Psalm 54–56

PSALM 54

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is in hiding among us.”

¹Save me, O God, by thy name,

and vindicate me by thy might.

²Hear my prayer, O God;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For insolent men have risen against me,

ruthless men seek my life;

they do not set God before them. [Selah]

⁴Behold, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

⁵He will requite my enemies with evil;

in thy faithfulness put an end to them.

⁶With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to thee;

I will give thanks to thy name, O Lord, for it is good.

⁷For thou hast delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

PSALM 55

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.

¹Give ear to my prayer, O God;

and hide not thyself from my supplication!

²Attend to me, and answer me;

I am overcome by my trouble.

I am distraught ³by the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they bring trouble upon me,

and in anger they cherish enmity against me.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me,

the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵Fear and trembling come upon me,

and horror overwhelms me.

⁶And I say, “O that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

⁷yea, I would wander afar,

I would lodge in the wilderness, [Selah]

⁸I would haste to find me a shelter

from the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹Destroy their plans, O Lord, confuse their tongues;

for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it

on its walls;

and mischief and trouble are within it,

¹¹ruin is in its midst;

oppression and fraud

do not depart from its market place.

¹²It is not an enemy who taunts me—

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

¹³But it is you, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

¹⁴We used to hold sweet converse together;

within God’s house we walked in fellowship.

¹⁵Let death come upon them;

let them go down to Sheol alive;

let them go away in terror into their graves.

¹⁶But I call upon God;

and the Lord will save me.

¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon

I utter my complaint and moan,

and he will hear my voice.

¹⁸He will deliver my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for many are arrayed against me.

¹⁹God will give ear, and humble them,

he who is enthroned from of old;

because they keep no law,

and do not fear God. [Selah]

²⁰My companion stretched out his hand against his friends,

he violated his covenant.

²¹His speech was smoother than butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

he will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

²³But thou, O God, wilt cast them down

into the lowest pit;

men of blood and treachery

shall not live out half their days.

But I will trust in thee.

PSALM 56

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

¹Be gracious to me, O God, for men trample upon me;

all day long foemen oppress me;

²my enemies trample upon me all day long,

for many fight against me proudly.

³When I am afraid,

I put my trust in thee.

⁴In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust without a fear.

What can flesh do to me?

⁵All day long they seek to injure my cause;

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They band themselves together, they lurk,

they watch my steps.

As they have waited for my life,

⁷so recompense them for their crime;

in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸Thou hast kept count of my tossings;

put thou my tears in thy bottle!

Are they not in thy book?

⁹Then my enemies will be turned back

in the day when I call.

This I know, that God is for me.

¹⁰In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

¹¹in God I trust without a fear.

What can man do to me?

¹²My vows to thee I must perform, O God;

I will render thank offerings to thee.

¹³For thou hast delivered my soul from death,

yea, my feet from falling,

that I may walk before God

in the light of life.