Psalm 56; Psalm 120; Psalm 140; Psalm 141; Psalm 142 (Good News Translation)

1 Be merciful to me, O God, because I am under attack; my enemies persecute me all the time. 2 All day long my opponents attack me. There are so many who fight against me. 3 When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty, I put my trust in you. 4 I trust in God and am not afraid; I praise him for what he has promised. What can a mere human being do to me? 5 My enemies make trouble for me all day long; they are always thinking up some way to hurt me! 6 They gather in hiding places and watch everything I do, hoping to kill me. 7 Punish them, O God, for their evil; defeat those people in your anger! 8 You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears. Aren't they listed in your book? 9 The day I call to you, my enemies will be turned back. I know this: God is on my side - 10 the Lord, whose promises I praise. 11 In him I trust, and I will not be afraid. What can a mere human being do to me? 12 O God, I will offer you what I have promised; I will give you my offering of thanksgiving, 13 because you have rescued me from death and kept me from defeat. And so I walk in the presence of God, in the light that shines on the living. 1 When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. 2 Save me, Lord, from liars and deceivers. 3 You liars, what will God do to you? How will he punish you? 4 With a soldier's sharp arrows, with red-hot coals! 5 Living among you is as bad as living in Meshech or among the people of Kedar. 6 I have lived too long with people who hate peace! 7 When I speak of peace, they are for war. 1 Save me, Lord, from evildoers; keep me safe from violent people. 2 They are always plotting evil, always stirring up quarrels. 3 Their tongues are like deadly snakes; their words are like a cobra's poison. 4 Protect me, Lord, from the power of the wicked; keep me safe from violent people who plot my downfall. 5 The proud have set a trap for me; they have laid their snares, and along the path they have set traps to catch me. 6 I say to the Lord, "You are my God." Hear my cry for help, Lord! 7 My Sovereign Lord, my strong defender, you have protected me in battle. 8 Lord, don't give the wicked what they want; don't let their plots succeed. 9 Don't let my enemies be victorious; make their threats against me fall back on them. 10 May red-hot coals fall on them; may they be thrown into a pit and never get out. 11 May those who accuse others falsely not succeed; may evil overtake violent people and destroy them. 12 Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy. 13 The righteous will praise you indeed; they will live in your presence. 1 I call to you, Lord; help me now! Listen to me when I call to you. 2 Receive my prayer as incense, my uplifted hands as an evening sacrifice. 3 Lord, place a guard at my mouth, a sentry at the door of my lips. 4 Keep me from wanting to do wrong and from joining evil people in their wickedness. May I never take part in their feasts. 5 Good people may punish me and rebuke me in kindness, but I will never accept honor from evil people, because I am always praying against their evil deeds. 6 When their rulers are thrown down from rocky cliffs, the people will admit that my words were true. 7 Like wood that is split and chopped into bits, so their bones are scattered at the edge of the grave. 8 But I keep trusting in you, my Sovereign Lord. I seek your protection; don't let me die! 9 Protect me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those evildoers. 10 May the wicked fall into their own traps while I go by unharmed. 1 I call to the Lord for help; I plead with him. 2 I bring him all my complaints; I tell him all my troubles. 3 When I am ready to give up, he knows what I should do. In the path where I walk, my enemies have hidden a trap for me. 4 When I look beside me, I see that there is no one to help me, no one to protect me. No one cares for me. 5 Lord, I cry to you for help; you, Lord, are my protector; you are all I want in this life. 6 Listen to my cry for help, for I am sunk in despair. Save me from my enemies; they are too strong for me. 7 Set me free from my distress; then in the assembly of your people I will praise you because of your goodness to me.