55
A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments
1 God, listen to my prayer,
and do not turn away from me while I am pleading with you.
2 Listen to me, and answer me,
because I am overwhelmed by all my troubles.
3 My enemies cause me to be terrified;
wicked people oppress me.
They cause me to have great troubles;
they are angry with me, and they hate me.
4 I am terrified,
and I am very much afraid that I will die.
5 I am very fearful and I tremble/shake,
and I am completely terrified.
6 I said, “I wish that I had wings like a dove!
If I had wings, I would fly away and find a place to rest.
7 I would fly far away
and live in the desert.
(Think about that!)
8 I would quickly find a shelter from my enemies
who are like [MET] a strong wind and rainstorm.”
9 Lord, confuse my enemies, and cause their plans to fail,
because I see them acting violently and causing strife in the city of Jerusalem.
10 During each day and night they march around on top of its walls,
committing crimes and causing trouble.
11 They destroy things everywhere.
They oppress and defraud people in the ◄marketplaces/public squares►.
12 If it were an enemy who was making fun of me,
I could endure it.
If it were someone who hates me, who despises me,
I could hide from him.
13 But it is someone who is just like me, my companion,
someone who was my friend who is doing this to me.
14 We previously had many good talks together;
we walked around together in God’s temple.
15 I desire/hope that my enemies will die suddenly;
while they are still young, cause them to go down to the place where the dead people are.
They they think evil things.
16 But I will ask Yahweh, my God, to help me,
and he will save me.
17 Each morning and each noontime and each evening I tell him what I am concerned about, and I moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 I have very many enemies,
but he will rescue me and bring me back safely from the battles that I fight.
19 God is the one who has ruled everything forever,
and he will listen to me.
He will cause my enemies to be defeated and disgraced,
because they do not change their evil behavior
and they do not revere God.
(Think about that!)
20 My companion, whom I mentioned previously, betrayed his friends
and broke the agreement that he made with them.
21 What he said was easy to listen to, like butter is easy to swallow [MET],
but in his inner being he hated people;
his words were soothing like olive oil,
but they hurt people like sharp swords do [MET].
22 Put your troubles in Yahweh’s hands,
and he will take care of you;
he will never allow righteous people to experience disasters.
23 God, you will cause murderers [MTY] and liars to die before they have lived half as long as they expect to live;
but as for me, I will trust in you.