Psalm 54:title–56:13
54 To the choirmaster: with tstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David, uwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
1 O God, save me by your vname,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, whear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 xFor ystrangers2 have risen against me;
ruthless men zseek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, aGod is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your bfaithfulness cput an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, dfor it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has elooked in triumph on my enemies.
55 To the choirmaster: with fstringed instruments. A Maskil1 of David.
1 gGive ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless hin my complaint and I imoan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they jdrop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 nyes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from othe raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, pdivide their tongues;
for I see qviolence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and riniquity and trouble are within it;
soppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who tdeals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 uBut it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked in vthe throng.
let them go down to Sheol walive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
and the Lord will save me.
17 xEvening and ymorning and at znoon
I autter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for bmany are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is centhroned from of old, Selah
because they do not dchange
and do not fear God.
20 My companion2 estretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21 His fspeech was gsmooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were hdrawn swords.
22 iCast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
jhe will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, kwill cast them down
into lthe pit of destruction;
men of mblood and treachery
shall not nlive out half their days.
But I will otrust in you.
56 To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A pMiktam1 of David, when the qPhilistines seized him in Gath.
1 rBe gracious to me, O God, for man stramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
I tput my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;2
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They vstir up strife, they wlurk;
they xwatch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
yIn wrath zcast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;3
aput my tears in your bottle.
bAre they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
cin the day when I call.
This I know, that4 dGod is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; uI shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my evows to you, O God;
I will erender thank offerings to you.
13 fFor you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
gthat I may walk before God
hin the light of life.