Hear my prayer.

²How long will you people turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love what will certainly fail you?

How long will you pray to statues of gods? Selah

³Remember that the Lord has set his faithful people apart for himself.

The Lord will hear me when I call out to him.

⁴When you are angry, do not sin.

When you are in bed,

look deep down inside you and be silent. Selah

⁵Offer sacrifices to the Lord in the right way.

Trust in him.

⁶Many are asking, “Who can show us anything good?”

Lord, let us see your face smiling on us with favor.

⁷You have filled my heart with great joy.

It is greater than the joy of people who have lots of grain and fresh wine.

⁸I will lie down and sleep in peace.

Lord, you alone keep me safe.

Psalm 5

For the director of music. A psalm of David to be played on flutes.

¹Lord, listen to my words.

Pay attention when I sigh.

²My King and my God,

listen to me when I cry for help.

I pray to you.

³Lord, in the morning you hear my voice.

In the morning I pray to you.

I wait for you in hope.

⁴God, you aren’t happy with anything that is evil.

Those who do what is wrong can’t live where you are.

⁵Those who are proud can’t stand in front of you.

You hate everyone who does what is evil.

⁶You destroy those who tell lies.

Lord, you hate murderers and those who cheat others.

⁷Because of your great love

I will come into your house.

With deep respect I will bow down

toward your holy temple.

⁸Lord, I have many enemies.

Lead me in your right path.

Make your way smooth and straight for me.

⁹Not a word from their mouths can be trusted.

Their hearts are filled with plans to destroy others.

Their throats are like open graves.

With their tongues they tell lies.

¹⁰God, show that they are guilty.

Let their evil plans bring them down.

Send them away because of their many sins.

They have refused to obey you.

¹¹But let all those who go to you for safety be glad.

Let them always sing with joy.

Spread your cover over them and keep them safe.

Then those who love you will be glad because of you.

¹²Lord, you bless those who do what is right.

Like a shield, your loving care keeps them safe.

Psalm 6

For the director of music. For sheminith. A psalm of David to be played on stringed instruments.

¹Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry.

Don’t punish me when you are burning with anger.

²Lord, have mercy on me. I’m so weak.

Lord, heal me. My body is full of pain.

³My soul is very troubled.

Lord, how long will it be until you save me?

⁴Lord, turn to me and help me.

Save me. Your love never fails.

⁵People can’t remember you when they are dead.

How can they praise you when they are in the grave?

⁶My groaning has worn me out.

All night long my tears flood my bed.

My bed is wet because of my crying.

⁷I’m so sad I can’t see very well.

My eyesight gets worse because of all of my enemies.

⁸Get away from me, all of you who do evil.

The Lord has heard my sobbing.

⁹The Lord has heard my cry for his favor.

The Lord accepts my prayer.

¹⁰All of my enemies will be troubled and put to shame.

They will turn back in dishonor. It will happen suddenly.

Psalm 7

A shiggaion of David. He sang it to the Lord about Cush, who was from the tribe of Benjamin.

¹Lord my God, I go to you for safety.

Help me. Save me from all those who are chasing me.

²If you don’t, they will tear me apart as if they were lions.

They will rip me to pieces so that no one can save me.

³Lord my God, suppose I have done something wrong.

Suppose I am guilty.

⁴I have done evil to my friend.

Or I have robbed my enemy without any reason.

⁵If I have done any of those things, let my enemy chase me and catch me.

Let him walk all over me.

Let him bury me in the dust. Selah

⁶Lord, rise up in your anger.

Rise up against the great anger of my enemies.

My God, wake up. Command that the right thing be done.

⁷Let all the people of the earth gather around you.

Rule over them from your throne in heaven.

⁸Lord, judge all people.

Lord, judge me. But remember that I have done what is right.

Most High God, remember that I am honest.

⁹God, you always do what is right.

You look deep down inside the hearts and minds of people.

Bring to an end the terrible things sinful people do.

Make godly people safe.

¹⁰The Most High God is like a shield that keeps me safe.

He saves those whose hearts are honest.

¹¹God judges fairly.

He shows his anger every day.

¹²If evil people don’t change their ways,

God will sharpen his sword.

He will get his bow ready to use.

¹³He has prepared his deadly weapons.

He has made his flaming arrows ready.

¹⁴Anyone who is full of evil

plans trouble and ends up telling lies.

¹⁵Anyone who digs a hole and shovels it out

falls into the pit he has made.

¹⁶The trouble he causes comes back on him.

The terrible things he does come down on his own head.

¹⁷I will give thanks to the Lord because he does what is right.

I will sing praise to the Lord Most High.

Psalm 8

For the director of music. For gittith. A psalm of David.

¹Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in the whole earth!

You have made your glory

higher than the heavens.

²You have made sure that children

and infants praise you.

You have done it because of your enemies.

You have done it to put a stop to their talk.

³I think about the heavens.

I think about what your fingers have created.

I think about the moon and stars

that you have set in place.

⁴What is a human being that you think about him?

What is a son of man that you take care of him?

⁵You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings.

You placed on him a crown of glory and honor.

⁶You made human beings the rulers over all that your hands have created.

You put everything under their control.

⁷They rule over all flocks and herds

and over the wild animals.

⁸They rule over the birds of the air

and over the fish in the ocean.

They rule over everything that swims in the oceans.

⁹Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in the whole earth!

Psalm 9

For the director of music. A psalm of David to the tune of “The Death of the Son.”

¹Lord, I will praise you with all my heart.

I will tell about all of the miracles you have done.

²I will be glad and full of joy because of you.

Most High God, I will sing praise to you.

³My enemies turn back.

They fall down and die right in front of you.

⁴You have proved that I haven’t done anything wrong.

You have sat on your throne and judged fairly.

⁵You have punished the nations. You have destroyed evil people.

You have erased their names from your book for ever and ever.

⁶The enemy has been destroyed forever.

You have leveled their cities to the ground.

Even the memory of them is gone.

⁷The Lord rules forever.

He has set up his throne so that he can judge people.

⁸He will judge the world in keeping with what is right.

He will rule over all of its people fairly.

⁹The Lord is a place of safety for those who have been beaten down.

He keeps them safe in times of trouble.

¹⁰Lord, those who know you will trust in you.

You have never deserted those who look to you.

¹¹Sing praises to the Lord. He rules from his throne in Zion.

Tell among the nations what he has done.

¹²The One who pays back murderers remembers.

He doesn’t forget the cries of those who are hurting.

¹³Lord, see how badly my enemies treat me!

Show me your favor. Don’t let me go down to the gates of death.

¹⁴Then I can give praise to you

at the gates of the city of Zion.

There I will be full of joy

because you have saved me.

¹⁵The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug.

Their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

¹⁶The Lord is known to be fair.

Evil people are trapped by what they have done. Higgaion. Selah

¹⁷Sinful people go down to the grave.

So do all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸But those who are in need will always be remembered.

The hope of those who are hurting will never die.

¹⁹Lord, rise up. Don’t let people win the battle.

Let the nations come to you and be judged.

²⁰Lord, strike them with terror.

Let the nations know they are only human. Selah

Psalm 10

¹Lord, why are you so far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

²An evil person is proud and hunts down those who are weak.

He catches weak people by making clever plans.

³He brags about what his heart longs for.

He speaks well of those who always want more.

He attacks the Lord with his words.

⁴Because he is proud, that evil person doesn’t turn to the Lord.

There is no room for God in any of his thoughts.

⁵Everything always goes well for him.

So he is proud.

He doesn’t want to have anything to do with God’s laws.

He makes fun of all of his enemies.

⁶He says to himself, “I will always be secure.

I will always be happy. I’ll never have any trouble.”

⁷His mouth is full of curses and lies and warnings.

With his tongue he speaks evil and makes trouble.

⁸Sinful people hide and wait near the villages.

From their hiding places they murder those who aren’t guilty of doing anything wrong.

They watch in secret for those they want to attack.

⁹They hide and wait like a lion in the bushes.

From their hiding places they wait to catch those who are helpless.

They catch them and drag them off in their nets.

¹⁰Those they have attacked are beaten up. They fall to the ground.

They fall because their attackers are too strong for them.

¹¹Sinful people say to themselves, “God doesn’t pay any attention.

He covers his face. He never sees us.”

¹²Lord, rise up! God, show your power!

Don’t forget those who are helpless.

¹³Why do sinful people attack you with their words?

Why do they say to themselves,

“He won’t hold us accountable”?

¹⁴God, you see trouble and sadness.

You take note of it. You do something about it.

So those who are attacked place themselves in your care.

You help children whose fathers have died.

¹⁵Take away the power of bad and sinful people.

Hold them accountable for the evil things they do.

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