Psalm 5-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 5
Trust in God for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, O Lord;
attend to my sighing.(A)
2 Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.(B)
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch.(C)
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you.(D)
5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.(E)
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.(F)
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house;
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.(G)
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.(H)
9 For there is no truth in their mouths;
their hearts are destruction;
their throats are open graves;
they flatter with their tongues.(I)
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions, cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.(J)
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who love your name may exult in you.(K)
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover them with favor as with a shield.(L)
Psalm 6
Prayer for Recovery from Grave Illness
To the leader: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.(M)
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.(N)
3 My soul also is struck with terror,
while you, O Lord—how long?(O)
4 Turn, O Lord, save my life;
deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who can give you praise?(P)
6 I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief;
they grow weak because of all my foes.(Q)
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.(R)
9 The Lord has heard my supplication;
the Lord accepts my prayer.(S)
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;
they shall turn back and in a moment be put to shame.
Psalm 7
Plea for Help against Persecutors
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 O Lord my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,(T)
2 or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.(U)
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,(V)
4 if I have repaid my ally with harm
or plundered my foe without cause,(W)
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me,
trample my life to the ground,
and lay my soul in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake, O my God;[a] you have appointed a judgment.(X)
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you,
and over it take your seat[b] on high.(Y)
8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.(Z)
9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God.(AA)
10 God is my shield,
who saves the upright in heart.(AB)
11 God is a righteous judge
and a God who has indignation every day.(AC)
12 If one does not repent, God[c] will whet his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow;(AD)
13 he has prepared his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.(AE)
14 See how they conceive evil
and are pregnant with mischief
and bring forth lies.(AF)
15 They make a pit, digging it out,
and fall into the hole that they have made.(AG)
16 Their mischief returns upon their own heads,
and on their own heads their violence descends.(AH)
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness
and sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.(AI)
Psalm 8
Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.(AJ)
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.(AK)
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;(AL)
4 what are humans that you are mindful of them,
mortals[d] that you care for them?(AM)
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God[e]
and crowned them with glory and honor.(AN)
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,(AO)
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!(AP)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.