Beginning
David wrote this psalm for the music leader.
It was when the prophet Nathan came to him, after David had sex with Bathsheba.
Please forgive me, Lord[a]
51 Please forgive me, God,
because of your faithful love.
Because you are so kind,
please clean away my sins.
2 I have done bad things,
so wash me to make me clean again.[b]
3 I know that I have not obeyed you.
I cannot forget that I am guilty.
4 It is you that I have done bad things against,
only you![c]
I have done things that are evil,
as you know.
And so you are fair when you speak against me.
You are right when you say that I am guilty.
5 Yes, even from the day I was born
I have done bad things.
I have always been guilty of sin.
6 But you want me to be completely good and honest.
You want to teach me to be wise
in the way that I live.
7 Splash water over me with a hyssop plant,
and I will be really clean.[d]
Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.[e]
8 Please forgive me so that I can be happy.
Then my whole body will feel well again.
9 Hide your face from my sins.
Clean away all the bad things that I have done.[f]
10 God, please make my heart new and clean.
And make my spirit strong and true,
deep inside me.
11 Do not send me away from you.
Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me.
12 Give me joy again,
because you have made me safe.
Make me strong and ready to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways
to people who have turned against you.
Then sinners will turn back
and they will obey you.
14 God, I am guilty of murder.
Please forgive me!
You are the one who saves me.
When you rescue me,
I will sing aloud about your righteousness.
15 My Lord, help me to speak,
and then I will praise you.
16 I would be happy to offer sacrifices to you,
but that is not what you really want.
You do not want a burnt offering from me.
17 You want me to be humble and sorry.
That is the sacrifice that you want.
When people are humble
and they turn away from their sins,
you will not refuse them.
18 God, please be kind and help Zion.
Make the walls of Jerusalem strong again.
19 Then you will accept our proper sacrifices.
Our burnt offerings and sacrifices of whole animals
will make you happy.
Once again, people will offer bulls to you,
on your altar.[g]
This is a special song that David wrote for the music leader.
It was when Doeg, the man from Edom, went to Saul and told him, ‘David went to the house of Ahimelech, the priest.’
Cruel words[h]
52 Strong man, why are you so proud
about the evil things that you like to do?
Remember that God's faithful love keeps me safe.
2 Your tongue is like a sharp knife!
You talk about how to hurt other people,
You speak nothing but lies.
3 You love to do evil things,
not good things.
You love to tell lies
more than the truth.
Selah.
4 You love to say cruel words.
You speak to deceive others.
5 But God will knock you down,
and he will break you into pieces.
He will take you away from your home.
He will remove you from this world where people live.
Selah.
6 Righteous people will see what has happened,
and they will be afraid.[i]
Then they will laugh at the wicked person,
and they will say,
7 ‘Look! This man did not trust God to keep him safe.
Instead, he trusted in his riches.
He thought that he could be cruel,
and that would keep him safe.’
8 But I am like a strong olive tree
that grows in the house of God.
I will always trust in God's faithful love for his people.
9 I will always praise you, God,
for what you have done.
I will trust you to help me,
together with all those who serve you.
David wrote this special song for the music leader. Use the music called Mahalath.
People are wicked[j]
53 A fool thinks that there is no God.
People like that are bad.
They do evil things.
None of them does anything that is good.
2 God looks down from heaven
at the people on earth.
He wants to see if there is anyone who is really wise
and who wants to know God.
3 But they have all turned away.
They have all become evil.
Nobody does anything that is good,
not even one person.
4 People who do wicked things understand nothing.
They destroy my people
as easily as they eat bread.
They never pray to God.
5 But now they are very afraid
when there is nothing to be afraid of!
God has completely won against his enemies,
the people that attack you, his people.
God has turned against them,
so you are able to make them ashamed!
6 God, you are the one who saves your people, Israel!
Leave your home in Zion
and make your people strong again!
When God blesses his people,
Jacob's descendants will sing!
Yes, Israel's people will be very happy![k]
David wrote this special song for the music leader. He must use stringed instruments. It was when the men of Ziph went to Saul and they said, ‘David is hiding with us.’
God keeps me safe[l]
54 God, you are great, so please help me!
Use your power to show that I am right.
2 God, hear my prayer,
and listen carefully to what I am saying.
3 Strangers are attacking me!
Cruel people want to kill me.
They do not respect you, God.[m]
Selah.
4 But I know that God is the one who gives me help.
My Lord takes care of me.
5 Pay back my enemies with their own evil.
Please do what you have promised
and destroy them.
6 I choose to offer a sacrifice to thank you.
Lord, you are always good,
so I want to praise your name.
7 Yes, God has saved me from all my trouble.
When I looked at my enemies,
I see that I have won against them.[n]
David wrote this special song for the music leader. Use stringed instruments when you sing it.
A prayer when a friend turns against you[o]
55 God, listen to my prayer.
Do not turn away
when I ask you to help me.
2 Listen carefully and answer me.
I am very upset because of all my troubles.
They are too many for me.
3 I am afraid because of what my enemies say.
Those wicked people give me much pain.
They are so angry that they hate me
and they give me nothing but trouble.
4 My heart beats fast inside me.
Death seems very near,
and I am very afraid.
5 I am shaking with fear!
My troubles are too much for me.
6 So I say, ‘If I had wings to fly like a dove,
I would fly away to a safe place.
7 Yes! I would go far away,
and I would live in the wilderness.
Selah.
8 I would go quickly to a safe place.
The strong winds and storms of my enemies
would not reach me there!’
9 My Lord, make my enemies confused!
Stop them from doing what they want to do.
Everywhere that I look in the city,
I see that they do cruel things to attack people.[p]
10 They walk on the city's walls
in the day and at night.
Inside the city they do evil things
that bring trouble everywhere.
11 They destroy everything!
In all the city's streets, they move freely.
They hurt people and they cheat them.
12 But it is not my enemies that have insulted me.
That would not have hurt me.
If my enemy laughs at me,
I can always hide from him!
13 But it is you, my best friend!
We did things as men together,
and I trusted you!
14 We enjoyed our time together.
We often went to God's temple,
and we joined with the crowd of people there.
15 Please let death suddenly destroy my enemies!
May they go down into their graves alive!
They are at home with evil,
and that is all that they think about.
16 But I will call to God for help.
The Lord will make me safe.
17 I will weep and cry to him,
morning, noon and night.
He will listen to what I say.
18 I have very many enemies
who attack me all the time.
But God will rescue me and keep me safe.
19 God has always ruled everything as king.
He will listen to me,
and he will punish my enemies.
Selah.
They refuse to change their thoughts,
and they do not respect God.
20 But my friend has turned against his own friends.
He has not been a true friend,
as he promised to be.
21 He speaks a message of peace,
but he is really thinking about war.
His words are easy to listen to,
but they hurt like sharp knives.
22 Take your problems to the Lord.
He will take care of you.
He will never let his own people fall.[q]
23 And as for wicked people,
you, God, will send them to their graves.
They will go down into the deep hole of death
while they are still young.
That is what will happen to those cruel people,
who kill and cheat others.
But I will trust in you, God.
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer when the Philistines took hold of him in Gath.
Trust in God[r]
56 God, please be kind to me, and help me,
because people are fighting me.
My enemies are attacking me every day.
2 They chase me all the time!
Those proud people want to catch me,
and there are many of them!
3 But when I am afraid,
I will trust in you.
4 By God's help, I will praise his word.
By God's help, I will trust in him.
I will not be afraid.
People can do nothing to hurt me![s]
5 All the time, they bring trouble on me.
They are always thinking of ways to hurt me.
6 They hide and they watch me.
They watch me wherever I go,
and they hope to kill me.
7 God, they want to do wicked things,
so punish them!
Destroy these people,
because you are angry with them.
8 Every time that I am upset,
you know about it.
Put all my tears in your bottle!
Yes, write down every tear in your book.[t]
9 When I call to you for help,
my enemies will turn back.
I am sure of this: God is with me,
to fight for me.
10 By God's help, I will praise his promise.
Yes, by the Lord's help,
I will praise his word.
11 I am not afraid,
because I trust in God.
People can do nothing to hurt me.
12 I have made special promises to you, God,
and I will do what I have promised.
I will offer to you a sacrifice to say ‘thank you’.
13 You have saved my life from death.
You keep me safe so that I do not fall.
As a result, I will serve you, God,
as you give me light to live here on earth.
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer when he ran away from King Saul to hide in a cave.
A prayer for help[u]
57 God, please be kind to me and help me!
Please help me!
I have come to you to keep me safe.
Until the danger has gone, keep me near to you,
in the way that birds protect their babies under their wings.
2 I will call to the Most High God to help me.
He is the God who stands beside me.
3 He will send help from heaven
and he will save me.
He will punish the people who attack me.
Selah.
God will show me his faithful love,
and he will do what he has promised.
4 My enemies are all round me,
like hungry lions!
I must lie down among wild animals,
that want to eat me!
They are men who use spears and arrows
to bite like teeth.
They use their tongues to hurt people,
like sharp swords.
5 God, show how great you are,
high above the sky!
Let everybody on the earth see your glory!
6 My enemies have prepared a trap to catch me.
That makes me very upset.
They have dug a deep hole on the path where I walk.
But they have fallen into it themselves!
Selah.
7 God, I have decided to trust you always.
Yes, I will trust you!
I will sing songs to praise you!
8 I will wake up now!
I will pick up my harp and my lyre.
I will make music as the sun rises![v]
9 My Lord, I will thank you
in front of all the people.
I will sing to praise you,
so that all nations hear.
10 Your faithful love is great,
higher than the skies.
Your truth reaches beyond the clouds.
11 God, show how great you are,
high above the sky!
Let everybody on the earth see your glory!
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