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Prayer for Help against Persecutors.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.

70 O God, come quickly to save me;
O Lord, come quickly to help me!

Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my life;
Let them be turned back and humiliated
Who delight in my hurt.

Let them be turned back because of their shame and disgrace
Who say, “Aha, aha!”


May all those who seek You [as life’s first priority] rejoice and be glad in You;
May those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!”

But I am afflicted and needy;
Come quickly to me, O God!
You are my help and my rescuer;
O Lord, do not delay.

Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.

71 In you, O Lord, I have put my trust and confidently taken refuge;
Let me never be [a]put to shame.

In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
Incline Your ear to me and save me.

Be to me a rock of refuge and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually come;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked (godless),
From the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.

For You are my hope;
O Lord God, You are my trust and the source of my confidence from my youth.

Upon You have I relied and been sustained from my birth;
You are He who took me from my mother’s womb and You have been my benefactor from that day.
My praise is continually of You.


I am as a wonder to many,
For You are my strong refuge.

My mouth is filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all day long.

Do not cast me off nor send me away in the time of old age;
Do not abandon me when my strength fails and I am weak.
10 
For my enemies have spoken against me;
Those who watch for my life have consulted together,
11 
Saying, “God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”

12 
O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, come quickly to help me!
13 
Let those who attack my life be ashamed and consumed;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek to injure me.
14 
But as for me, I will wait and hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of Your [deeds of] salvation all day long,
For their number is more than I know.
16 
I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord God [and in His strength];
I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

17 
O God, You have taught me from my youth,
And I still declare Your wondrous works and miraculous deeds.
18 
And even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not abandon me,
Until I declare Your [mighty] strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
19 
Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the [height of the] heavens,
You who have done great things;
O God, who is like You, [who is Your equal]?
20 
You who have shown [b]me many troubles and distresses
Will revive and renew me again,
And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 
May You increase my greatness (honor)
And turn to comfort me.

22 
I will also praise You with the harp,
Your truth and faithfulness, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
24 
My tongue also will speak of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my injury.

The Reign of the Righteous King.

A Psalm of Solomon.

72 Give the king [knowledge of] Your judgments, O God,
And [the spirit of] Your righteousness to the king’s son [to guide all his ways].

May he judge Your people with righteousness,
And Your afflicted with justice.(A)

The mountains will bring peace and prosperity to the people,
And the hills, in [the establishment of] righteousness.

May he bring justice to the poor among the people,
Save the children of the needy
And crush the oppressor,


Let them fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and worship You with obedience] while the sun endures,
And as long as the moon [reflects light], throughout all generations.

May he come down like rain on the mown grass,
Like showers that water the earth.

In his days may the righteous flourish,
And peace abound until the moon is no more.(B)


May he also rule from sea to sea
And from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.(C)

The nomads of the desert will bow before him,
And his enemies will [c]lick the dust.
10 
The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring offerings;
The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.
11 
Yes, all kings will bow down before him,
All nations will serve him.(D)

12 
For he will rescue the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted and abused also, and him who has no helper.
13 
He will have compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the lives of the needy.
14 
He will redeem their life from oppression and fraud and violence,
And their blood will be precious in His sight.
15 
So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless and praise him all day long.

16 
There will be an abundance of grain in the soil on the top of the [d]mountains;
Its fruit will wave like [the cedars of] Lebanon,
And those of the city will flourish like grass of the earth.
17 
May his name endure forever;
May his name continue as long as the sun;
And let men bless themselves by him;
Let all nations call him blessed.

18 
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone does wonderful things.
19 
Blessed be His glorious name forever;
And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.

20 
The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 71:1 I.e. have my expectations in Your goodness be disappointed.
  2. Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us.
  3. Psalm 72:9 I.e. lay themselves face down in submission.
  4. Psalm 72:16 I.e. the most barren part of the land.

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