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(Written by David when he pretended to be crazy in front of Abimelech, so that Abimelech would send him away, and David could leave.)

Honor the Lord

(A) I will always praise the Lord.
With all my heart,
    I will praise the Lord.
Let all who are helpless,
    listen and be glad.
Honor the Lord with me!
    Celebrate his great name.

I asked the Lord for help,
and he saved me
    from all my fears.
Keep your eyes on the Lord!
You will shine like the sun
    and never blush with shame.
I was a nobody, but I prayed,
and the Lord saved me
    from all my troubles.

If you honor the Lord,
    his angel will protect you.
(B) Discover for yourself
    that the Lord is kind.
Come to him for protection,
    and you will be glad.

Honor the Lord!
    You are his special people.
No one who honors the Lord
    will ever be in need.
10 Young lions[a] may go hungry
    or even starve,
but if you trust the Lord,
you will never miss out
    on anything good.

11 Come, my children, listen
as I teach you
    to respect the Lord.
12 (C) Do you want to live
    and enjoy a long life?
13 Then don't say cruel things
    and don't tell lies.
14 Do good instead of evil
    and try to live at peace.

15 If you obey the Lord,
he will watch over you
    and answer your prayers.
16 But God despises evil people,
    and he will wipe them all
from the earth,
    till they are forgotten.
17 When his people pray for help,
he listens and rescues them
    from their troubles.
18 The Lord is there to rescue
all
    who are discouraged
    and have given up hope.

19 The Lord's people
    may suffer a lot,
but he will always
    bring them safely through.
20 (D) Not one of their bones
    will ever be broken.

21 Wicked people are killed
    by their own evil deeds,
and if you hate God's people
    you will be punished.
22 The Lord saves the lives
    of his servants.
Run to him for protection,
    and you won't be punished.

(A psalm by David.)

A Prayer for Protection from Enemies

Fight my enemies, Lord!
Attack my attackers!
    Shield me and help me.
Aim your spear at everyone
who hunts me down,
    but promise to save me.

Let all who want to kill me
be disgraced
    and put to shame.
Chase away and confuse
    all who plan to harm me.
Send your angel after them
and let them be like straw
    in the wind.
Make them run in the dark
on a slippery road,
    as your angel chases them.
I did them no harm,
but they hid a net
    to trap me,
and they dug a deep pit
    to catch and kill me.
(E) Surprise them with disaster!
    Trap them in their own nets
and let them fall and rot
    in the pits they have dug.

I will celebrate and be joyful
because you, Lord,
    have saved me.
10 Every bone in my body
    will shout:
“No one is like the Lord!”
You protect the helpless
    from those in power;
you save the poor and needy
    from those who hurt them.

11 Liars accuse me of crimes
    I know nothing about.
12 They repay evil for good,
    and I feel all alone.
13 When they were sick,
I wore sackcloth[b]
    and went without food.[c]
I truly prayed for them,[d]
14 as I would for a friend
    or a relative.
I was in sorrow and mourned,
    as I would for my mother.

15 I have stumbled,
    and worthless liars
I don't even know
    surround me and sneer.
16 Worthless people make fun[e]
    and never stop laughing.
17 But all you do is watch!
    When will you do something?
Save me from the attack
    of those vicious lions.
18 And when your people meet,
    I will praise you
and thank you, Lord,
    in front of them all.

19 (F) Don't let my brutal enemies
    be glad because of me.
They hate me for no reason.
Don't let them wink
    behind my back.
20 They say hurtful things,
and they lie to people
    who want to live in peace.
21 They are quick to accuse me.
They say, “You did it!
    We saw you ourselves.”

22 You see everything, Lord!
Please don't keep silent
    or stay so far away.
23 Fight to defend me, Lord God,
24 and prove that I am right
    by your standards.
Don't let them laugh at me
25     or say to each other,
“Now we've got what we want!
    We'll gobble him up!”

26 Disappoint and confuse
all who are glad
    to see me in trouble;
disgrace and embarrass
my proud enemies who say to me,
    “You are nothing!”

27 Let all who want me to win
    be happy and joyful.
From now on let them say,
    “The Lord is wonderful!
God is glad when all goes well
    for his servant.”
28 Then I will shout all day,
“Praise the Lord God!
    He did what was right.”

(For the music leader by David, the Lord's servant.)

Human Sin and God's Goodness

(G) Sinners don't respect God;
    sin is all they think about.
They like themselves too much
to hate their own sins
    or even to see them.
They tell deceitful lies,
and they don't have the sense
    to live right.
Those people stay awake,
    thinking up mischief,
and they follow the wrong road,
    refusing to turn from sin.

Your love is faithful, Lord,
and even the clouds in the sky
    can depend on you.
Your decisions are always fair.
They are firm like mountains,
    deep like the sea,
and all people and animals
    are under your care.

Your love is a treasure,
and everyone finds shelter
    in the shadow of your wings.
You give your guests a feast
    in your house,
and you serve a tasty drink
    that flows like a river.
The life-giving fountain
    belongs to you,
and your light gives light
    to each of us.

10 Our Lord, keep showing love
    to everyone who knows you,
and use your power to save all
    whose thoughts please you.
11 Don't let those proud
    and merciless people
kick me around
    or chase me away.

12 Look at those wicked people!
They are knocked down,
    never to get up again.

Footnotes

  1. 34.10 Young lions: In the Psalms wild animals often stand for God's enemies.
  2. 35.13 sackcloth: See the note at 30.11.
  3. 35.13 went without food: People sometimes went without food (called “fasting”) to show sorrow.
  4. 35.13 I … them: Or “My prayer wasn't answered, but I prayed.”
  5. 35.16 Worthless … fun: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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