Psalm 54 - 56

God Is My Helper

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. When the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”

O God, save me by Your name,

And render justice to me by Your might.

O God, hear my prayer;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

For strangers have risen against me

And ruthless men have sought my life;

They have not set God before them. Selah.

Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is among those who sustain my soul.

He will return the evil to my foes;

Destroy them in Your truth.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You;

I will give thanks to Your name, O Yahweh, for it is good.

For He has delivered me from all distress,

And my eye has looked in triumph upon my enemies.

He Will Never Allow the Righteous to Be Shaken

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.

Give ear to my prayer, O God;

And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

Give heed to me and answer me;

I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,

Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the pressure of the wicked;

For they shake wickedness down upon me

And in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me,

And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling come upon me,

And horror has covered me.

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

Behold, I would wander far away,

I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah.

I would hasten to my place of refuge

From the stormy wind and tempest.”

Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,

For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

Day and night they go around her upon her walls,

And wickedness and mischief are in her midst.

Destruction is in her midst;

Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets.

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,

Then I could bear it;

Nor is it one who hates me who has magnified himself against me,

Then I could hide myself from him.

But it is you, a man my equal,

My close companion and my familiar friend;

We who had sweet counsel together

Walked in the house of God in the throng.

Let death come deceitfully upon them;

Let them go down alive to Sheol,

For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

As for me, I shall call upon God,

And Yahweh will save me.

Evening and morning and at noon, I will bring my complaint and moan,

And He will hear my voice.

He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me,

For they are many who strive with me.

God will hear and answer them—

Even the one who sits enthroned from of old— Selah.

Because they do not change,

And do not fear God.

My companion has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;

He has violated his covenant.

His speech was smoother than butter,

But his heart was war;

His words were softer than oil,

Yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden upon Yahweh and He will sustain you;

He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of corruption;

Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.

But I will trust in You.

In God I Trust, I Shall Not Be Afraid

For the choir director. According to Jonath Elem Rehokim. A Mikhtam of David. When the Philistines seized him in Gath.

Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;

All day long, an attacker oppresses me.

My foes have trampled upon me all day long,

For many attack me proudly.

When I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

In God, whose word I praise,

In God I trust;

I shall not be afraid.

What can mere man do to me?

All day long they distort my words;

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

They attack, they lurk,

They watch my heels,

As they have hoped to take my life.

On account of their wickedness, will they have an escape?

In anger, bring down the peoples, O God!

You have taken account of my wanderings;

Put my tears in Your bottle.

Are they not in Your book?

Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;

This I know, that God is for me.

In God, whose word I praise,

In Yahweh, whose word I praise,

In God I trust, I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

Your vows are binding upon me, O God;

I will fulfill thank offerings to You.

For You have delivered my soul from death,

Indeed my feet from stumbling,

So that I may walk before God

In the light of the living.

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