PSALMS 53-58

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Folly and Wickedness of Men.For the choir director; according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
53:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”

They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;

There is no one who does good.

2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there is anyone who understands,

Who seeks after God.

3 Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

There is no one who does good, not even one.

4 Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,

Who eat up My people as though they ate bread

And have not called upon God?

5 There they were in great fear where no fear had been;

For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;

You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores His captive people,

Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54:1 Save me, O God, by Your name,

And vindicate me by Your power.

2 Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers have risen against me

And violent men have sought my life;

They have not set God before them. Selah.

4 Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

5 He will recompense the evil to my foes;

Destroy them in Your faithfulness.

6 Willingly I will sacrifice to You;

I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

7 For He has delivered me from all trouble,

And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God;

And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

2 Give heed to me and answer me;

I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,

3 Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the pressure of the wicked;

For they bring down trouble upon me

And in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4 My heart is in anguish within me,

And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5 Fear and trembling come upon me,

And horror has overwhelmed me.

6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

7 “Behold, I would wander far away,

I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah.

8 “I would hasten to my place of refuge

From the stormy wind and tempest.”

9 Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,

For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,

And iniquity and mischief are in her midst.

11 Destruction is in her midst;

Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets.

12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,

Then I could bear it;

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me,

Then I could hide myself from him.

13 But it is you, a man my equal,

My companion and my familiar friend;

14 We who had sweet fellowship together

Walked in the house of God in the throng.

15 Let death come deceitfully upon them;

Let them go down alive to Sheol,

For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

16 As for me, I shall call upon God,

And the LORD will save me.

17 Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur,

And He will hear my voice.

18 He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me,

For they are many who strive with me.

19 God will hear and answer them--

Even the one who sits enthroned from of old-- Selah.

With whom there is no change,

And who do not fear God.

20 He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;

He has violated his covenant.

21 His speech was smoother than butter,

But his heart was war;

His words were softer than oil,

Yet they were drawn swords.

22 Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you;

He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

23 But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction;

Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.

But I will trust in You.

Supplication for Deliverance and Grateful Trust in God.For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56:1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;

Fighting all day long he oppresses me.

2 My foes have trampled upon me all day long,

For they are many who fight proudly against me.

3 When I am afraid,

I will put my trust in You.

4 In God, whose word I praise,

In God I have put my trust;

I shall not be afraid.

What can mere man do to me?

5 All day long they distort my words;

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

6 They attack, they lurk,

They watch my steps,

As they have waited to take my life.

7 Because of wickedness, cast them forth,

In anger put down the peoples, O God!

8 You have taken account of my wanderings;

Put my tears in Your bottle.

Are they not in Your book?

9 Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;

This I know, that God is for me.

10 In God, whose word I praise,

In the LORD, whose word I praise,

11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12 Your vows are binding upon me, O God;

I will render thank offerings to You.

13 For You have delivered my soul from death,

Indeed my feet from stumbling,

So that I may walk before God

In the light of the living.

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.
57:1 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,

For my soul takes refuge in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge

Until destruction passes by.

2 I will cry to God Most High,

To God who accomplishes all things for me.

3 He will send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah.

God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.

4 My soul is among lions;

I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,

Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows

And their tongue a sharp sword.

5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

6 They have prepared a net for my steps;

My soul is bowed down;

They dug a pit before me;

They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.

7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!

8 Awake, my glory!

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

9 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to You among the nations.

10 For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens

And Your truth to the clouds.

11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David.
58:1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods?

Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?

2 No, in heart you work unrighteousness;

On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;

These who speak lies go astray from birth.

4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent;

Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,

5 So that it does not hear the voice of charmers,

Or a skillful caster of spells.

6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;

Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.

7 Let them flow away like water that runs off;

When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.

8 Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along,

Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns

He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11 And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”

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