Psalm 55-59

New King James Version

Trust in God Concerning the Treachery of Friends

To the Chief Musician. With ^[a]stringed instruments. A ^[b]Contemplation of David.

55 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
²Attend to me, and hear me;
I ^(A)am^[c] restless in my complaint, and moan noisily,
³Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked;
^(B)For they bring down trouble upon me,
And in wrath they hate me.

⁴^(C)My heart is severely pained within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,
And horror has overwhelmed me.
⁶So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷Indeed, I would wander far off,
And remain in the wilderness. Selah
⁸I would hasten my escape
From the windy storm and tempest.”

⁹Destroy, O Lord, and divide their ^[d]tongues,
For I have seen ^(D)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls;
^(E)Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it.
¹¹Destruction is in its midst;
^(F)Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.

¹²^(G)For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
Then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has ^(H)exalted himself against me;
Then I could hide from him.
¹³But it was you, a man my equal,
^(I)My companion and my acquaintance.
¹⁴We took sweet counsel together,
And ^(J)walked to the house of God in the throng.

¹⁵Let death seize them;
Let them ^(K)go down alive into ^[e]hell,
For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.

¹⁶As for me, I will call upon God,
And the Lord shall save me.
¹⁷^(L)Evening and morning and at noon
I will pray, and cry aloud,
And He shall hear my voice.
¹⁸He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,
For ^(M)there were many against me.
¹⁹God will hear, and afflict them,
^(N)Even He who abides from of old. Selah
Because they do not change,
Therefore they do not fear God.

²⁰He has ^(O)put forth his hands against those who ^(P)were at peace with him;
He has broken his ^[f]covenant.
²¹^(Q)The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.

²²^(R)Cast your burden on the Lord,
And ^(S)He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be ^[g]moved.

²³But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;
^(T)Bloodthirsty and deceitful men ^(U)shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in You.

Prayer for Relief from Tormentors

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[h]“The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when the ^(V)Philistines captured him in Gath.

56 Be ^(W)merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
²My enemies would ^(X)hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.

³Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
⁴In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
^(Y)I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?

⁵All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
⁷Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
^(Z)Are they not in Your book?
⁹When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because ^(AA)God is for me.
¹⁰In God (I will praise His word),
In the Lord (I will praise His word),
¹¹In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

¹²Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
¹³^(AB)For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the ^(AC)light of the living?

Prayer for Safety from Enemies^(AD)

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[i]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David ^(AE)when he fled from Saul into the cave.

57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
^(AF)And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
^(AG)Until these calamities have passed by.

²I will cry out to God Most High,
To God ^(AH)who performs all things for me.
³^(AI)He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who ^[j]would swallow me up. Selah
God ^(AJ)shall send forth His mercy and His truth.

⁴My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
^(AK)Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
⁵^(AL)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

⁶^(AM)They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah

⁷^(AN)My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
⁸Awake, ^(AO)my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.

⁹^(AP)I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the ^[k]nations.
¹⁰^(AQ)For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.

¹¹^(AR)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

The Just Judgment of the Wicked

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[l]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.

58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
²No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

³^(AS)The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
⁴^(AT)Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
⁵Which will not ^(AU)heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.

⁶^(AV)Break^[m] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
⁷^(AW)Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
⁸Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
^(AX)Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

⁹Before your ^(AY)pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away ^(AZ)as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
¹⁰The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the ^(BA)vengeance;
^(BB)He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
¹¹^(BC)So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who ^(BD)judges in the earth.”

The Assured Judgment of the Wicked

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[n]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David ^(BE)when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.

59 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
^[o]Defend me from those who rise up against me.
²Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.

³For look, they lie in wait for my life;
^(BF)The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.
⁴They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.

^(BG)Awake to help me, and behold!
⁵You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the ^[p]nations;
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah

⁶^(BH)At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
⁷Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
^(BI)Swords are in their lips;
For they say, ^(BJ)“Who hears?”

⁸But ^(BK)You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the ^[q]nations in derision.
⁹I will wait for You, O You ^[r]his Strength;
^(BL)For God is my ^[s]defense.
¹⁰^[t]My God of mercy shall ^(BM)come to meet me;
God shall let ^(BN)me see my desire on my enemies.

¹¹Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
¹²^(BO)For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for the cursing and lying which they speak.
¹³^(BP)Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And ^(BQ)let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah

¹⁴And ^(BR)at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
¹⁵They ^(BS)wander up and down for food,
And ^[u]howl if they are not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.
¹⁷To You, ^(BT)O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.

Footnotes

Psalm 55:1 Heb. neginoth
Psalm 55:1 Heb. Maschil
Psalm 55:2 wander
Psalm 55:9 speech, their counsel
Psalm 55:15 Or Sheol
Psalm 55:20 treaty
Psalm 55:22 shaken
Psalm 56:1 Heb. Jonath Elem Rechokim
Psalm 57:1 Heb. Al Tashcheth
Psalm 57:3 snaps at or hounds me, or crushes me
Psalm 57:9 Gentiles
Psalm 58:1 Heb. Al Tashcheth
Psalm 58:6 Break away
Psalm 59:1 Heb. Al Tashcheth
Psalm 59:1 Lit. Set me on high
Psalm 59:5 Gentiles
Psalm 59:8 Gentiles
Psalm 59:9 So with MT, Syr.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg., Vg. my Strength
Psalm 59:9 Lit. fortress
Psalm 59:10 So with Qr.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Vg. My God, His mercy; Kt., some Heb. mss., Tg. O God, my mercy; Syr. O God, Your mercy
Psalm 59:15 So with LXX, Vg.; MT, Syr., Tg. spend the night