For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; a prayer of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave.
57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!
For in you I have taken shelter.
In the shadow of your wings I take shelter
until trouble passes.
57:2 I cry out for help to the sovereign God,
to the God who vindicates me.
57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me
from my enemies who hurl insults! (Selah)
May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!
57:4 I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down among those who want to devour me;
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are a sharp sword.
57:5 Rise up above the sky, O God!
May your splendor cover the whole earth!
57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me;
I am discouraged.
They have dug a pit for me.
They will fall into it! (Selah)
57:7 I am determined, O God! I am determined!
I will sing and praise you!
57:8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!
I will wake up at dawn!
57:9 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Master!
I will sing praises to you before foreigners!
57:10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
57:11 Rise up above the sky, O God!
May your splendor cover the whole earth!
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; a prayer of David.
58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions?
Do you judge people fairly?
58:2 No! You plan how to do what is unjust;
you deal out violence in the earth.
58:3 The wicked turn aside from birth;
liars go astray as soon as they are born.
58:4 Their venom is like that of a snake,
like a deaf serpent that does not hear,
58:5 that does not respond to the magicians,
or to a skilled snake-charmer.
58:6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths!
Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord!
58:7 Let them disappear like water that flows away!
Let them wither like grass!
58:8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along!
Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun!
58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,
he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.
58:10 The godly will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
58:11 Then observers will say,
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded!
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges in the earth!”