A psalm written by David for the choir director, concerning the time the Philistines seized David in Gath; to be sung using the tune ‘Dove on distant oaks’

56 God, be merciful to me because men have harassed me;

all day my enemies pursue me.

2 My enemies harass me all day long;

there are many of them who proudly attack me.

3 But whenever I am afraid,

I trust in you.

4 God, I praise/thank you because you do what you have promised;

I trust in you, and then I am not afraid.

Ordinary humans certainly cannot [RHQ] harm me!

5 All day long my enemies claim that I said things that I did not say (OR, try to destroy what I am doing);

they are always thinking of ways to harm me.

6 In order to cause trouble for me, they hide

and watch everything that I do,

waiting for an opportunity to kill me [MTY].

7 So, God, punish them for the wicked things that they are doing;

show that you are angry by defeating those people!

8 You have counted all the times that I have been wandering alone/distressed;

it is as though you have put all my tears in a bottle

in order that you can see how much I have cried.

You have counted my tears and written the number in your book.

9 When I call out to you, my God, my enemies will be defeated;

I know that will happen, because you are fighting for me.

10 I praise/thank you that you do what you have promised;

Yahweh, I will always praise you for that [DOU].

11 I trust in you, and as a result, I will not be afraid.

I know that humans cannot really [RHQ] harm me!

12 I will bring to you the offering that I promised;

I will bring an offering to you to thank you,

13 because you have rescued me from being killed;

you have kept me from stumbling.

As a result, I will continue to live in your presence in the light that shines on those who are still alive (OR, in the light that enables people to live).