תהילים סט

For the leader. On shoshannim. Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Of David.

Deliver me, O God,
for the waters have reached my neck;

I am sinking into the slimy deep
and find no foothold;
I have come into the watery depths;
the flood sweeps me away.

I am weary with calling;
my throat is dry;
my eyes fail
while I wait for God.

More numerous than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without reason;
many are those who would destroy me,
my treacherous enemies.
Must I restore what I have not stolen?

God, You know my folly;
my guilty deeds are not hidden from You.

Let those who look to You,
O my Sovereign, GOD of hosts,
not be disappointed on my account;
let those who seek You,
O God of Israel,
not be shamed because of me.

It is for Your sake that I have been reviled,
that shame covers my face;

I am a stranger to my kin,
an alien to my own siblings.

My zeal for Your house has been my undoing;
the reproaches of those who revile You have fallen upon me.

When I wept and fasted,
I was reviled for it.

I made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword among them.

Those who sit in the gate talk about me;
I am the taunt of drunkards.

As for me, may my prayer come to You, O ETERNAL One,
at a favorable moment;
O God, in Your abundant faithfulness,
answer me with Your sure deliverance.

Rescue me from the mire;
let me not sink;
let me be rescued from my enemies,
and from the watery depths.

Let the floodwaters not sweep me away;
let the deep not swallow me;
let the mouth of the Pit not close over me.

Answer me, O ETERNAL One,
according to Your great steadfastness;
in accordance with Your abundant mercy
turn to me;

do not hide Your face from Your servant,
for I am in distress;
answer me quickly.

Come near to me and redeem me;
free me from my enemies.

You know my reproach,
my shame, my disgrace;
You are aware of all my foes.

Reproach breaks my heart,
I am in despair;
I hope for consolation, but there is none,
for comforters, but find none.

They give me gall for food,
vinegar to quench my thirst.

May their table be a trap for them,
a snare for their allies.

May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see;
may their loins collapse continually.

Pour out Your wrath on them;
may Your blazing anger overtake them;

may their encampments be desolate;
may their tents stand empty.

For they persecute those You have struck;
they talk about the pain of those You have felled.

Add that to their guilt;
let them have no share of Your beneficence;

may they be erased from the book of life,
and not be inscribed with the righteous.

But I am lowly and in pain;
Your help, O God, keeps me safe.

I will extol God’s name with song,
exultation, and praise.

That will please GOD more than oxen,
than bulls with horns and hoofs.

The lowly will see and rejoice;
you who are mindful of God, take heart!

For GOD listens to the needy,
and does not spurn those held captive.

Heaven and earth shall sing praise,
the seas, and all that moves in them.

For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah;
they shall live there and inherit it;

the offspring of God’s servants shall possess it;
those who cherish God’s name shall dwell there.