Psalms 56-63

Psalm 56

¹To the chief music-maker; put to Jonath elem rehokim. Of David. Michtam. When the Philistines took him in Gath. Have mercy on me, O God, for man is attempting my destruction; every day he makes cruel attacks against me.

²My haters are ever ready to put an end to me; great numbers are lifting themselves up against me.

³In the time of my fear, I will have faith in you.

⁴In God will I give praise to his word; in God have I put my hope; I will have no fear of what flesh may do to me.

⁵Every day they make wrong use of my words; all their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They come together, they are waiting in secret places, they take note of my steps, they are waiting for my soul.

⁷By evil-doing they will not get free from punishment. In wrath, O God, let the peoples be made low.

⁸You have seen my wanderings; put the drops from my eyes into your bottle; are they not in your record?

⁹When I send up my cry to you, my haters will be turned back; I am certain of this, for God is with me.

¹⁰In God will I give praise to his word; in the Lord will I give praise to his word.

¹¹In God have I put my hope, I will have no fear of what man may do to me.

¹²I keep the memory of my debt to you, O God; I will give you the offerings of praise.

¹³Because you have taken my soul from the power of death; and kept my feet from falling, so that I may be walking before God in the light of life.

Psalm 57

¹To the chief music-maker; put to Al-tashheth. Michtam. Of David. When he went in flight from Saul, in the hole of the rock. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me; for the hope of my soul is in you: I will keep myself safely under the shade of your wings, till these troubles are past.

²I will send up my cry to the Most High God; to God who does all things for me.

³He will send from heaven, and take me from the power of him whose desire is for my destruction. God will send out his mercy and his good faith.

⁴My soul is among lions; I am stretched out among those who are on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongue is a sharp sword.

⁵O God, be lifted up higher than the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

⁶They have made ready a net for my steps; my soul is bent down; they have made a great hole before me, and have gone down into it themselves. (Selah.)

⁷My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will make songs, and give praise.

⁸You are my glory; let the instruments of music be awake; I myself will be awake with the dawn.

⁹I will give you praise, O Lord, among the peoples; I will make songs to you among the nations.

¹⁰For your mercy is great, stretching up to the heavens, and your righteousness goes up to the clouds.

¹¹Be lifted up, O God, higher than the heavens, let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 58

¹To the chief music-maker; put to Al-tashheth. Michtam. Of David. Is there righteousness in your mouths, O you gods? are you upright judges, O you sons of men?

²The purposes of your hearts are evil; your hands are full of cruel doings on the earth.

³The evil-doers are strange from the first; from the hour of their birth they go out of the true way, saying false words.

⁴Their poison is like the poison of a snake; they are like the adder, whose ears are shut;

⁵Who will not be moved by the voice of the wonder-worker, however great are his powers.

⁶O God, let their teeth be broken in their mouths; let the great teeth of the young lions be pulled out, O Lord.

⁷Let them be turned to liquid like the ever-flowing waters; let them be cut off like the grass by the way.

⁸Let them be like an after-birth which is turned to water and comes to an end; like the fruit of a woman who gives birth before her time, let them not see the sun.

⁹Before they are conscious of it, let them be cut down like thorns; let a strong wind take them away like waste growth.

¹⁰The upright man will be glad when he sees their punishment; his feet will be washed in the blood of the evil-doer.

¹¹So that men will say, Truly there is a reward for righteousness; truly there is a God who is judge on the earth.

Psalm 59

¹To the chief music-maker; put to At-tashheth. Michtam. Of David. When Saul sent, and they were watching the house, to put him to death. Take me out of the hands of the cruel ones, O my God; keep me safe from those who come up against me.

²Take me out of the power of the workers of evil, and keep me safe from the men of blood.

³For see, they are watching in secret for my soul; the strong have come together against me? but not because of my sin, or my evil-doing, O Lord.

⁴For no sin of mine they go quickly and get themselves ready; be awake and come to my help, and see.

⁵You, O Lord God of armies, are the God of Israel; come now and give punishment to the nations; have no mercy on any workers of deceit. (Selah.)

⁶They come back in the evening; they make a noise like a dog, and go round the town.

⁷See, hate is dropping from their lips; curses are on their tongues: they say, Who gives attention to it?

⁸But you are laughing at them, O Lord; you will make sport of all the nations.

⁹O my strength, I will put my hope in you; because God is my strong tower.

¹⁰The God of my mercy will go before me: God will let me see my desire effected on my haters.

¹¹Put them not to death, for so my people will keep the memory of them: let them be sent in all directions by your power; make them low, O Lord our saviour.

¹²Because of the sin of their mouths and the word of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride; and for their curses and their deceit,

¹³Put an end to them in your wrath, put an end to them, so that they may not be seen again; let them see that God is ruling in Jacob and to the ends of the earth. (Selah.)

¹⁴And in the evening let them come back, and make a noise like a dog, and go round the town.

¹⁵Let them go wandering up and down in search of food, and be there all night if they have not enough.

¹⁶But I will make songs of your power; yes, I will give cries of joy for your mercy in the morning; because you have been my strength and my high tower in the day of my trouble.

¹⁷To you, O my strength, will I make my song: because God is my high tower, even the God of my mercy.

Psalm 60

¹To the chief music-maker; put to Shushan-eduth. Michtam. Of David. For teaching. When he was fighting against Aram-naharaim and Aramzobah, when Joab came back, and put twelve thousand of the Edomites to death, in the Valley of Salt. God, you have put us away from you, you have sent us in all directions, you have been angry; O be turned to us again.

²By the power of your hand the earth is shaking and broken; make it strong again, for it is moved.

³You have made the people see hard times; you have given us the wine of shaking for our drink.

⁴Give a safe place to those who have fear of you, where they may go in flight from before the bow. (Selah.)

⁵So that your loved ones may be made safe, let your right hand be my salvation, and give me an answer.

⁶God has said in his holy place, I will be glad: I will make a division of Shechem, and the valley of Succoth will be measured out.

⁷Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; and Ephraim is the strength of my head; Judah is my law-giver;

⁸Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I put out my shoe; over Philistia will a glad cry be sounded.

⁹Who will take me into the strong town? who will be my guide into Edom?

¹⁰Have not you put us away, O God? and you have not gone out with our armies.

¹¹Give us help in our trouble; for there is no help in man.

¹²Through God we will do great things, for through him our haters will be crushed under our feet.

Psalm 61

¹To the chief music-maker. On a corded instrument. Of David. Let my cry come to you, O God; let your ears be open to my prayer.

²From the end of the earth will I send up my cry to you, when my heart is overcome: take me to the rock which is over-high for me.

³For you have been my secret place, and my high tower from those who made war on me.

⁴I will make your tent my resting-place for ever: I will keep myself under the cover of your wings. (Selah.)

⁵For you, O God, have made answer to my prayers; you have given me the heritage of those who give honour to your name.

⁶You will give the king long life; and make his years go on through the generations.

⁷May the seat of his authority be before God for ever; may mercy and righteousness keep him safe.

⁸So will I make songs in praise of your name for ever, giving to God that which is right day by day.

Psalm 62

¹To the chief music-maker. After Jeduthun. A Psalm. Of David. My soul, put all your faith in God; for from him comes my salvation.

²He only is my Rock and my salvation; he is my high tower; I will not be greatly moved.

³How long will you go on designing evil against a man? running against him as against a broken wall, which is on the point of falling?

⁴Their only thought is to put him down from his place of honour; their delight is in deceit: blessing is in their mouths but cursing in their hearts. (Selah.)

⁵My soul, put all your faith in God; for from him comes my hope.

⁶He only is my Rock and my salvation; he is my high tower; I will not be greatly moved.

⁷In God is my salvation, and my glory; the Rock of my strength, and my safe place.

⁸Have faith in him at all times, you people; let your hearts go flowing out before him: God is our safe place. (Selah.)

⁹Truly men of low birth are nothing, and men of high position are not what they seem; if they are put in the scales together they are less than a breath.

¹⁰Have no faith in the rewards of evil-doing, or in profits wrongly made: if your wealth is increased, do not put your hopes on it.

¹¹Once has God said, twice has it come to my ears, that power is God's:

¹²And mercy, O Lord, is yours, for you give to every man the reward of his work.

Psalm 63

¹A Psalm. Of David. When he was in the waste land of Judah. O God, you are my God; early will I make my search for you: my soul is dry for need of you, my flesh is wasted with desire for you, as a dry and burning land where no water is;

²To see your power and your glory, as I have seen you in the holy place.

³Because your mercy is better than life, my lips will give you praise.

⁴So will I go on blessing you all my life, lifting up my hands in your name.

⁵My soul will be comforted, as with good food; and my mouth will give you praise with songs of joy;

⁶When the memory of you comes to me on my bed, and when I give thought to you in the night-time.

⁷Because you have been my help, I will have joy in the shade of your wings.

⁸My soul keeps ever near you: your right hand is my support.

⁹But those whose desire is my soul's destruction will go down to the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁰They will be cut off by the sword; they will be food for foxes.

¹¹But the king will have joy in God; everyone who takes an oath by him will have cause for pride; but the false mouth will be stopped.