Help Me, O Lord My God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 Be not tsilent, O God uof my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
vbut I give myself to prayer.1
5 So they wreward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand xat his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his yprayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
zmay another take his office!
9 aMay his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children bwander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 cMay the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
and let not the sin of his mother be dblotted out!
15 Let them be before the Lord continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come2 upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far3 from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing eas his coat;
may it soak4 into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O God my Lord,
deal on my behalf ffor your name’s sake;
gbecause your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 hFor I am poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a ishadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through jfasting;
my body has become kgaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they lwag their heads.
26 mHelp me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be nclothed with dishonor;
may they be owrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30 With my mouth pI will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands qat the right hand of the needy one,
rto save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
David Defeats Ammon and Syria
1 pAfter this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2 And David said, “I will deal loyally1 with Hanun the son of qNahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites. 3 But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, rat their hips, and sent them away. 5 When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”
6 When the Ammonites saw that they had become a sstench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of tBeth-rehob, and the Syrians of uZobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of vMaacah with 1,000 men, and the men of wTob, 12,000 men. 7 And when David heard of it, he sent xJoab and all the host of the ymighty men. 8 And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.
9 zWhen Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. 10 The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. 11 And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 12 Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14 And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
15 But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. 16 And aHadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates.2 They came to Helam, with Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. 17 And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. 18 And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. 19 And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and bbecame subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.
