A Cry of Distress and Imprecation on Adversaries.

To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Lilies.” A Psalm of David.

1Save me, O God,

For the waters have threatened my life [they have come up to my neck].

2I have sunk in deep mire, where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters, where a flood overwhelms me.

3I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;

My eyes fail while I wait [with confident expectation] for my God.

4Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head;

Those who would destroy me are powerful, being my enemies wrongfully;

I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

5O God, You know my folly;

My wrongs are not hidden from You.

6Do not let those who wait [confidently] for You be [a]ashamed through me, O Lord [b]GOD of hosts;

Do not let those who seek You [as necessary for life itself] be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,

7Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;

Confusion and dishonor have covered my face.

8I have become estranged from my brothers

And an alien to my mother’s sons.

9For zeal for Your house has consumed me,

And the [mocking] insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.

10When I wept and humbled myself with fasting,

It became my reproach.

11When I made sackcloth my clothing [as one in mourning],

I became a byword [a mere object of scorn] to them.

12They who sit in the [city’s] gate talk about me and mock me,

And I am the song of the drunkards.

13But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable and opportune time;

O God, in the greatness of Your favor and in the abundance of Your lovingkindness,

Answer me with truth [that is, the faithfulness of Your salvation].

14Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink;

Let me be rescued from those who hate me and from the deep waters.

15Do not let the floodwater overwhelm me,

Nor the deep waters swallow me up,

Nor the pit [of Sheol] shut its mouth over me.

16Answer me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is sweet and good and comforting;

According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me.

17Do not hide Your face from Your servant,

For I am in distress; answer me quickly.

18Draw near to my soul and redeem it;

Ransom me because of my enemies [so that they do not delight in my distress].

19You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor [how I am insulted];

My adversaries are all before You [each one fully known].

20Reproach and insults have broken my heart and I am so sick.

I looked for sympathy, but there was none,

And for comforters, but I found none.

21They (self-righteous hypocrites) also gave me gall [poisonous and bitter] for my food,

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22May their table [with all its abundance and luxury] become a snare [to them];

And when they are in peace [secure at their sacrificial feasts], may it become a trap.

23May their eyes be dimmed so that they cannot see,

And make their loins shake continually [in terror and weakness].

24Pour out Your indignation on them,

And let [the fierceness of] Your burning anger overtake them.

25May their encampment be desolate;

May no one dwell in their tents.

26For they have persecuted him whom You have struck,

And they tell of the pain of those whom You have pierced and wounded.

27Add [unforgiven] iniquity to their iniquity [in Your book],

And may they not come into Your [c]righteousness.

28May they be blotted out of the book of life [and their lives come to an end]

And may they not be recorded with the righteous (those in right standing with God).

29But I am sorrowful and in pain;

May Your salvation, O God, set me [securely] on high.

30I will praise the name of God with song

And magnify Him with thanksgiving.

31And it will please the LORD better than an ox

Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

32The humble have seen it and are glad;

You who seek God [requiring Him as your greatest need], let your heart revive and live.

33For the LORD hears the needy

And does not despise His who are prisoners.

34Let heaven and earth praise Him,

The seas and everything that moves in them.

35For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah,

That His servants may remain there and possess it.

36The descendants of His servants will inherit it,

And those who love His name will dwell in it.