Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.

For the music director; with stringed instruments, [a]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.

Lord, (A)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am (B)frail;
(C)Heal me, Lord, for (D)my bones are horrified.
And my (E)soul is greatly horrified;
But You, Lord(F)how long?

Return, Lord, (G)rescue my [b]soul;
Save me because of Your mercy.
For (H)there is no [c]mention of You in death;
In [d]Sheol, who will praise You?

I am (I)weary with my sighing;
Every night I make my bed swim,
I flood my couch with (J)my tears.
My (K)eye has wasted away with grief;
It has grown old because of all my enemies.

(L)Leave me, all you who practice injustice,
For the Lord (M)has heard the sound of my weeping.
The Lord (N)has heard my pleading,
The Lord (O)receives my prayer.
10 All my enemies will (P)be put to shame and greatly horrified;
They shall [e]turn back, they will (Q)suddenly be put to shame.

The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

A [f]Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord [g]concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.

O Lord my God, (R)in You I have taken refuge;
Save me from all those who pursue me, and (S)rescue me,
Or he will tear [h]my soul (T)like a lion,
Dragging me away, while there is no one to rescue me.

O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is (U)injustice in my hands,
If I have (V)done evil to [i]my friend,
Or have (W)plundered [j]my enemy for no reason,
Let the enemy pursue [k]my soul and overtake [l]it;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah

(X)Arise, Lord, in Your anger;
(Y)Raise Yourself against (Z)the rage of my enemies,
And (AA)stir Yourself [m]for me; You have ordered judgment.
Let the assembly of the (AB)peoples encompass You,
And return on high over it.
The Lord (AC)judges the peoples;
[n](AD)Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
Please let (AE)the evil of the wicked come to an end, but (AF)establish the righteous;
For the righteous God (AG)puts hearts and [o]minds to the test.
10 My (AH)shield is [p]with God,
Who (AI)saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a (AJ)righteous judge,
And a God who (AK)shows indignation every day.

12 If one (AL)does not repent, He will (AM)sharpen His sword;
He has (AN)bent His bow and taken aim.
13 He has also prepared deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His (AO)arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, an evil person is pregnant with injustice,
And he (AP)conceives harm and gives birth to lies.
15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has (AQ)fallen into the hole which he made.
16 His (AR)harm will return on his own head,
And his (AS)violence will descend on the top of his own head.

17 I will give thanks to the Lord (AT)according to His righteousness
And will (AU)sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

The Lords Glory and Mankind’s Dignity.

For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
You who have [q](AV)displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
(AW)From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established [r](AX)strength
Because of Your enemies,
To do away with (AY)the enemy and the revengeful.

When I [s](AZ)consider (BA)Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The (BB)moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
(BC)What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?
Yet You have made him a (BD)little lower than [t]God,
And (BE)You crown him with (BF)glory and majesty!
You have him (BG)rule over the works of Your hands;
You have (BH)put everything under his feet,
All sheep and oxen,
And also the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

(BI)Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.

For the music director; on [u]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

I will give thanks to the Lord with all (BJ)my heart;
I will (BK)tell of all Your [v]wonders.
I will rejoice and be (BL)jubilant in You;
I will (BM)sing praise to Your name, O (BN)Most High.

When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and (BO)perish before You.
For You have (BP)maintained [w]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne [x](BQ)judging righteously.
You have (BR)rebuked the nations, You have eliminated the wicked;
You have (BS)wiped out their name forever and ever.
[y]The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very (BT)memory of them has perished.

But the (BU)Lord [z]sits as King forever;
He has established His (BV)throne for judgment,
And He will (BW)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
[aa]The Lord will also be a (BX)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And [ab]those who (BY)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, Lord, have not (BZ)abandoned those who seek You.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, who (CA)dwells in Zion;
(CB)Declare His deeds among the peoples.
12 For (CC)He who [ac]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget (CD)the cry of the needy.
13 Be gracious to me, Lord;
See my oppression from those (CE)who hate me,
You who (CF)lift me up from the gates of death,
14 So that I may tell of (CG)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may (CH)rejoice in Your [ad]salvation.
15 The nations have sunk down (CI)into the pit which they have made;
In the (CJ)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has (CK)made Himself known;
He has (CL)executed judgment.
A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. [ae]Higgaion Selah

17 The wicked will [af](CM)return to [ag]Sheol,
All the nations who (CN)forget God.
18 For the (CO)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the (CP)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 (CQ)Arise, Lord, do not let mankind prevail;
Let the nations be (CR)judged before You.
20 Put them (CS)in fear, Lord;
Let the nations know that they are (CT)merely human. Selah

A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.

10 Why (CU)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why (CV)do You hide [ah]Yourself in times of trouble?
In (CW)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
[ai]Let them be (CX)caught in the plots which they have devised.

For the wicked (CY)boasts of his (CZ)soul’s desire,
And [aj]the greedy person curses and (DA)shows disrespect to the Lord.
The wicked, [ak]in his haughtiness, (DB)does not seek Him.
(DC)There is no God in all his schemes.

His ways (DD)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, (DE)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
He says to himself, “(DF)I will not be moved;
[al]Throughout the generations (DG)I will not be in adversity.”
His (DH)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and (DI)oppression;
(DJ)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
He sits in the (DK)lurking places of the villages;
He (DL)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes [am]surreptitiously watch for the [an](DM)unfortunate.
He lurks in secret like (DN)a lion in his [ao]lair;
He (DO)lurks to catch (DP)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his (DQ)net.
10 Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And [ap]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
11 He (DR)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”

12 Arise, Lord; God, (DS)lift up Your hand.
(DT)Do not forget the humble.
13 Why has the wicked (DU)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “[aq]You will not require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You have looked at (DV)harm and provocation to [ar]take it into Your hand.
The [as](DW)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (DX)helper of the orphan.
15 (DY)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[at](DZ)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

16 The Lord is (EA)King forever and ever;
(EB)Nations have perished from His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the (EC)desire of the humble;
You will (ED)strengthen their heart, (EE)You will make Your ear attentive
18 To [au]vindicate the (EF)orphan and the (EG)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause (EH)terror.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 6 Title Or according to a lower octave (Heb Sheminith)
  2. Psalm 6:4 Or life
  3. Psalm 6:5 Or remembrance
  4. Psalm 6:5 I.e., the netherworld
  5. Psalm 6:10 Or again be abruptly put to shame
  6. Psalm 7 Title I.e., Dithyrambic rhythm; or wild, passionate song
  7. Psalm 7 Title Or concerning the words of
  8. Psalm 7:2 Or me
  9. Psalm 7:4 Lit him who was at peace with me
  10. Psalm 7:4 Or him who for no reason was my enemy,
  11. Psalm 7:5 Or me
  12. Psalm 7:5 Or me
  13. Psalm 7:6 One ancient version reads O my God
  14. Psalm 7:8 Lit Judge
  15. Psalm 7:9 Lit kidneys, figurative for inner man
  16. Psalm 7:10 Lit upon
  17. Psalm 8:1 Lit put
  18. Psalm 8:2 Or a strength
  19. Psalm 8:3 Or see
  20. Psalm 8:5 LXX angels
  21. Psalm 9 Title Meaning of the Heb uncertain
  22. Psalm 9:1 Or miracles
  23. Psalm 9:4 Lit my right and my cause
  24. Psalm 9:4 Or a righteous Judge
  25. Psalm 9:6 Or O enemy, desolations are finished forever; And their cities You have uprooted
  26. Psalm 9:7 Or remains forever
  27. Psalm 9:9 Or Let the Lord also be
  28. Psalm 9:10 Or let those...name put
  29. Psalm 9:12 I.e., avenges bloodshed
  30. Psalm 9:14 Or deliverance
  31. Psalm 9:16 Perhaps, resounding music or meditation
  32. Psalm 9:17 Or turn
  33. Psalm 9:17 I.e., the netherworld
  34. Psalm 10:1 Or Your eyes
  35. Psalm 10:2 Or They will be caught
  36. Psalm 10:3 Or blesses the greedy man
  37. Psalm 10:4 Lit the height of his nose
  38. Psalm 10:6 Lit To
  39. Psalm 10:8 Lit lie in wait
  40. Psalm 10:8 Or poor
  41. Psalm 10:9 Or thicket
  42. Psalm 10:10 Or unhappy
  43. Psalm 10:13 I.e., as though God will ignore it
  44. Psalm 10:14 Lit put, give
  45. Psalm 10:14 Or poor
  46. Psalm 10:15 Or May You seek
  47. Psalm 10:18 Lit judge

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