Psalm 55

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.

¹Listen to my prayer, O God,

do not ignore my plea;

²hear me and answer me.

My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

³because of what my enemy is saying,

because of the threats of the wicked;

for they bring down suffering on me

and assail me in their anger.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death have fallen on me.

⁵Fear and trembling have beset me;

horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷I would flee far away

and stay in the desert;

⁸I would hurry to my place of shelter,

far from the tempest and storm.”

⁹Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,

for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they prowl about on its walls;

malice and abuse are within it.

¹¹Destructive forces are at work in the city;

threats and lies never leave its streets.

¹²If an enemy were insulting me,

I could endure it;

if a foe were rising against me,

I could hide.

¹³But it is you, a man like myself,

my companion, my close friend,

¹⁴with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship

at the house of God,

as we walked about

among the worshipers.

¹⁵Let death take my enemies by surprise;

let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,

for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶As for me, I call to God,

and the Lord saves me.

¹⁷Evening, morning and noon

I cry out in distress,

and he hears my voice.

¹⁸He rescues me unharmed

from the battle waged against me,

even though many oppose me.

¹⁹God, who is enthroned from of old,

who does not change—

he will hear them and humble them,

because they have no fear of God.

²⁰My companion attacks his friends;

he violates his covenant.

²¹His talk is smooth as butter,

yet war is in his heart;

his words are more soothing than oil,

yet they are drawn swords.

²²Cast your cares on the Lord

and he will sustain you;

he will never let

the righteous be shaken.

²³But you, God, will bring down the wicked

into the pit of decay;

the bloodthirsty and deceitful

will not live out half their days.

But as for me, I trust in you.