Chronological

¹ O Lord, how my foes are multiplying!
Many are rising up against me!
² Many are saying about my life, Interlude^[b]
“There is no salvation for him in God.”

³ But you, O Lord, are a shield for me.
You are my glory and the one who lifts up my head.
⁴ With a loud voice I cry out to the Lord, Interlude
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

⁵ I lie down, and I sleep.
I awake, because the Lord sustains me.
⁶ I will not be afraid of the thousands of people
    who line up against me on all sides.

⁷ Rise up, O Lord! Save me, my God!
Yes, you will strike all my enemies on the jaw.
The teeth of the wicked you will break.
⁸ Salvation belongs to the Lord. Interlude
Your blessing rests on your people.

¹ My righteous God, answer me when I call.
When I was under pressure, you gave me relief.
Be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

² You people, how long will you turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love empty delusions? Interlude
How long will you pursue lies?
³ Know this: The Lord has set apart
    his favored one^[c] for himself.
The Lord will hear when I call to him.

⁴ You may be upset, but do not sin.
When you are on your beds,
    speak to your heart, but remain silent. Interlude
⁵ Offer righteous sacrifices,
and trust in the Lord.
⁶ Many are saying, “Who can show us any good?”
Shine the light of your face on us, O Lord.

⁷ You have placed joy in my heart greater than the joy
    when grain and new wine are plentiful.
⁸ In complete peace I will lie down, and I will sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

¹ Save us, Lord, for the merciful have disappeared.
The faithful have vanished from among mankind.

⁵ “Because of the destruction of the oppressed,
because of the groaning of the poor,
now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“I will keep him safe from the one who puffs against him.”^[d]
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
⁷ You, Lord, will keep them safe.
You will protect them from such people forever.
⁸ The wicked strut around
    when depravity is honored by the children of Adam.

¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I experience worries in my soul,
sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy tower over me?

³ Look at me. Answer me, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes
    so I do not sleep in death,
⁴     so my enemy does not say, “I have overcome him,”
    so my foes do not rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your mercy.
My heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord
    because he has accomplished his purpose for me.

¹ O Lord, I keep calling to you.
My Rock, do not be deaf to me.
If you remain silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit.
² Hear the sound of my plea for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
³ Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those evildoers.
They speak peace to their neighbors but hide evil in their hearts.

⁴ Give to them what they have done to others.
According to their evil actions,
according to the deeds of their hands,
punish them.
Repay to them what they deserve.
⁵ Because they do not recognize the works of the Lord
or the deeds of his hands,
he will tear them down and not build them up.

⁶ Blessed be the Lord,
because he has heard the sound of my plea for mercy.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I am helped.
My heart also celebrates.
With my song I will give thanks to him.
⁸ The Lord is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed king.
⁹ Save your people, and bless the people that belong to you.
Shepherd them, and carry them forever.

¹ Turn your ear to my prayer, O God.
Do not hide from my plea for mercy.
² Pay attention to me and answer me.

I am troubled in my thoughts and I groan
³     because of talk from the enemy,
    because of oppression from the wicked,
    because they dump evil on me,
    and in anger they hold a grudge against me.
⁴ My heart is in anguish within me.
The terrors of death fall on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come over me.
Horror covers me.
⁶ So I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find a place to rest.
⁷ Yes, I would flee far away. Interlude
I would stay in the wilderness.
⁸ I would hurry to find shelter,
    far from the violent wind, far from the storm.”
⁹ Swallow them up, O Lord.
Confuse their speech,
for I see violence and contention in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they sneak around on its walls.
Evil and trouble are in the city.
¹¹ Destruction lurks within it.
Treachery and deceit never leave its streets.
¹² For it is not an enemy who insults me—
I could bear that.
It is not someone who hated me who rises up against me—
I could hide from him.
¹³ But it is you, a man who served with me,
    my colleague and my associate,
¹⁴     with whom I shared pleasant discussions
    as we walked with the excited crowd at God’s house.

¹⁵ Let deadly destruction come on them.
Let them go down to the grave alive,
because evil is at home in their hearts.

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
¹⁷ Evening, morning, and noon I cry out and I sigh,
and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ In peace he redeems my life from the assault against me,
    even when many are against me.
¹⁹ God will hear, and he will punish them— Interlude
yes, he is seated on his throne from eternity!
—because they never change, and they do not fear God.

²⁰ The traitor reaches out his hand against those at peace with him.
He breaks his agreement.^[a]
21 His flattery is as smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart.
His words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn daggers.

²² Place your burden on the Lord,
and he will support you.
He will never allow the righteous to fall.
²³ But you, O God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction.
Bloody and deceitful men will not live half their days.
But as for me, I will trust in you.