Psalms 56-63

Psalm 56

¹For the Chief Musician; set to Jonath elem rehokim. A Psalm of David: Michtam: when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up: all the day long he fighting oppresseth me.

²Mine enemies would swallow me up all the day long: for they be many that fight proudly against me.

³What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee.

⁴In God I will praise his word: in God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; what can flesh do unto me?

⁵All the day long they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, even as they have waited for my soul.

⁷Shall they escape by iniquity? in anger cast down the peoples, O God.

⁸Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle; are they not in thy book?

⁹Then shall mine enemies turn back in the day that I call: this I know, that God is for me.

¹⁰In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.

¹¹In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid; what can man do unto me?

¹²Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render thank offerings unto thee.

¹³For thou hast delivered my soul from death: hast thou not delivered my feet from falling? that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

Psalm 57

¹For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David: Michtam: when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul taketh refuge in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

²I will cry unto God Most High; unto God that performeth all things for me.

³He shall send from heaven, and save me, when he that would swallow me up reproacheth; Selah God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

⁴My soul is among lions; I lie among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

⁵Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

⁶They have prepared a net for my steps; thy soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me; they are fallen into the midst thereof themselves. Selah

⁷My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing, yea, I will sing praises.

⁸Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake right early.

⁹I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the peoples: I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

¹⁰For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the skies.

¹¹Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 58

¹For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David: Michtam. Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

²Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

³The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

⁴Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;

⁵Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

⁶Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.

⁷Let them melt away as water that runneth apace: when he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.

⁸Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that hath not seen the sun.

⁹Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

¹⁰The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.

Psalm 59

¹For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David: Michtam: when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: set me on high from them that rise up against me.

²Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from the bloodthirsty men.

³For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul; the mighty gather themselves together against me: not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.

⁴They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake thou to help me, and behold.

⁵Even thou, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, arise to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah

⁶They return at evening, they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

⁷Behold, they belch out with their mouth; swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?

⁸But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

⁹O my strength, I will wait upon thee: for God is my high tower.

¹⁰The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.

¹¹Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power, and bring them down, O Lord our shield.

¹²For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride, and for cursing and lying which they speak.

¹³Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they be no more: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth. Selah

¹⁴And at evening let them return, let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

¹⁵They shall wander up and down for meat and tarry all night if they be not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of thy strength; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my high tower, and a refuge in the day of my distress.

¹⁷Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing praises: for God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

Psalm 60

¹For the Chief Musician; set to Shushan Eduth: Michtam of David, to teach: when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand. O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down; thou hast been angry; O restore us again.

²Thou hast made the land to tremble; thou hast rent it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.

³Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.

⁴Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah

⁵That thy beloved may be delivered, save with thy right hand, and answer us.

⁶God hath spoken in his holiness; I will exult: I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

⁷Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the defence of mine head; Judah is my sceptre.

⁸Moab is my washpot; upon Edom will I cast my shoe: Philistia, shout thou because of me.

⁹Who will bring me into the strong city? who hath led me unto Edom?

¹⁰Hast not thou, O God, cast us off? and thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.

¹¹Give us help against the adversary: for vain is the help of man.

¹²Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our adversaries.

Psalm 61

¹For the Chief Musician; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

²From the end of the earth will I call unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

³For thou hast been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.

⁴I will dwell in thy tabernacle for ever: I will take refuge in the covert of thy wings. Selah

⁵For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.

⁶Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: his years shall be as many generations.

⁷He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare lovingkindness and truth, that they may preserve him.

⁸So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

Psalm 62

¹For the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. My soul waiteth only upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

²He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my high tower; I shall not be greatly moved.

³How long will ye set upon a man, that ye may slay him, all of you, like a bowing wall, like a tottering fence?

⁴They only consult to thrust him down from his excellency; they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah

⁵My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

⁶He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my high tower; I shall not be moved.

⁷With God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

⁸Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah

⁹Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: in the balances they will go up; they are together lighter than vanity.

¹⁰Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart thereon.

¹¹God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God:

¹²Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Psalm 63

¹A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and weary land, where no water is.

²So have I looked upon thee in the sanctuary, to see thy power and thy glory.

³For thy lovingkindness is better than life; my lips shall praise thee.

⁴So will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

⁵My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips;

⁶When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

⁷For thou hast been my help, and in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

⁸My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

⁹But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁰They shall be given over to the power of the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

¹¹But the king shall rejoice in God: every one that sweareth by him shall glory; for the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.