For the Musical Director.
To the tune of “Lilies”
Of David.
1Deliver me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck!
2I have sunk in deep mire and there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters and a flood has swept over me.
3I have grown weary from my calling out. My throat is dry. My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4Those who hate me without a cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head. Those who want to put an end to me are mighty, my lying enemies. What I did not steal, I must now restore.
5O God, it is you who knows my foolishness. And my wrongdoings are not hidden from you.
6Let not those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, O Lord, Yahweh of Armies. Let not those who seek you be dishonored because of me, O God of Israel.
7For it is for your sake I bear reproach. Shame has covered my face.
8I have become estranged from my brothers, yes, a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9For the zeal for your house has consumed me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10When I wept and my soul fasted, then my zeal became my reproach.
11When I made sackcloth my clothing, then I became a mockery to them.
12Those who sit in the gate taunt me. And I am the songs of the drunkards.
13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Yahweh, for a favorable time. O God, in the abundance of your covenant faithfulness, answer me with your faithful deliverance!
14Deliver me out of the mire and do not let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, yes, from the deep waters.
15Do not let a flood of water engulf me, nor let the deep swallow me. And do not let the pit close its mouth on me.
16Answer me, O Yahweh, for your covenant faithfulness is good. According to the greatness of your tender mercies, turn to me!
17And do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!
18Draw near to my soul and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies!
19You know my reproach, my shame and my dishonor. All my adversaries are before you.
20Reproach has broken my heart, and I am sick. I looked for some to show sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21They even put poison in my food. And for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
22Let their table before them become a snare. And a trap for their close friends.
23Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see. Let their loins tremble continuously.
24Pour out your indignation on them. Let your burning anger overtake them.
25Let their camp be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents.
26For they persecute those whom you have struck. They tell of the pain of those whom you have wounded.
27Add punishment upon their punishment. And do not let them come into your righteousness.
28May they be blotted out of the scroll of life, and let them not be written with the righteous.
29But I am afflicted and in pain. Let your salvation, O God, set me securely up high.
30I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31And it will please Yahweh more than sacrificing an ox; more than a young bull that has horns and hoofs.
32The humble have seen it and are glad. You who seek after God, may your heart live!
33For Yahweh hears the needy, and he does not despise prisoners who belong to him.
34Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves in them!
35For God will deliver Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Yes, they will live there and inherit it.
36Yes, the offspring of his servants will inherit it. Yes, those who love his name will remain in it.
REV Bible
