Day 10 — Psalm 55

HEBREW

PSALM 55

Prayer in persecution

For the choirmaster, for strings, poem of David.

God, hear my prayer,

do not hide from my petition,

give me a hearing, answer me,

I cannot rest for complaining.

I shudder at the enemy's shouts,

at the howling of the wicked;

they bring misery crashing down on me,

and vent their fury on me.

My heart aches in my breast,

Death's terrors assail me,

fear and trembling descend on me,

horror overwhelms me.

And I say,

‘Oh for the wings of a dove

to fly away and find rest.’

How far I would take my flight,

and make a new home in the desert, selah.

There I should soon find shelter

from the raging wind,

and from the tempest, Lord, that destroys,

and from their malicious tongues.

I can see how violence

and discord fill the city;

day and night they stalk together

along the city walls.

Sorrow and misery live inside,

ruin is an inmate;

tyranny and treachery are never absent

from its central square.

Were it an enemy who insulted me,

I could have put up with that;

had a rival got the better of me,

I could hide from him.

But you, a man of my own rank,

a colleague and a friend,

to whom sweet conversation bound me

in the house of God!

May they recoil in disorder,

may death descend on them,

may they go down, still living, to She’ol—

since evil shares their homes.

I, for myself, appeal to God

and Yahweh saves me;

evening, morning, noon,

I complain, I groan;

He will hear me calling.

His peace can ransom me

from the war being waged on me.

How many are ranged against me!

But God will hear me.

Sovereign from the first, He will humble them, selah,

no change of heart for them,

since they do not fear God.

He has attacked his friends,

he has gone back on his word;

though his mouth is smoother than butter,

he has war in his heart;

his words may soothe more than oil,

but they are naked swords.

Unload your burden on to Yahweh,

and He will support you;

He will never permit the virtuous to falter.

As for these murderous, these treacherous men,

You, God, will punish them

down to the deepest Pit

before half their days are out.

For my part, I put my trust in You.

Next… Day 11 — Psalm 56