For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song by David.
55:1 Listen, O God, to my prayer!
Do not ignore my appeal for mercy!
55:2 Pay attention to me and answer me!
I am so upset and distressed, I am beside myself,
55:3 because of what the enemy says,
and because of how the wicked pressure me,
for they hurl trouble down upon me
and angrily attack me.
55:4 My heart beats violently within me;
the horrors of death overcome me.
55:5 Fear and panic overpower me;
terror overwhelms me.
55:6 I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and settle in a safe place!
55:7 Look, I will escape to a distant place;
I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)
55:8 I will hurry off to a place that is safe
from the strong wind and the gale.”
55:9 Confuse them, O Lord!
Frustrate their plans!
For I see violence and conflict in the city.
55:10 Day and night they walk around on its walls,
while wickedness and destruction are within it.
55:11 Disaster is within it;
violence and deceit do not depart from its public square.
55:12 Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me,
or else I could bear it;
it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me,
or else I could hide from him.
55:13 But it is you, a man like me,
my close friend in whom I confided.
55:14 We would share personal thoughts with each other;
in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.
55:15 May death destroy them!
May they go down alive into Sheol!
For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.
55:16 As for me, I will call out to God,
and the Lord will deliver me.
55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime
I will lament and moan,
and he will hear me.