Psalms 6–10

For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David.

¹LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath.

²Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

³My soul is also in great anguish. But you, LORD—how long?

⁴Return, LORD. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness’ sake.

⁵For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?

⁶I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears.

⁷My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries.

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

⁹The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD accepts my prayer.

¹⁰May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.

A meditation by David, which he sang to the LORD, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.

¹LORD, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

²lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.

³LORD, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands,

⁴if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),

⁵let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

⁶Arise, LORD, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.

⁷Let the congregation of the peoples surround you. Rule over them on high.

⁸The LORD administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, LORD, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me.

⁹Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

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

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

¹²If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow.

¹³He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death. He makes ready his flaming arrows.

¹⁴Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.

¹⁶The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

¹⁷I will give thanks to the LORD according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David.

¹LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens!

²From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

³When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,

⁴what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?

⁵For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:

⁷All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field,

⁸the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

⁹LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm by David.

¹I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works.

²I will be glad and rejoice in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

³When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish in your presence.

⁴For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.

⁵You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.

⁷But the LORD reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment.

⁸He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.

⁹The LORD will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble.

¹⁰Those who know your name will put their trust in you, for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion, and declare among the people what he has done.

¹²For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.

¹³Have mercy on me, LORD. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death,

¹Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

²In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

³For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns the LORD.

⁴The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God.

⁵His ways are prosperous at all times. He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.

⁶He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.”

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.

⁹He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.

¹⁰The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength.

¹¹He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”

¹²Arise, LORD! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless.

¹³Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account”?