The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with (A)stringed instruments. A Maskil[a] of David, (B)when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

54 O God, save me by your (C)name,
    and vindicate me by your might.
O God, (D)hear my prayer;
    give ear to the words of my mouth.

(E)For (F)strangers[b] have risen against me;
    ruthless men (G)seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves. Selah

Behold, (H)God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your (I)faithfulness (J)put an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, (K)for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has (L)looked in triumph on my enemies.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 54:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
  2. Psalm 54:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14)

Psalm 54

For the music leader. With stringed instruments. A maskil[a] of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”

54 God! Save me by your name;
    defend me by your might!
God! Hear my prayer;
    listen to the words of my mouth!

The proud have come up against me;
    violent people want me dead.
    They pay no attention to God. Selah

But look here: God is my helper;
    my Lord sustains my life.
He will bring disaster on my opponents.
    By your faithfulness, God, destroy them!

I will sacrifice to you freely;
    I will give thanks to your name, Lord,
        because it’s so good,
        and because God has delivered me
        from every distress.
    My eyes have seen my enemies’ defeat.[b]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 54:1 Perhaps instruction
  2. Psalm 54:7 Heb lacks defeat.

19 (A)Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of (B)Jeshimon? 20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, (C)and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.” 21 And Saul said, (D)“May you be blessed by the Lord, (E)for you have had compassion on me. 22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

Now David and his men were (F)in the wilderness of Maon, (G)in the Arabah to the south of (H)Jeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

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19 Some Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah. “David is hiding among us in the fortresses at Horesh on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon,” they said. 20 “So whenever you want to come down, Your Majesty, do it! Leave it to us to hand him over to the king.”

21 “The Lord bless you because you have shown this kindness to me!” Saul said. 22 “Go now and get everything ready. Find out everything you can: where he stays, where he goes, who has seen him. I am told he is very shrewd. 23 Find out every hiding place he uses there and come back to me when you know for certain. I will then go with you. If David is in the area, I will hunt him down among any of Judah’s clans!” 24 So they got up and left for Ziph ahead of Saul.

Meanwhile, David and his soldiers were in the Maon wilderness in the desert plain south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his troops went looking for him, David was told about it, so he went down to a certain rock there and stayed in the Maon wilderness. When Saul heard that, he went into the Maon wilderness after David.

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