Book of Common Prayer

69 ⁽⁰⁾ For the leader. Set to “Lilies.” By David:

^2 (1) Save me, God!
For the water threatens my life.
^3 (2) I am sinking down in the mud,
and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep water;
the flood is sweeping over me.
^4 (3) I am exhausted from crying,
my throat is dry and sore,
my eyes are worn out
with looking for my God.

^5 (4) Those who hate me for no reason
outnumber the hairs on my head.
My persecutors are powerful,
my enemies accuse me falsely.
Am I expected to return
things I didn’t steal?

^6 (5) God, you know how foolish I am;
my guilt is not hidden from you.
^7 (6) Let those who put their hope in you,
Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot,
not be put to shame through me;
let those who are seeking you,
God of Isra’el,
not be disgraced through me.

^8 (7) For your sake I suffer insults,
shame covers my face.
^9 (8) I am estranged from my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s children,
^10 (9) because zeal for your house is eating me up,
and on me are falling the insults
of those insulting you.
^11 (10) I weep bitterly, and I fast,
but that too occasions insults.
^12 (11) I clothe myself with sackcloth
and become an object of scorn,
^13 (12) the gossip of those sitting by the town gate,
the theme of drunkards’ songs.

^14 (13) As for me, Adonai, let my prayer to you
come at an acceptable time;
In your great grace, God, answer me
with the truth of your salvation.
^15 (14) Rescue me from the mud!
Don’t let me sink!
Let me be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
^16 (15) Don’t let the floodwaters overwhelm me,
don’t let the deep swallow me up,
don’t let the pit close its mouth over me.

^17 (16) Answer me, Adonai, for your grace is good;
in your great mercy, turn to me.
^18 (17) Don’t hide your face from your servant,
for I am in trouble; answer me quickly.
^19 (18) Come near to me, and redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies.

^20 (19) You know how I am insulted,
shamed and disgraced;
before you stand all my foes.
^21 (20) Insults have broken my heart
to the point that I could die.
I hoped that someone would show compassion,
but nobody did;
and that there would be comforters,
but I found none.
^22 (21) They put poison in my food;
in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
^23 (22) Let their dining table
before them become a snare;
when they are at peace,
let it become a trap;
^24 (23) let their eyes be darkened,
so that they can’t see,
and let their bodies
always be stumbling.
^25 (24) Pour out your fury on them,
let your fierce anger overtake them.
^26 (25) Let the place where they live be desolate,
with no one to live in their tents,
^27 (26) for persecuting someone you had already stricken,
for adding to the pain of those you wounded.
^28 (27) Add guilt to their guilt,
don’t let them enter your righteousness.
^29 (28) Erase them from the book of life,
let them not be written with the righteous.

^30 (29) Meanwhile, I am afflicted and hurting;
God, let your saving power raise me up.
^31 (30) I will praise God’s name with a song
and extol him with thanksgiving.

^32 (31) This will please Adonai more than a bull,
with its horns and hoofs.
^33 (32) The afflicted will see it and rejoice;
you seeking after God, let your heart revive.
^34 (33) For Adonai pays attention to the needy
and doesn’t scorn his captive people.

^35 (34) Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them.
^36 (35) For God will save Tziyon,
he will build the cities of Y’hudah.
[His people] will settle there and possess it.
^37 (36) The descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his name will live there.

⁽¹⁾ How good God is to Isra’el,
to those who are pure in heart!
² But as for me, I lost my balance,
my feet nearly slipped,
³ when I grew envious of the arrogant
and saw how the wicked prosper.
⁴ For when their death comes, it is painless;
and meanwhile, their bodies are healthy;
⁵ they don’t have ordinary people’s troubles,
they aren’t plagued like others.

⁶ So for them, pride is a necklace;
and violence clothes them like a robe.
⁷ Their eyes peep out through folds of fat;
evil thoughts overflow from their hearts.
⁸ They scoff and speak with malice,
they loftily utter threats.
⁹ They set their mouths against heaven;
their tongues swagger through the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore his people return here
and [thoughtlessly] suck up that whole cup of water.
¹¹ Then they ask, “How does God know?
Does the Most High really have knowledge?”

¹² Yes, this is what the wicked are like;
those free of misfortune keep increasing their wealth.
¹³ It’s all for nothing that I’ve kept my heart clean
and washed my hands, staying free of guilt;
¹⁴ for all day long I am plagued;
my punishment comes every morning.

¹⁵ If I had said, “I will talk like them,”
I would have betrayed a generation of your children.
¹⁶ When I tried to understand all this,
I found it too hard for me —
¹⁷ until I went into the sanctuaries of God
and grasped what their destiny would be.
¹⁸ Indeed, you place them on a slippery slope
and make them fall to their ruin.

¹⁹ How suddenly they are destroyed,
swept away by terrors!
²⁰ They are like a dream when one awakens;
Adonai, when you rouse yourself,
you will despise their phantoms.

²¹ When I had a sour attitude
and felt stung by pained emotions,
²² I was too stupid to understand;
I was like a brute beast with you.
²³ Nevertheless, I am always with you;
you hold my right hand.
²⁴ You will guide me with your advice;
and afterwards, you will receive me with honor.

²⁵ Whom do I have in heaven but you?
And with you, I lack nothing on earth.
²⁶ My mind and body may fail; but God
is the rock for my mind and my portion forever.

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who adulterously leave you.
²⁸ But for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made Adonai Elohim my refuge,
so that I can tell of all your works.