PSALM 5

Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.

For the choir director; for flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.

1Give ear to my words, O Lord,

Consider my groaning.

2Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,

For to You I pray.

3In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;

In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

4For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;

No evil dwells with You.

5The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;

You hate all who do iniquity.

6You destroy those who speak falsehood;

The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

7But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,

At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.

8O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes;

Make Your way straight before me.

9There is nothing reliable in what they say;

Their inward part is destruction itself.

Their throat is an open grave;

They flatter with their tongue.

10Hold them guilty, O God;

By their own devices let them fall!

In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out,

For they are rebellious against You.

11But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

Let them ever sing for joy;

And may You shelter them,

That those who love Your name may exult in You.

12For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord,

You surround him with favor as with a shield.

PSALM 6

Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.

For the choir director; with stringed instruments, upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.

1O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,

Nor chasten me in Your wrath.

2Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away;

Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed.

3And my soul is greatly dismayed;

But You, O Lord—how long?

4Return, O Lord, rescue my soul;

Save me because of Your lovingkindness.

5For there is no mention of You in death;

In Sheol who will give You thanks?

6I am weary with my sighing;

Every night I make my bed swim,

I dissolve my couch with my tears.

7My eye has wasted away with grief;

It has become old because of all my adversaries.

8Depart from me, all you who do iniquity,

For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

9The Lord has heard my supplication,

The Lord receives my prayer.

10All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed;

They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.

PSALM 7

The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

1O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge;

Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

2Or he will tear my soul like a lion,

Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.

3O Lord my God, if I have done this,

If there is injustice in my hands,

4If I have rewarded evil to my friend,

Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,

5Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it;

And let him trample my life down to the ground

And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

6Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;

Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries,

And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.

7Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You,

And over them return on high.

8The Lord judges the peoples;

Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.

9O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous;

For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.

10My shield is with God,

Who saves the upright in heart.

11God is a righteous judge,

And a God who has indignation every day.

12If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword;

He has bent His bow and made it ready.

13He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons;

He makes His arrows fiery shafts.

14Behold, he travails with wickedness,

And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.

15He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,

And has fallen into the hole which he made.

16His mischief will return upon his own head,

And his violence will descend upon his own pate.

17I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness

And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.