Psalms 56; Psalms 120; Psalms 140; Psalms 141; Psalms 142

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Psalms 56

1 Take my side, God - I'm getting kicked around, stomped on every day.
2 Not a day goes by but somebody beats me up; They make it their duty to beat me up.
3 When I get really afraid I come to you in trust.
4 I'm proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God. What can mere mortals do?
5 They don't let up - they smear my reputation and huddle to plot my collapse.
6 They gang up, sneak together through the alleys To take me by surprise, wait their chance to get me.
7 Pay them back in evil! Get angry, God! Down with these people!
8 You've kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.
9 If my enemies run away, turn tail when I yell at them, Then I'll know that God is on my side.
10 I'm proud to praise God, proud to praise God.
11 Fearless now, I trust in God; what can mere mortals do to me?
12 God, you did everything you promised, and I'm thanking you with all my heart.
13 You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.

Psalms 120

1 I'm in trouble. I cry to God, desperate for an answer:
2 "Deliver me from the liars, God! They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth."
3 Do you know what's next, can you see what's coming, all you barefaced liars?
4 Pointed arrows and burning coals will be your reward.
5 I'm doomed to live in Meshech, cursed with a home in Kedar,
6 My whole life lived camping among quarreling neighbors.
7 I'm all for peace, but the minute I tell them so, they go to war!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.

Psalms 140

1 God, get me out of here, away from this evil; protect me from these vicious people.
2 All they do is think up new ways to be bad; they spend their days plotting war games.
3 They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt, speak venomous words that maim and kill.
4 God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones, protect me from these vicious people;
5 Stuffed with self-importance, they plot ways to trip me up, determined to bring me down. These crooks invent traps to catch me and do their best to incriminate me.
6 I prayed, "God, you're my God! Listen, God! Mercy!
7 God, my Lord, Strong Savior, protect me when the fighting breaks out!
8 Don't let the wicked have their way, God, don't give them an inch!"
9 These troublemakers all around me - let them drown in their own verbal poison.
10 Let God pile hellfire on them, let him bury them alive in crevasses!
11 These loudmouths - don't let them be taken seriously; These savages - let the Devil hunt them down!
12 I know that you, God, are on the side of victims, that you care for the rights of the poor.
13 And I know that the righteous personally thank you, that good people are secure in your presence.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.

Psalms 141

1 God, come close. Come quickly! Open your ears - it's my voice you're hearing!
2 Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising; my raised hands are my evening prayers.
3 Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips.
4 Don't let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong - don't let them lure me with their sweet talk!
5 May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, Don't let sin anoint my head. I'm praying hard against their evil ways!
6 Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff; make them face the music.
7 Like a rock pulverized by a maul, let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell.
8 But God, dear Lord, I only have eyes for you. Since I've run for dear life to you, take good care of me.
9 Protect me from their evil scheming, from all their demonic subterfuge.
10 Let the wicked fall flat on their faces, while I walk off without a scratch. A David prayer - when he was in the cave.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.

Psalms 142

1 I cry out loudly to God, loudly I plead with God for mercy.
2 I spill out all my complaints before him, and spell out my troubles in detail:
3 "As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away, you know how I'm feeling, Know the danger I'm in, the traps hidden in my path.
4 Look right, look left - there's not a soul who cares what happens! I'm up against it, with no exit - bereft, left alone.
5 I cry out, God, call out: 'You're my last chance, my only hope for life!'
6 Oh listen, please listen; I've never been this low. Rescue me from those who are hunting me down; I'm no match for them.
7 Get me out of this dungeon so I can thank you in public. Your people will form a circle around me and you'll bring me showers of blessing!"
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.