Psalm 4

Common English Bible

Psalm 4

For the music leader. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

4 Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God!
    Set me free from my troubles!
        Have mercy on me!
        Listen to my prayer!

²How long, you people,
    will my reputation be insulted?
How long will you continue
    to love what is worthless
    and go after lies? Selah
³Know this: the Lord takes
    personal care of the faithful.
The Lord will hear me
    when I cry out to him.
⁴So be afraid, and don’t sin!
    Think hard about it in your bed
    and weep over it! Selah
⁵Bring righteous offerings,
    and trust the Lord!

⁶Many people say,
    “We can’t find goodness anywhere.
    The light of your face has left us, Lord!”^[a]
⁷But you have filled my heart with more joy
    than when their wheat and wine are everywhere!
⁸I will lie down and fall asleep in peace
    because you alone, Lord, let me live in safety.

Footnotes

Psalm 4:6 Correction; MT Shine the light of your face on us, Lord!

Psalm 7

Common English Bible

Psalm 7

A shiggayon^[a] of David, which he sang to the Lord about Cush, a Benjaminite.

7 I take refuge in you, Lord, my God.
    Save me from all who chase me!
    Rescue me!
²Otherwise, they will rip me apart,
    dragging me off with no chance of rescue.
³Lord, my God, if I have done this—
        if my hands have done anything wrong,
⁴        if I have repaid a friend with evil
        or oppressed a foe for no reason—
⁵    then let my enemy
        not only chase but catch me,
        trampling my life into the ground,
        laying my reputation in the dirt. Selah
⁶Get up, Lord; get angry!
    Stand up against the fury of my foes!
Wake up, my God;^[b]
    you command that justice be done!
⁷Let the assembled peoples surround you.
    Rule them from on high!^[c]
⁸The Lord will judge the peoples.
    Establish justice for me, Lord,
    according to my righteousness
    and according to my integrity.
⁹Please let the evil of the wicked be over,
    but set the righteous firmly in place
    because you, the righteous God,
    are the one who examines hearts and minds.

¹⁰God is my shield;
    he saves those whose heart is right.
¹¹God is a righteous judge,
    a God who is angry at evil^[d] every single day.
¹²If someone doesn’t change their ways,
    God will sharpen his sword,
    will bend his bow,
    will string an arrow.
¹³God has deadly weapons in store
    for those who won’t change;
    he gets his flaming arrows ready!

¹⁴But look how the wicked hatch evil,
    conceive trouble, give birth to lies!
¹⁵They make a pit, dig it all out,
    and then fall right into the hole that they’ve made!
¹⁶The trouble they cause
        will come back on their own heads;
    the violence they commit
        will come down on their own skulls.
¹⁷But I will thank the Lord
        for his righteousness;
    I will sing praises
        to the name of the Lord Most High.