PSA C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C54 C55 C56 C57 C58 C59 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C65 C66 C67 C68 C69 C70 C71 C72 C73 C74 C75 C76 C77 C78 C79 C80 C81 C82 C83 C84 C85 C86 C87 C88 C89 C90 C91 C92 C93 C94 C95 C96 C97 C98 C99 C100 C101 C102 C103 C104 C105 C106 C107 C108 C109 C110 C111 C112 C113 C114 C115 C116 C117 C118 C119 C120 C121 C122 C123 C124 C125 C126 C127 C128 C129 C130 C131 C132 C133 C134 C135 C136 C137 C138 C139 C140 C141 C142 C143 C144 C145 C146 C147 C148 C149 C150

MOF PSA Chapter 69

◄ PSA 69 ► ║ ©

From the Choirmaster’s collection. To the tune of “The Lilies.” A song of David.

69 Save me, O God,

for the waters are threatening my life;

2 I am sinking deep in the mud,

where foothold there is none,

I have fallen into waters deep,

floods o’er me sweep.

3 I am wearied with crying,

my throat is parched,

mine eyes are weak

with waiting for my God.

4 I have more men who wantonly hate me

than hairs on my head;

my murderous, false foes are more

than the bones within my body;

I am forced to repay

what I never extorted.

5 O God, though well thou knowest my sinful folly,

although no fault of mine is hid from thee,

6 may nought befall me that would disconcert

those who wait for thee, O Lord God of hosts:

may naught befall me that would disappoint

thy worshippers, O God of Israel.

7 ’Tis for thy sake that I have suffered taunts,

had insults cover me with shame,

8 till my own brothers kept aloof from me,

my mother’s sons were distant to me.

9 ’Tis zeal for thy house that wears me away,

and taunts against thee fall on me.

10 When I chastened my soul with fasting,

men jeered at me;

11 when I clothed myself in sackcloth,

I became their byword;

12 men make a jest of me in public,

they put me into their maudlin songs.

13 But as for me, I pray to thee;

in thy great generosity,

O God, do thou accept me;

answer me with thy loyal aid,

14 save me from sinking in the mud,

from the deep waters of hatred,

15 let not the flood sweep over me,

let not the depths drown me;

let not death close over me.

16 Answer me, O Eternal, in thy love,

in thy vast pity turn to me;

17 hide not thy face from thy servant,

answer me quickly, for I am in misery;

18 come to me, rescue my life,

set me in safety from my foes.

19 Thou knowest how I am taunted,

my foes are plain to thee;

20 their taunts have broken my heart,

I am sick to the soul;

I look for pity—there is none,

for comforters, but all in vain.

21 For food men hand me poisonous drugs,

and vinegar when I would drink.

22 May the table they spread be their own ruin,

may their offerings ensnare them,

23 may their eyes be blurred and blind,

may their thighs be all a-quiver!

24 Vent thine anger on them,

may thy burning fury seize them,

25 desolate be their dwellings,

empty be their tents,

26 for persecuting him whom thou hast punished,

and adding to the pain of thy wounds!

27 Punish them for their crime,

exclude them from thy favours,

28 blot them from the Book of life,

blot their name from the list of the upright!

29 But lift me safe, O God,

out of my pain and misery,

30 and then I will sing praise to God,

and magnify him with thanksgiving;

31 ’twill please the Eternal more than any bull,

or any bullock that has horns and hoofs.

32 Mark all this and be glad, O folk forlorn,

take heart, O worshippers of God;

33 the Eternal listens to a life in need,

he never overlooks his own in prison.

34 Praise to him from heaven and earth,

from seas and all that glide therein!

35 For God will succour Sion

and rebuild the towns of Judah,

till men dwell there and own them,

36 till his servants leave them to their children,

and a race who love him live there.