Book of Common Prayer

⁶ Come, let’s worship and bow down.
    Let’s kneel in front of Yahweh, our maker,
⁷         because he is our Elohim
            and we are the people in his care,
                the flock that he leads.

If only you would listen to him today!
⁸ “Do not be stubborn like my people were at Meribah,
    like the time at Massah in the desert.
⁹         Your ancestors challenged me and tested me there,
            although they had seen what I had done.
¹⁰ For 40 years I was disgusted with those people.
    So I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts continue to stray.
        They have not learned my ways.’
¹¹ That is why I angrily took this solemn oath:
    ‘They will never enter my place of rest!’”

⁶ I hate those who cling to false gods, but I trust Yahweh.
⁷ I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
    You have seen my misery.
    You have known the troubles in my soul.
⁸ You have not handed me over to the enemy.
    You have set my feet in a place where I can move freely.

⁹ Have pity on me, O Yahweh, because I am in distress.
    My eyes, my soul, and my body waste away from grief.
¹⁰ My life is exhausted from sorrow,
    my years from groaning.
    My strength staggers under the weight of my guilt,
        and my bones waste away.
¹¹ I have become a disgrace because of all my opponents.
    I have become someone dreaded by my friends,
        even by my neighbors.
            Those who see me on the street run away from me.
¹² I have faded from memory as if I were dead
    and have become like a piece of broken pottery.
¹³ I have heard the whispering of many people—
    terror on every side—
        while they made plans together against me.
            They were plotting to take my life.

¹⁴ I trust you, O Yahweh.
    I said, “You are my Elohim.”

¹⁵ My future is in your hands.
    Rescue me from my enemies, from those who persecute me.
¹⁶ Smile on me.
    Save me with your mercy.
¹⁷ O Yahweh, I have called on you, so do not let me be put to shame.
    Let wicked people be put to shame.
    Let them be silent in the grave.
¹⁸ Let their lying lips be speechless,
    since they speak against righteous people with arrogance and contempt.

¹⁹ Your kindness is so great!
    You reserve it for those who fear you.
        Adam’s descendants watch
            as you show it to those who take refuge in you.
²⁰ You hide them in the secret place of your presence
    from those who scheme against them.
    You keep them in a shelter,
        safe from quarrelsome tongues.
²¹ Thank Yahweh!
    He has shown me the miracle of his mercy
        in a city under attack.
²² When I was panic-stricken, I said,
    “I have been cut off from your sight.”
    But you heard my pleas for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
²³ Love Yahweh, all you godly ones!
    Yahweh protects faithful people,
        but he pays back in full those who act arrogantly.
²⁴ Be strong, all who wait with hope for Yahweh,
    and let your heart be courageous.

⁴ Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgraced.
    Let those who plan my downfall be turned back in confusion.
⁵ Let them be like husks blown by the wind
    as the Messenger of Yahweh chases them.
⁶ Let their path be dark and slippery
    as the Messenger of Yahweh pursues them.
⁷ For no reason they hid their net in a pit.
    For no reason they dug the pit to trap me.
⁸ Let destruction surprise them.
    Let the net that they hid catch them.
    Let them fall into their own pit and be destroyed.
⁹ My soul will find joy in Yahweh
    and be joyful about his salvation.
¹⁰ All my bones will say, “O Yahweh, who can compare with you?
    You rescue the weak person from the one who is too strong for him
        and weak and needy people from the one who robs them.”

¹¹ Malicious people bring charges against me.
    They ask me things I know nothing about.
¹² I am devastated
    because they pay me back with evil instead of good.
¹³ But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth.
    I humbled myself with fasting.
    When my prayer returned unanswered,
¹⁴ I walked around as if I were mourning for my friend or my brother.
    I was bent over as if I were mourning for my mother.

¹⁵ Yet, when I stumbled,
    they rejoiced and gathered together.
    They gathered together against me.
        Unknown attackers tore me apart without stopping.
¹⁶ With crude and abusive mockers,
    they grit their teeth at me.
¹⁷ O Adonay, how long will you look on?
    Rescue me from their attacks.
    Rescue my precious life from the lions.
¹⁸ I will give you thanks in a large gathering.
    I will praise you in a crowd of worshipers.

¹⁹ Do not let my treacherous enemies gloat over me.
    Do not let those who hate me for no reason wink at me.
²⁰ They do not talk about peace.
    Instead, they scheme against the peaceful people in the land.
²¹ They open their big mouths and say about me,
    “Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it.”
²² You have seen it, O Yahweh.
    Do not remain silent.
    O Adonay, do not be so far away from me.
²³ Wake up, and rise to my defense.
    Plead my case, O my Elohim and my Adonay.
²⁴ Judge me by your righteousness, O Yahweh my Elohim.
    Do not let them gloat over me
²⁵ or think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
    Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”
²⁶ Let those who gloat over my downfall
    be thoroughly put to shame and confused.
    Let those who promote themselves at my expense
    be clothed with shame and disgrace.
²⁷ Let those who are happy when I am declared innocent
    joyfully sing and rejoice.
    Let them continually say, “Yahweh is great.
    He is happy when his servant has peace.”
²⁸ Then my tongue will tell about your righteousness,
    about your praise all day long.