In the Shadow of Your Wings
A fPrayer of David.
1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; gattend to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
2 From your presence hlet my vindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!
3 You have itried my heart, you have jvisited me by knight,
you have ltested me, and you will find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have mheld fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
6 I ncall upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
oincline your ear to me; hear my words.
7 pWondrously show1 your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from qtheir adversaries at your right hand.
8 Keep me as rthe apple of your eye;
hide me in sthe shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who tsurround me.
10 uThey close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they vspeak arrogantly.
11 They have now surrounded our wsteps;
they set their eyes to xcast us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion eager to tear,
as a young lion ylurking in ambush.
13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14 from men by your hand, O Lord,
from zmen of the world whose aportion is in this life.2
You fill their womb with treasure;3
they are satisfied with bchildren,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.
15 As for me, I shall cbehold your face in righteousness;
Great Is the Lord
Of David.
1 Contend, O Lord, with those who ycontend with me;
zfight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of ashield and buckler
and rise for my help!
3 Draw the spear and javelin1
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation!”
4 bLet them be cput to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be dturned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!
5 Let them be like echaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6 Let their way be dark and fslippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7 For gwithout cause hthey hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ia pit for my life.2
8 Let jdestruction come upon him kwhen he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
lexulting in his salvation.
10 All my mbones shall say,
“O Lord, nwho is like you,
delivering the poor
from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
11 oMalicious3 witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
12 pThey repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft.4
13 But I, qwhen they were sick—
I rwore sackcloth;
I safflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed twith head bowed5 on my chest.
14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I ubowed down in mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
vwretches whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
16 like profane mockers at a feast,6
they wgnash at me with their teeth.
17 How long, O Lord, will you xlook on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
ymy precious life from the lions!
18 I will thank you in zthe great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 aLet not those rejoice over me
who are bwrongfully my foes,
and let not those cwink the eye
20 For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.
21 They fopen wide their mouths against me;
they say, g“Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!”
22 hYou have seen, O Lord; ibe not silent!
O Lord, jbe not far from me!
23 Awake and krouse yourself for lmy vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 mVindicate me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and nlet them not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts,
o“Aha, our heart’s desire!”
Let them not say, p“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be qput to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be rclothed with shame and dishonor
who smagnify themselves against me!
27 Let those who delight in my righteousness
shout for joy and be glad
tand say evermore,
u“Great is the Lord,
who vdelights in the welfare of his servant!”
28 Then my wtongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.
The Lord Upholds My Life
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;
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.
My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David, swhen he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God; tearnestly I seek you;
umy soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in va dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding wyour power and glory.
3 Because your xsteadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you yas long as I live;
5 My soul will be bsatisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you cupon my bed,
and meditate on you in cthe watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in dthe shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul eclings to you;
your right hand fupholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
gshall go down into hthe depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But ithe king shall rejoice in God;
all who jswear by him shall exult,
