Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution
To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.
1Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.*
2I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.*
3I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.*
4More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal,
must I now restore?*
5O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.*
6Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
O God of Israel.
7It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.*
8I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.*
9It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.*
10When I humbled my soul with fasting,l
they insulted me for doing so.*
11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.*
12I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.*
13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help* 14rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.*
15Do not let the flood sweep over me
or the deep swallow me up
or the Pit close its mouth over me.*
16Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.*
17Do not hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.*
18Draw near to me; redeem me;
set me free because of my enemies.
19You know the insults I receive
and my shame and dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.*
20Insults have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.*
21They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.*
22Let their table be a trap for them,
a snare for their allies.*
23Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.*
24Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.*
25May their camp be a desolation;
let no one live in their tents.*
26For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
and those whom you have wounded they attack still more.m,*
27Add guilt to their guilt;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.*
29But I am lowly and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, protect me.*
30I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.*
31This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.*
32Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.*
33For the Lord hears the needy
and does not despise his own who are in bonds.*
34Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.*
35For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his servants shall liven there and possess it;*
36the children of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall live in it.*