Psalm 141-144
Easy-to-Read Version
A praise song of David.
141 Lord, I call to you for help.
Listen to me as I pray.
Please hurry and help me!
2 Accept my prayer like a gift of burning incense,
the words I lift up like an evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, help me control what I say.
Don’t let me say anything bad.
4 Take away any desire to do evil.
Keep me from joining the wicked in doing wrong.
Help me stay away from their feasts.
5 If good people correct me,
I will consider it a good thing.
If they criticize me,
I will accept it like a warm welcome.[a]
But my prayer will always be against the wicked and the evil they do.
6 Let their judges be put to death.[b]
Then everyone will know that I told the truth.
7 Like rocks in a field that a farmer has plowed,
so our bones will be scattered in the grave.
8 My Lord God, I look to you for help.
I look to you for protection; don’t let me die.
9 Those evil people are trying to trap me.
Don’t let me fall into their traps.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own traps,
while I walk away unharmed.
A maskil of David written when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142 I cry out to the Lord.
I beg the Lord to help me.
2 I tell him my problems;
I tell him about my troubles.
3 I am ready to give up.
But you, Lord, know the path I am on,
and you know that my enemies have set a trap for me.
4 I look around,
and I don’t see anyone I know.
I have no place to run.
There is no one to save me.
5 Lord, I cry out to you for help:
“You are my place of safety.
You are all I need in life.”
6 Listen to my prayer.
I am so weak.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
They are stronger than I am.
7 Help me escape this trap,[c]
so that I can praise your name.
Then good people will celebrate with me,
because you took care of me.
A praise song of David.
143 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my call for help and answer my prayer.
Show me how good and loyal you are.
2 Don’t judge me, your servant.
No one alive could be judged innocent by your standards.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They have crushed me into the dirt.
They are pushing me into the dark grave,
like people who died long ago.
4 I am ready to give up.
I am losing my courage.
5 But I remember what happened long ago.
I am thinking about all you have done.
I am talking about what you made with your hands!
6 I lift my hands in prayer to you.
I am waiting for your help, like a dry land waiting for rain. Selah
7 Hurry and answer me, Lord!
I have lost my courage.
Don’t turn away from me.
Don’t let me die and become like the people lying in the grave.
8 Show me your faithful love this morning.
I trust in you.
Show me what I should do.
I put my life in your hands!
9 Lord, I come to you for protection.
Save me from my enemies.
10 Show me what you want me to do.
You are my God.
Let your good Spirit lead me over level ground.
11 Lord, let me live
so that people will praise your name.
Show me how good you are
and save me from my trouble.
12 Show me your love
and defeat my enemies.
Destroy those who are trying to kill me
because I am your servant.
A song of David.
144 Praise the Lord!
He is my Rock.
He prepares me for war.
He trains me for battle.
2 He loves me and protects me.
He is my safe place high on the mountain.
He rescues me.
He is my shield.
I trust in him.
He helps me rule my people.
3 Lord, why are people important to you?
Why do you even notice us?
4 Our life is like a puff of air.
It is like a passing shadow.
5 Lord, tear open the skies and come down.
Touch the mountains, and smoke will rise from them.
6 Send the lightning and make my enemies run away.
Shoot your “arrows” and make them run away.
7 Reach down from heaven and save me!
Don’t let me drown in this sea of enemies.
Save me from these foreigners.
8 They are all liars,
even when they swear to tell the truth.
9 God, I will sing a new song[d] for you.
I will play a ten-stringed harp and sing praise to you.
10 You are the one who gives victory to kings.
You saved your servant David from the sword of his enemy.
11 Save me from these foreigners.
They are all liars,
even when they swear to tell the truth.
12 May our sons be as strong as trees
and our daughters as beautiful as the carved columns of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled
with crops of all kinds.
May our sheep produce so many lambs,
that thousands of sheep will fill our fields.
14 And may our cows be heavy with calves.
May no enemy break through our walls
or carry away any of our people.
May there be no cries of pain in our streets.
15 How wonderful to have such blessings!
Yes, great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God.
Footnotes
- Psalm 141:5 a warm welcome Or “like oil poured over my head.”
- Psalm 141:6 Let their judges … to death Or “Let their judges be thrown from the cliffs.”
- Psalm 142:7 trap Literally, “frame around my soul.”
- Psalm 144:9 new song Whenever God did a new and wonderful thing for his people, they would write a new song about it.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
