Save Me, O God

For the choir director. According to [†]Shoshannim. Of David.

1Save me, O God,

For the waters have [†]threatened my life.

2I have sunk in deep clay, and there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters, and a [†]flood overflows me.

3I am weary with my calling out; my throat is parched;

My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head;

Those who would [†]destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies;

What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

5O God, it is You who knows my folly,

And [†]all my guilt is not hidden from You.

6May those who hope for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord Yahweh of hosts;

May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,

7Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;

Dishonor has covered my face.

8I have become estranged [†]from my brothers

And a foreigner to my mother’s sons.

9For zeal for Your house has consumed me,

And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

10When I wept in my soul with fasting,

It became my reproach.

11When I made sackcloth my clothing,

I became a byword to them.

12Those who dwell at the gate moan about me,

And I am the drunkards’ songs.

13But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Yahweh, at an acceptable time;

O God, in the abundance of Your lovingkindness,

Answer me with the truth of Your salvation.

14Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink;

May I be delivered from [†]my foes and from the [†]deep waters.

15May the [†]flood of water not overflow me

Nor the deep swallow me up,

Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.

16Answer me, O Yahweh, for Your lovingkindness is good;

According to the abundance of Your compassion, turn to me,

17And do not hide Your face from Your slave,

For I am in distress; answer me quickly.

18Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it;

Ransom me because of my enemies!

19You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor;

All my adversaries are [†]before You.

20Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick.

And I hoped for sympathy, but there was none,

And for comforters, but I found none.

21They also gave me [†]gall [†]for my food

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22May their table before them become a snare;

And [†]when they are in peace, may it become a trap.

23May their eyes darken so that they cannot see,

And make their loins quake continually.

24Pour out Your indignation on them,

And may Your burning anger overtake them.

25May their [†]camp be desolate;

May none dwell in their tents.

26For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have struck down,

And they recount the pain of those whom You have [†]wounded.

27Add iniquity to their iniquity,

And may they not come into Your righteousness.

28May they be blotted out of the book of life

And may they not be [†]recorded with the righteous.

29But I am afflicted and in pain;

[†]May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.

30I will praise the name of God with song

And magnify Him with thanksgiving.

31And this will please Yahweh better than an ox

Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

32The humble [†]see it and are glad;

You who seek God, let your heart [†]revive.

33For Yahweh hears the needy

And does not despise His who are prisoners.

34Let heaven and earth praise Him,

The seas and everything that moves in them.

35For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah,

That they may dwell there and possess it.

36The seed of His slaves will inherit it,

And those who love His name will dwell in it.