Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

¹ A Shiggaion¹ of David which he sang to Yahweh on account of Cush, a Benjaminite.² O Yahweh, my God, in you I have taken refuge. Save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me.

1. Meaning uncertain; perhaps a lamentation
2. The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one

² Or else he will tear me apart like a lion, ripping to pieces, with none to deliver.

³ O Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,

⁴ if I have repaid ⌞my ally⌟¹ with harm, or if I have plundered my enemy without cause,

1. Literally “one being at peace with me”

⁵ let the enemy of my soul pursue, and overtake and trample my life into the ground, and lay my honor in the dust. Selah

⁶ Rise up, O Yahweh, in your anger, and lift yourself up against the wrath¹ of my oppressors, and awake for me, since you have commanded judgment.

1. Or “outbursts”

⁷ And let the assembly of peoples surround you, and over it return on high.

⁸ Yahweh judges the nations. O Yahweh, vindicate me according to my innocence¹ and according to my integrity within me.

1. Or “righteousness”

⁹ Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, and test the hearts and innermost being, O righteous God.

¹⁰ My shield is with God who saves the upright of heart.

¹¹ God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.

¹² If he¹ does not repent, he² will sharpen his sword. He has bent his bow and he has ⌞strung⌟³ it.

1. That is, a person
2. That is, God
3. Literally “prepared”

¹³ And he has prepared for him weapons of death. He has made his arrows fiery shafts.

¹⁴ See, he¹ travails with² evil. He is pregnant with trouble, and he gives birth to deception.

1. That is, the wicked
2. Or “conceives”

¹⁵ He makes a pit and digs it out, then falls in the trap he has made.

¹⁶ His trouble comes back on his head, and his violence comes down on his skull.

¹⁷ I will thank Yahweh according to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of Yahweh, the Most High.