Psalm 56

Contemporary English Version

(For the music leader. To the tune “A Silent Dove in the Distance.”^[a] A special psalm by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.)

A Prayer of Trust in God

¹^(A) Have pity, God Most High!
    My enemies chase me all day.
²Many of them are pursuing
    and attacking me,
³but even when I am afraid,
    I keep on trusting you.
⁴I praise your promises!
I trust you and am not afraid.
    No one can harm me.

⁵Enemies spend the whole day
    finding fault with me;
all they think about
    is how to do me harm.
⁶They attack from ambush,
watching my every step
    and hoping to kill me.
⁷They won't get away^[b]
    with these crimes, God,
because when you get angry,
    you destroy people.

⁸You have kept record
of my days of wandering.
You have stored my tears
in your bottle
and counted each of them.

⁹When I pray, Lord God,
    my enemies will retreat,
because I know for certain
    that you are with me.
¹⁰I praise your promises!
¹¹I trust you and am not afraid.
    No one can harm me.

¹²I will keep my promises
to you, my God,
    and bring you gifts.
¹³You protected me from death
    and kept me from stumbling,
so that I would please you
and follow the light
    that leads to life.

Footnotes

Psalm 56 A Silent … Distance: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
56.7 They … away: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.