Contend with My Opponents, O LORD

Of David.

Contend with my opponents, O LORD;

fight against those who fight against me.

Take up Your shield and buckler;

arise and come to my aid.

Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers;

say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”

May those who seek my life

be disgraced and put to shame;

may those who plan to harm me

be driven back and confounded.

May they be like chaff in the wind,

as the angel of the LORD drives them away.

May their path be dark and slick,

as the angel of the LORD pursues.

For without cause they laid their net for me;

without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

May ruin befall them by surprise;

may the net they hid ensnare them;

may they fall into the hazard they created.

Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD

and exult in His salvation.

All my bones will exclaim,

“Who is like You, O LORD,

who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor,

the poor and needy from the robber?”

Hostile witnesses come forward;

they make charges I know nothing about.

They repay me evil for good,

to the bereavement of my soul.

Yet when they were ill,

I put on sackcloth;

I humbled myself with fasting,

but my prayers returned unanswered.

I paced about

as for my friend or brother;

I was bowed down with grief,

like one mourning for his mother.

But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee;

they gathered together against me.

Assailants I did not know

slandered me without ceasing.

Like godless jesters at a feast,

they gnashed their teeth at me.

How long, O Lord, will You look on?

Rescue my soul from their ravages,

my precious life from these lions.

Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly;

I will praise You among many people.

Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause,

nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.

For they do not speak peace,

but they devise deceitful schemes

against those who live quietly in the land.

They gape at me and say,

“Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”

O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent.

O Lord, be not far from me.

Awake and rise to my defense,

to my cause, my God and my Lord!

Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God,

and do not let them gloat over me.

Let them not say in their hearts,

“Aha, just what we wanted!”

Let them not say,

“We have swallowed him up!”

May those who gloat in my distress

be ashamed and confounded;

may those who exalt themselves over me

be clothed in shame and reproach.

May those who favor my vindication

shout for joy and gladness;

may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD

who delights in His servant’s well-being.”

Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness

and Your praises all day long.