Psalms31

¹To the choirmaster . A Psalm of David . In you, O Lord, do I take refuge ; let me never be put to shame ; in your righteousness deliver me!

²Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily ! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!

³For you are my rock and my fortress ; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;

⁴you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge .

⁵Into your hand I commit my spirit ; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God .

⁶I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols , but I trust in the Lord.

⁷I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love , because you have seen my affliction ; you have known the distress of my soul ,

⁸and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy ; you have set my feet in a broad place.

⁹Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress ; my eye is wasted from grief ; my soul and my body also.

¹⁰For my life is spent with sorrow , and my years with sighing ; my strength fails because of my iniquity , and my bones waste away.

¹¹Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach , especially to my neighbors , and an object of dread to my acquaintances ; those who see me in the street flee from me.

¹²I have been forgotten like one who is dead ; I have become like a broken vessel .

¹³For I hear the whispering of many — terror on every side !— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life .

¹⁴But I trust in you, O Lord; I say , You are my God .

¹⁵My times are in your hand ; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors !

¹⁶Make your face shine on your servant ; save me in your steadfast love !

¹⁷O Lord, let me not be put to shame , for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame ; let them silently to Sheol .

¹⁸Let the lying lips be mute , which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt .

¹⁹Oh, how abundant is your goodness , which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind !

²⁰In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men ; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues .

²¹Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city .

²²I had said in my alarm , I am cut off from your sight . But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.

²³Love the Lord, all you his saints ! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride .

²⁴Be strong , and let your heart take courage , all you who wait for the Lord!