PSALM 69

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Psalm of David.

1 Save me, O God!

For the waters have come up to my neck.

2 I sink in deep mire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood sweeps over me.

3 I am weary with my crying;

my throat is parched.

My eyes grow dim

with waiting for my God.

4 More in number than the hairs of my head

are those who hate me without cause;

mighty are those who would destroy me,

those who attack me with lies.

What I did not steal

must I now restore?

5 O God, thou knowest my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from thee.

6 Let not those who hope in thee be put to shame through me,

O Lord GOD of hosts;

let not those who seek thee be brought to dishonor through me,

O God of Israel.

7 For it is for thy sake that I have borne reproach,

that shame has covered my face.

8 I have become a stranger to my brethren,

an alien to my mother’s sons.

9 For zeal for thy house has consumed me,

and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me.

10 When I humbled* my soul with fasting,

it became my reproach.

11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,

I became a byword to them.

12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,

and the drunkards make songs about me.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord.

At an acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of thy steadfast love answer me.

With thy faithful help 14 rescue me from sinking in the mire;

let me be delivered from my enemies

and from the deep waters.

15 Let not the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or the pit close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, O Lord, for thy steadfast love is good;

according to thy abundant mercy, turn to me.

17 Hide not thy face from thy servant;

for I am in distress, make haste to answer me.

18 Draw near to me, redeem me,

set me free because of my enemies!

19 Thou knowest my reproach,

and my shame and my dishonor;

my foes are all known to thee.

20 Insults have broken my heart,

so that I am in despair.

I looked for pity, but there was none;

and for comforters, but I found none.

21 They gave me poison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their own table before them become a snare;

let their sacrificial feastsl be a trap.

23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see;

and make their loins tremble continually.

24 Pour out thy indignation upon them,

and let thy burning anger overtake them.

25 May their camp be a desolation,

let no one dwell in their tents.

26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten,

and himm whom thou hast wounded, they afflict still more.n

27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;

may they have no acquittal from thee.

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;

let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29 But I am afflicted and in pain;

let thy salvation, O God, set me on high!

30 I will praise the name of God with a song;

I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 This will please the Lord more than an ox

or a bull with horns and hoofs.

32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

33 For the Lord hears the needy,

and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him,

the seas and everything that moves therein.

35 For God will save Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah;

and his servants shall dwell* there and possess it;

36 the children of his servants shall inherit it,

and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

PSALM 36

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord.

1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart;

there is no fear of God before his eyes.

2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes

that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

3 The words of his mouth are mischief and deceit;

he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

4 He plots mischief while on his bed;

he sets himself in a way that is not good;

he spurns not evil.

5 Thy steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

thy faithfulness to the clouds.

6 Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God,

thy judgments are like the great deep;

man and beast thou savest, O Lord.

7 How precious is thy steadfast love, O God!

The children of men take refuge in the shadow of thy wings.

8 They feast on the abundance of thy house,

and thou givest them drink from the river of thy delights.

9 For with thee is the fountain of life;

in thy light do we see light.

10 O continue thy steadfast love to those who know thee,

and thy salvation to the upright of heart!

11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12 There the evildoers lie prostrate,

they are thrust down, unable to rise.

PSALM 37

A Psalm of David.

1 Fret not yourself because of the wicked,

be not envious of wrongdoers!

2 For they will soon fade like the grass,

and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security.

4 Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

6 He will bring forth your vindication as the light,

and your right as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

9 For the wicked shall be cut off;

but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land.

10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;

though you look well at his place, he will not be there.

11 But the meek shall possess the land,

and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

12 The wicked plots against the righteous,

and gnashes his teeth at him;

13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows,

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those who walk uprightly;

15 their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is a little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will abide for ever;

19 they are not put to shame in evil times,

in the days of famine they have abundance.

20 But the wicked perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures,

they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows, and cannot pay back,

but the righteous is generous and gives;

22 for those blessed by the Lord shall possess the land,

but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a man are from the Lord,

and he establishes him in whose way he delights;

24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord is the stay of his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old;

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging bread.

26 He is ever giving liberally and lending,

and his children become a blessing.

27 Depart from evil, and do good;

so shall you abide for ever.

28 For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake his saints.

The righteous shall be preserved for ever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall possess the land,

and dwell upon it for ever.

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

32 The wicked watches the righteous,

and seeks to slay him.

33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power,

or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34 Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way,

and he will exalt you to possess the land;

you will look on the destruction of the wicked.

35 I have seen a wicked man overbearing,

and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.v

36 Again Iw passed by, and, lo, he was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright,

for there is posterity for the man of peace.

38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their refuge in the time of trouble.

40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.