A Davidic psalm,a which he sang to the LORD, because of the words of Cush the descendant of Benjamin.

A Prayer for Vindication

1LORD, my God,

I seek refuge in you.

Deliver me from those who persecute me!

Rescue me!

2Otherwise, they will rip me to shreds like a lion,

tearing meb apart with no one to rescue me.c

3LORD, my God, if I have done this thing,

if there is injustice on my hands,

4if I have rewarded those who did me good with evil,

if I have plundered my enemy without justification,

5then, let my enemy pursue me,

let him overtake me,

and let him trample my life to the ground.

Interlude

Let him put my honor into the dust.

6Get up, LORD, in your anger!

Rise up, because of the fury of my enemies;

Arouse yourself for me;

you have ordained justice.

7Let the assembly of the peoples gather around you,

and you will sitd high above them.

8For the LORD will judge the peoples.

Judge me according to my righteousness, LORD,

and according to my integrity, Exalted One.

9Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

but establish the righteous.

For you are the righteous God

who discerns the inner thoughts.e

10God is my shield,f

the one who delivers the upright in heart.

11God is a righteous judge,

a God who is angry with sinnersg every day.

12If the ungodly oneh doesn’t repent,

God will sharpen his sword;

he will string his bow and prepare it.

13He prepares weapons of death for himself,

he makes his arrows into fiery shafts.

14But the wicked onei travails with evil,

he conceives malice and gives birth to lies.

15He digs a pit, even excavates it;

then he fell into the hole that he had made.

16The troublej he planned will return on his own head,

and his violence will descend on his skull.

17But as for me,

I will praise the LORD for his righteousness,

and I will sing to the name of the LORD Most High.