LXIX A CRY OF DISTRESS,AND IMPRECAT ION ON ADVERSARIES
For the Chief Musician; set to Shoshannim.〖That is, Lilies.〗 A Psalm of David.
[1] SAVE me, O God;
For the waters are come in unto my soul.
[2] I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing:
I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
[3] I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried:
Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
[4] They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head:
They that would cut me off, being mine enemies wrongfully,〖Heb. falsely.〗 are mighty:
That which I took not away I have to restore.
[5] O God, thou knowest my foolishness;
And my sins〖Heb. guiltinesses.〗 are not hid from thee.
[6] Let not them that wait for thee be put to shame through me, O Lord Jehovah of hosts:
Let not those that seek thee be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.
[7] Because for thy sake I have borne reproach;
Shame hath covered my face.
[8] I am become a stranger unto my brethren,
And an alien unto my mother’s children.
[9] For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up;
And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me.
[10] When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting,
That was to my reproach.
[11] When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword unto them.
[12] They that sit in the gate talk of me;
And I am the song of the drunkards.
[13] But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time:
O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness,
Answer me in the truth of thy salvation.
[14] Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink:
Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
[15] Let not the waterflood overwhelm me,
Neither let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth upon me.
[16] Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy lovingkindness is good:
According to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn thou unto me.
[17] And hide not thy face from thy servant;
For I am in distress; answer me speedily.
[18] Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it:
Ransom me because of mine enemies.
[19] Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor:
Mine adversaries are all before thee.
[20] Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full〖Or, sore sick.〗 of heaviness:
And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
[21] They gave me also gall for my food;
And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
[22] Let their table before them become a snare;
And when they are in peace, let it become a trap.
[23] Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see;
And make their loins continually to shake.
[24] Pour out thine indignation upon them,
And let the fierceness of thine anger overtake them.
[25] Let their habitation〖Or, encampment.〗 be desolate;
Let none dwell in their tents.
[26] For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten;
And they tell of the sorrow〖Or, pain.〗 of those whom thou hast wounded.
[27] Add iniquity unto their iniquity;
And let them not come into thy righteousness.
[28] Let them be blotted out of the book of life,〖Or, the living.〗
And not be written with the righteous.
[29] But I am poor and sorrowful:〖Or, in pain.〗
Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
[30] I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify him with thanksgiving.
[31] And it will please Jehovah better than an ox,
Or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
[32] The meek have seen it, and are glad:
Ye that seek after God, let your heart live.
[33] For Jehovah heareth the needy,
And despiseth not his prisoners.
[34] Let heaven and earth praise him,
The seas, and everything that moveth therein.
[35] For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah;
And they shall abide there, and have it in possession.
[36] The seed also of his servants shall inherit it;
And they that love his name shall dwell therein.