By David. To you, O Lord, I cry out! My protector, ²  do not ignore me! ³  If you do not respond to me, ⁴  I will join ⁵  those who are descending into the grave. ⁶ 

I jumped to conclusions and said, ¹  “I am cut off from your presence!” ²  But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.

For this reason every one of your faithful followers ¹  should pray to you while there is a window of opportunity. ²  Certainly ³  when the surging water ⁴  rises, it will not reach them. ⁵ 

Do not be ¹  like an unintelligent horse or mule, ²  which will not obey you unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. ³ 

O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things; you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. ¹  No one can thwart you! ²  I want to declare them and talk about them, but they are too numerous to recount! ³ 

For the music director; a well-written song ²  by the Korahites. As a deer ³  longs ⁴  for streams of water, so I long ⁵  for you, O God!

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord. O Lord, hear my prayer! Pay attention to my cry for help! ² 

May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ¹  for I trust in you. Show me the way I should go, ²  because I long for you. ³ 

Look, you will summon nations ¹  you did not previously know; nations ²  that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, ³  for he bestows honor on you.

Your gates will remain open at all times; they will not be shut during the day or at night, so that the wealth of nations may be delivered, with their kings leading the way. ¹ 

The splendor of Lebanon will come to you, its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together, to beautify my palace; ¹  I will bestow honor on my throne room. ² 

The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you; all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet. They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ¹ 

They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Then the Lord said to me, ¹  “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you.

So I said to the Lord, ¹  “O Lord who rules over all, ²  you are a just judge! You examine people’s hearts and minds. ³  I want to see you pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ⁴ 

Lord, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you. ¹  However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²  Why are wicked people successful? ³  Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

I will make you as strong as a wall to these people, a fortified wall of bronze. They will attack you, but they will not be able to overcome you. For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,” ¹  says the Lord.

Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. ¹  Announce there what I tell you. ² 

O Lord who rules over all, ¹  you test and prove the righteous. You see into people’s hearts and minds. ²  Pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

Listen, you ¹  who sit enthroned above the valley on a rocky plateau. I am opposed to you,’ ²  says the Lord. ³  ‘You boast, “No one can swoop down on us. No one can penetrate into our places of refuge.” ⁴