Psalms 54; Psalms 55; Psalms 56

1 O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

2 O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah

4 Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

5 He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.

6 With a freewill offering 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 every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

3 because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.

6 And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;

7 yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

8 I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest."

9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it;

11 ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.

12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me-- then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me-- then I could hide from him.

13 But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.

14 We used to take sweet counsel together; within God's house we walked in the throng.

15 Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16 But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.

17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

18 He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.

19 God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

20 My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant.

21 His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.

22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;

2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.

3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

5 All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6 They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life.

7 For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

8 You have kept count of my tossings; 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, thatGod is for me.

10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise,

11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

12 I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.

13 For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.