June 28
Psalms 56:1 — 63:11
To the director on the Silent Dove among those far away. Of David. Miktam. When the Philistines laid hold of him in Gath.
56 Show me favor, O God, because mortal man has snapped at me.
Warring all day long, he keeps oppressing me.
2 My foes have kept snapping all day long,
For there are many warring against me high-mindedly.
3 Whatever day I get afraid, I, for my part, shall trust even in you.
4 In union with God I shall praise his word.
In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they keep hurting my personal affairs;
All their thoughts are against me for bad.
6 They attack, they conceal themselves,
They, for their part, keep observing my very steps,
While they have waited for my soul.
7 On account of [their] hurtfulness cast them forth.
In anger bring down even the peoples, O God.
8 My being a fugitive you yourself have reported.
Do put my tears in your skin bottle.
Are they not in your book?
9 At that time my enemies will turn back, on the day that I call;
This I well know, that God is for me.
10 In union with God I shall praise [his] word;
In union with Jehovah I shall praise [his] word.
11 In God I have put my trust. I shall not be afraid.
What can earthling man do to me?
12 Upon me, O God, there are vows to you.
I shall render expressions of thanksgiving to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death—
[Have you] not [delivered] my feet from stumbling?—
That [I] may walk about before God in the light of those alive.
To the director. “Do not bring to ruin.” Of David. Miktam. When he ran away because of Saul, into the cave.
57 Show me favor, O God, show me favor,
For in you my soul has taken refuge;
And in the shadow of your wings I take refuge until the adversities pass over.
2 I call to God the Most High, to the [true] God who is bringing [them] to an end on my account.
3 He will send from heaven and save me.
He will certainly confuse the one snapping at me. Selah.
God will send his loving-kindness and his trueness.
4 My soul is in the middle of lions;
I cannot but lie down among devourers, [even] the sons of men,
Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And whose tongue is a sharp sword.
5 O be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let your glory be above all the earth.
6 A net they have prepared for my steps;
My soul has become bowed down.
They excavated before me a pitfall;
They have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
My heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
8 Do awake, O my glory;
Do awake, O stringed instrument; you too, O harp.
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I shall laud you among the peoples, O Jehovah;
I shall make melody to you among the national groups.
10 For your loving-kindness is great up to the heavens,
And your trueness up to the skies.
11 Do be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let your glory be above all the earth.
To the director. “Do not bring to ruin.” Of David. Miktam.
58 [In YOUR] silence can YOU really speak about righteousness itself?
Can YOU judge in uprightness itself, O YOU sons of men?
2 How much, rather, do YOU with the heart practice outright unrighteousness in the earth,
[And] prepare the road for the very violence of YOUR hands!
3 The wicked ones have been perverts from the womb;
They have wandered about from the belly onward;
They are speaking lies.
4 The venom of theirs is like the venom of the serpent,
Deaf like the cobra that stops up its ear,
5 That will not listen to the voice of charmers,
Though someone wise is binding with spells.
6 O God, knock out their teeth in their mouth.
Break down the very jawbones of maned young lions, O Jehovah.
7 May they dissolve as into waters that go their way;
May he bend [the bow for] his arrows as they collapse.
8 Like a snail melting away he walks;
Like a miscarriage of a woman they will certainly not behold the sun.
9 Before YOUR pots feel the [kindled] bramble,
The live green as well as the burning, he will carry them off as a stormy wind.
10 The righteous one will rejoice because he has beheld the vengeance.
His steps he will bathe in the blood of the wicked one.
11 And mankind will say: “Surely there is fruitage for the righteous one.
Surely there
exists a God that is judging in the earth.”
To the director. “Do not bring to ruin.” Of David. Miktam. When Saul sent, and they kept watching the house, to put him to death.
59 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
From those rising up against me may you protect me.
2 Deliver me from the practicers of what is hurtful,
And from bloodguilty men save me.
3 For, look! they have lain in wait for my soul;
Strong ones make an attack upon me,
For no revolt on my part, nor any sin on my part, O Jehovah.
4 Though there is no error, they run and get themselves ready.
Do rouse yourself at my calling and see.
5 And you, O Jehovah God of armies, are the God of Israel.
Do wake up to turn your attention to all the nations.
Do not show favor to any hurtful traitors. Selah.
6 They keep returning at evening time;
They keep barking like a dog and go all around the city.
7 Look! They make a bubbling forth with their mouth;
Swords are on their lips,
For who is listening?
8 But you yourself, O Jehovah, will laugh at them;
You will hold all the nations in derision.
9 O my Strength, toward you I will keep watch;
For God is my secure height.
10 The God of loving-kindness to me will himself confront me;
God himself will cause me to look upon my foes.
11 Do not kill them, that my people may not forget.
By your vital energy make them wander about,
And bring them down, O our shield Jehovah,
12 [For] the sin of their mouth, the word of their lips;
And may they be caught in their pride,
Even for the cursing and the deception that they rehearse.
13 Bring [them] to an end in rage;
Bring [them] to an end, that they may not be;
And may they know that God is ruling in Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah.
14 And let them return at evening time;
Let them bark like a dog and go all around the city.
15 Let those very ones wander about for something to eat;
Let them not be satisfied or stay overnight.
16 But as for me, I shall sing of your strength,
And in the morning I shall joyfully tell about your loving-kindness.
For you have proved to be a secure height for me
And a place to which to flee in the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, to you I will make melody,
For God is my
secure height, the God of loving-kindness to me.
To the director on The Lily of Reminder. Miktam. Of David. For teaching. When he engaged in a struggle with Aram-naharaim and Aram-Zobah, and Joab proceeded to return and strike down Edom in the Valley of Salt, even twelve thousand.
60 O God, you have cast us off, you have broken through us,
You have become incensed. You should restore us.
2 You have caused the earth to rock, you have split it open.
Heal its breaches, for it has tottered.
3 You have caused your people to see hardship.
You have made us drink wine sending us reeling.
4 You have given to those fearing you a signal
To flee zigzag on account of the bow. Selah.
5 In order that your beloved ones may be rescued,
O do save with your right hand and answer us.
6 God himself has spoken in his holiness:
“I will exult, I will give out Shechem as a portion;
And the low plain of Succoth I shall measure off.
7 Gilead belongs to me and Manasseh belongs to me,
And Ephraim is the fortress of my head one;
Judah is my commander’s staff.
8 Moab is my washing pot.
Over Edom I shall throw my sandal.
Over Philistia I shall shout in triumph.”
9 Who will bring me to the besieged city?
Who will certainly lead me as far as Edom?
10 Is it not you, O God, who have cast us off
And who do not go forth with our armies as God?
11 Do give us assistance from distress,
As salvation by earthling man is worthless.
12 By God we shall gain vital energy,
And he himself will tread down our adversaries.
To the director on stringed instruments. Of David.
61 Do hear, O God, my entreating cry.
Do pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the extremity of the earth I shall cry, even to you, when my heart grows feeble.
Onto a rock that is higher than I am may you lead me.
3 For you have proved to be a refuge for me,
A strong tower in the face of the enemy.
4 I will be a guest in your tent for times indefinite;
I will take refuge in the concealment of your wings. Selah.
5 For you yourself, O God, have listened to my vows.
You have given [me] the possession of those fearing your name.
6 Days you will add to the days of the king;
His years will be like generation after generation.
7 He will dwell to time indefinite before God;
O assign loving-kindness and trueness, that these may safeguard him.
8 So I will make melody to your name forever,
That I may pay my vows day after day.
To the director of Jeduthun. A melody of David.
62 Indeed toward God is my soul [waiting in] silence.
From him my salvation is.
2 Indeed he is my rock and my salvation, my secure height;
I shall not be made to totter very much.
3 How long will YOU carry on frantically against the man whom YOU would murder?
All of YOU are like a leaning wall, a stone wall that is being pushed in.
4 Indeed they give advice so as to allure from one’s own dignity;
They take pleasure in a lie.
With their mouth they bless, but inside themselves they call down evil. Selah.
5 Indeed toward God wait silently, O my soul,
Because from him is my hope.
6 Indeed he is my rock and my salvation, my secure height;
I shall not be made to totter.
7 Upon God are my salvation and my glory.
My strong rock, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people.
Before him pour out YOUR heart.
God is a refuge for us. Selah.
9 Indeed the sons of earthling man are an exhalation,
The sons of mankind are a lie.
When laid upon the scales they are all together lighter than an exhalation.
10 Do not put YOUR trust in defrauding,
Nor become vain in sheer robbery.
In case the means of maintenance should thrive, do not set YOUR heart [on them].
11 Once God has spoken, twice I have heard even this,
That strength belongs to God.
12 Also loving-kindness belongs to you, O Jehovah,
For you yourself pay back to each one according to his work.
A melody of David, when he happened to be in the wilderness of Judah.
63 O God, you are my God, I keep looking for you.
My soul does thirst for you.
For you my flesh has grown faint [with longing]
In a land dry and exhausted, where there is no water.
2 Thus I have beheld you in the holy place,
At seeing your strength and your glory.
3 Because your loving-kindness is better than life,
My own lips will commend you.
4 Thus I shall bless you during my lifetime;
In your name I shall raise my palms.
5 As with the best part, even fatness, my soul is satisfied,
And with lips of joyful cries my mouth offers praise.
6 When I have remembered you upon my lounge,
During the night watches I meditate on you.
7 For you have proved to be of assistance to me,
And in the shadow of your wings I cry out joyfully.
8 My soul has closely followed you;
On me your right hand keeps fast hold.
9 As for those who keep seeking my soul for [its] ruin,
They will come into the lowest parts of the earth.
10 They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;
They will become a mere portion for foxes.
11 And the king himself will rejoice in God.
Every one swearing by him will boast,
For the mouth of those speaking falsehood will be stopped up.