Psalm 56-58

New King James Version

Prayer for Relief from Tormentors

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

56 Be ^(B)merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
²My enemies would ^(C)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;
^(D)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;
^(E)Are they not in Your book?
⁹When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because ^(F)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^(G)For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the ^(H)light of the living?

Prayer for Safety from Enemies^(I)

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[b]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David ^(J)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;
^(K)And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
^(L)Until these calamities have passed by.

²I will cry out to God Most High,
To God ^(M)who performs all things for me.
³^(N)He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who ^[c]would swallow me up. Selah
God ^(O)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,
^(P)Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
⁵^(Q)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

⁶^(R)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^(S)My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
⁸Awake, ^(T)my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.

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

¹¹^(W)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 ^[e]“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^(X)The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
⁴^(Y)Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
⁵Which will not ^(Z)heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.

⁶^(AA)Break^[f] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
⁷^(AB)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,
^(AC)Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

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