Psalm 56–59

Psalm 56

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David When the Philistines Captured Him in Gath.

¹Be ^bmerciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;

Fighting all day he oppresses me.

²My enemies would ^chound me all day,

For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.

³Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

⁴In God (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

^dI will not fear.

What can flesh do to me?

⁵All day they twist my words;

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They gather together,

They hide, they mark my steps,

When they lie in wait for my life.

⁷Shall they escape by iniquity?

In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸You number my wanderings;

Put my tears into Your bottle;

^eAre they not in Your book?

⁹When I cry out to You,

Then my enemies will turn back;

This I know, because ^fGod is for me.

¹⁰In God (I will praise His word),

In the Lord (I will praise His word),

¹¹In God I have put my trust;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

¹²Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;

I will render praises to You,

^13gFor You have delivered my soul from death.

Have You not kept my feet from falling,

That I may walk before God

In the ^hlight of the living?

Psalm 57

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David When He Fled from Saul into the Cave.

¹Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!

For my soul trusts in You;

^bAnd in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,

^cUntil these calamities have passed by.

²I will cry out to God Most High,

To God ^dwho performs all things for me.

^3eHe shall send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches the one who ²would swallow me up.

Selah

God ^fshall send forth His mercy and His truth.

⁴My soul is among lions;

I lie among the sons of men

Who are set on fire,

^gWhose teeth are spears and arrows,

And their tongue a sharp sword.

^5hBe exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

⁶ⁱThey have prepared a net for my steps;

My soul is bowed down;

They have dug a pit before me;

Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen.

Selah

^7jMy heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and give praise.

⁸Awake, ^kmy glory!

Awake, lute and harp!

I will awaken the dawn.

^9lI will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing to You among the ³nations.

^10mFor Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,

And Your truth unto the clouds.

¹¹ⁿBe exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 58

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.

¹Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?

Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?

²No, in heart you work wickedness;

You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

^3aThe wicked are estranged from the womb;

They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

^4bTheir poison is like the poison of a serpent;

They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,

⁵Which will not ^cheed the voice of charmers,

Charming ever so skillfully.

^6dBreak ²their teeth in their mouth, O God!

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

^7eLet them flow away as waters which run continually;

When he bends his bow,

Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.

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

^fLike a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

⁹Before your ^gpots can feel the burning thorns,

He shall take them away ^has with a whirlwind,

As in His living and burning wrath.

¹⁰The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the ⁱvengeance;

^jHe shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,

^11kSo that men will say,

“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

Surely He is God who ^ljudges in the earth.”

Psalm 59

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David When Saul Sent Men, and They Watched the House in Order to Kill Him.

¹Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;

²Defend me from those who rise up against me.

²Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,

And save me from bloodthirsty men.

³For look, they lie in wait for my life;

^bThe mighty gather against me,

Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.

⁴They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.

^cAwake to help me, and behold!

⁵You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,

Awake to punish all the ³nations;

Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors.

Selah

^6dAt evening they return,

They growl like a dog,

And go all around the city.

⁷Indeed, they belch with their mouth;

^eSwords are in their lips;

For they say, ^f“Who hears?”

⁸But ^gYou, O Lord, shall laugh at them;

You shall have all the ⁴nations in derision.

⁹I will wait for You, O You ⁵his Strength;

^hFor God is my ⁶defense.

¹⁰⁷My God of mercy shall ⁱcome to meet me;

God shall let ^jme see my desire on my enemies.

¹¹Do not slay them, lest my people forget;

Scatter them by Your power,

And bring them down,

O Lord our shield.

^12kFor the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,

Let them even be taken in their pride,

And for the cursing and lying which they speak.

^13lConsume them in wrath, consume them,

That they may not be;

And ^mlet them know that God rules in Jacob

To the ends of the earth.

Selah

¹⁴And ⁿat evening they return,

They growl like a dog,

And go all around the city.

¹⁵They ^owander up and down for food,

And ⁸howl if they are not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of Your power;

Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;

For You have been my defense

And refuge in the day of my trouble.

¹⁷To You, ^pO my Strength, I will sing praises;

For God is my defense,

My God of mercy.