Beginning
To the director: To the tune “Don’t Destroy.” A miktam of David.
58 You judges are not being fair in your decisions.
You are not judging people fairly.
2 No, you only think of evil things to do.
You do violent crimes in this country.
3 Those wicked people started doing wrong as soon as they were born.
They have been liars from birth.
4 Their anger is as deadly as the poison of a snake.[a]
They shut their ears like a deaf cobra
5 that does not listen to the music of the snake charmers,
no matter how well they play.
6 God, they are like lions.
So, Lord, break their teeth.
7 May they disappear like water down a drain.
May they be crushed like weeds on a path.[b]
8 May they be like snails melting away as they move.
May they be like a baby born dead, who never saw the light of day.
9 May they be destroyed suddenly,
like the thorns that are burned to quickly heat a pot.
10 Good people will be happy
when they see the wicked getting the punishment they deserve.
They will feel like soldiers
walking through the blood of their enemies![c]
11 Then people will say, “Good people really are rewarded.
Yes, there is a God judging the world!”[d]
To the director: To the tune “Don’t Destroy.” A miktam of David written when Saul sent people to watch David’s house to try to kill him.
59 God, save me from my enemies.
Protect me from those who stand against me.
2 Save me from those who do wrong.
Save me from those murderers.
3 Look, powerful men are waiting for me.
Lord, they are waiting to kill me,
even though I did not sin or commit a crime.
4 I have done nothing wrong, but they are rushing to attack me.
Come and see for yourself!
5 You are the Lord God All-Powerful, the God of Israel!
Get up and punish them.
Don’t show any mercy to those traitors. Selah
6 Those evil men are like dogs
that come into town in the evening,
growling and roaming the streets.
7 Listen to their threats and insults.
They say such cruel things,
and they don’t care who hears them.
8 Lord, laugh at them.
Make fun of them all.
9 God, my strength, I look to you for help.[e]
You are my place of safety, high in the mountains.
10 God loves me, and he will help me win.
He will help me defeat my enemies.
11 Don’t just kill them, or my people might forget.
My Lord and Protector, scatter and defeat them with your strength.
12 Those evil people curse and tell lies.
Punish them for what they said.
Let their pride trap them.
13 Destroy them in your anger.
Destroy them completely!
Then people all over the world will know
that God rules over the people of Jacob. Selah
14 Those evil men are like dogs
that come into town in the evening, growling and roaming the streets.
15 They roam around looking for food,
but even if they eat their fill, they still growl and complain.
16 But I will sing about your strength.
I will rejoice in your love every morning.
You have been my place of safety,
the place I can run to when troubles come.
17 I will sing praises to you, my source of strength.
You, God, are my place of safety.
You are the God who loves me!
To the director: To the tune “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David for teaching. Written when David fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab came back and defeated 12,000 Edomite soldiers at Salt Valley.
60 God, you were angry with us.
You rejected us and destroyed our defenses.
Please make us strong again.
2 You shook the earth and split it open.
It is falling apart like a broken wall.
Please put it back together.
3 You have given your people many troubles.
We are dizzy and fall down like drunks.
4 But you have provided a flag to show your faithful followers
where to gather to escape the enemy’s attack. Selah
5 Use your great power and give us victory!
Answer our prayer and save the people you love.
6 God has spoken in his Temple[f]:
“I will win the war and rejoice in victory!
I will divide this land among my people.
I will give them Shechem.
I will give them Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead and Manasseh will be mine.
Ephraim will be my helmet.
Judah will be my royal scepter.
8 Moab will be the bowl for washing my feet.
Edom will be the slave who carries my sandals.
I will defeat the Philistines and shout in victory!”
9-10 But, God, it seems that you have left us!
You do not go out with our army.
So who will lead me into the strong, protected city?
Who will lead me into battle against Edom?
11 Help us defeat the enemy!
No one on earth can rescue us.
12 Only God can make us strong.
Only God can defeat our enemies!
To the director: With stringed instruments. A song of David.
61 God, hear my cry for help.
Listen to my prayer.
2 From a faraway land I call to you for help.
I feel so weak and helpless!
Carry me to a high rock
where no one can reach me.
3 You are my place of safety,
a strong tower that protects me from my enemies.
4 I want to live in your tent[g] forever.
I want to hide where you can protect me. Selah
5 God, you heard what I promised to give you,
but everything your worshipers have comes from you.
6 Give the king a long life.
Let him live forever!
7 Let him rule in your presence forever.
Protect him with your faithful love.
8 Then I will praise your name forever.
Every day I will do what I promised.
To the director, Jeduthun.[h] A song of David.
62 I must calm down and turn to God;
only he can rescue me.
2 He is my Rock, the only one who can save me.
He is my high place of safety, where no army can defeat me.
3 How long will you people attack me?
Do you all want to kill me?
I am like a leaning wall,
like a fence ready to fall.
4 You want only to destroy me,
to bring me down from my important position.
It makes you happy to tell lies about me.
In public, you say nice things,
but in private, you curse me. Selah
5 I must calm down and turn to God;
he is my only hope.
6 He is my Rock, the only one who can save me.
He is my high place of safety, where no army can defeat me.
7 My victory and honor come from God.
He is the mighty Rock, where I am safe.
8 People, always put your trust in God!
Tell him all your problems.
God is our place of safety. Selah
9 People cannot really help.
You cannot depend on them.
Compared to God, they are nothing—
no more than a gentle puff of air!
10 Don’t trust in your power to take things by force.
Don’t think you will gain anything by stealing.
And if you become wealthy,
don’t put your trust in riches.
11 God says there is one thing you can really depend on, and I believe it:
“Strength comes from God!”
12 My Lord, your love is real.
You reward all people for what they do.
A song of David written when he was in the desert of Judah.
63 God, you are my God.
I am searching so hard to find you.
Body and soul, I thirst for you
in this dry and weary land without water.
2 Yes, I have seen you in your Temple.[i]
I have seen your strength and glory.
3 Your faithful love is better than life,
so my lips praise you.
4 By my life, I will praise you.
In your name, I lift my hands in prayer.
5 When I sit down to satisfy my hunger,
my joyful lips hunger to praise you!
6 I remember you while lying on my bed.
I think about you in the middle of the night.
7 That is because you are the one who helps me.
It makes me happy to be under your protection!
8 I stay close to you,
and you hold me with your powerful arm.
9 Those who are trying to kill me will be destroyed.
They will go down to their graves.
10 They will be killed with swords.
Wild dogs will eat their dead bodies.
11 But the king will be happy with his God,
and those who promised to obey him will praise him when he defeats those liars.
To the director: A song of David.
64 God, listen to my complaint.
Save me from the terrible threats of my enemies!
2 Protect me from the secret plans of the wicked.
Hide me from that gang of evil people.
3 They sharpen their tongues to use like swords.
They aim their poisonous words like arrows.
4 Suddenly, from their hiding places, they let their arrows fly.
They shoot to kill innocent people.
5 They encourage each other to do wrong.
They talk about setting traps and say, “No one will see them here!
6 No one will discover our crime.
We have the perfect plan!”
Yes, people can be very tricky and hard to understand.
7 But suddenly, God will shoot his arrows,
and those wicked people will be hit.
8 He will use their own words against them,
and they will be destroyed.
Then everyone who sees them
will shake their heads in amazement.
9 People will see what God has done.
They will tell other people about him.
Then everyone will learn more about God.
They will learn to fear and respect him.
10 Good people are happy to serve the Lord.
They depend on him to protect them.
All those who want to do right will praise him!
To the director: A praise song of David.
65 God in Zion, we praise you
and give you what we promised.
2 Anyone can come to you,
and you will listen to their prayers.
3 When our sins become too heavy for us,
you wipe them away.
4 Oh, how wonderful it is to be the people you chose
to come and stay in your Temple.
And we are so happy to have the wonderful things
that are in your Temple, your holy palace.
5 God, you answer our prayers and do what is right.
You do amazing things to save us.
People all over the world know they can trust in you,
even those who live across the sea.
6 You made the mountains.
We see your power all around us.
7 You can calm the roughest seas
or the nations raging around us.
8 People all around the world are amazed at the wonderful things you do.
You make all people, east and west, sing with joy.
9 You take care of the land.
You water it and make it fertile.
Your streams are always filled with water.
That’s how you make the crops grow.
10 You pour rain on the plowed fields;
you soak the fields with water.
You make the ground soft with rain,
and you make the young plants grow.
11 You start the new year with a good harvest.
You end the year with many crops.[j]
12 The desert and hills are covered with grass.
13 The pastures are covered with sheep.
The valleys are filled with grain.
Everything is singing and shouting for joy.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International