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I will trust in you, O Yahweh. Let me never be ashamed; rescue me because you always do right. Crouch down near me and listen: I am in a fix, and you must help me. Be my getaway chariot. Cut this net that I have stumbled into, this net that my enemies put out to trap me. Into your hands I commit my ghost: you have paid my ransom, O Yahweh God of Truth.
I have hated them that cared about lying vanities, but I trust in Yahweh. I will be happy and celebrate, because you have paid attention to my dilemma: you saw how my life was boxed in by bad actors; and you did not let me remain in their custody, but you lifted me up and placed my foot in a large room.
Show me your mercy, O Yahweh, for I got myself into trouble again: my eye is weeping; my soul is sad; my belly is empty. I spent all my time sighing, I am weak from sinning, and my bones are chewed up.
I was a laughingstock to my enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and my acquaintances feared me, because I behaved opportunistically: my allegiance was all over the map. Now I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. People criticized me from every side; it sounded slanderous to me, and I feared them greatly; they conspired to assassinate me. But I trusted you, O Yahweh; I said: “You are my god. My doom is in your hand. Deliver me from these enemies, swoop down and rescue me from those that persecute me. Let me see your shining face looking my way as you are saving me with your great mercy. Sheild me from shame, O Yahweh, because I asked you; let my enemies be ashamed instead, and let them be silent in the grave. Let their lying lips be put to silence; which dare speak such grievous things proudly and contemptuously against me.”
Oh, how great is your goodness, which you reveal to whoever trusts you more than other men.
You shall hide me in a private domain of your presence; you shall keep me secretly in your pavilions of darkness and thick smoke, safely away from the strife of gossiping tongues.
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Happy am I because Yahweh forgave all my sins. My transgressions are gone, my iniquities are covered, no fault is imputed unto me. For the spirit of Yahweh contains no guile: he forgives without requiring bloodshed or sacrifice. Yahweh is merciful; Yahweh does not ask for a spotless lamb to be slain; Yahweh blots out sin with his judgment. For he is the perfect justice of forgiveness.
You are my hiding place, you are my shelter from trouble, you build a fortress of songs around me, to rescue me.
I meditate unto the volcano of potential, and the floods of great waters do not come near me.
I will instruct you which way to go. I will be your guide. Do not imitate the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be stuffed with the bit and the bridle, lest they go astray.
To the wicked will come bad results. But good results will follow whoever trusts in Yahweh.
Be glad in Yahweh, and shout, and leap for joy, and keep your heart upright.
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Praise Yahweh, for that is a beautiful thing to do when your heart is upright.
Praise Yahweh with a guitar. Praise him with an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
For Yahweh made all the heavens, and all the armies of stars were breathed out of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of all the oceans together, and put them in a heap. He lays up seas in his warehouse.
Every creature that is alive on earth, stand around and look at Yahweh. Behold him, and feel fear.
When he speaks, the world changes: life is created, and it is rooted fast.
Yahweh ruins your plans, when you nations come together for a meeting; he makes your ideas go the wrong way. But when Yahweh rises up to make a speech, all his words stand tall forever, and his heart’s contents please many generations.
From the place where Yahweh dwells, he looks down upon the habitations of men. He gazes from heaven. He does not need a telescope lens to see. His vision is perfect. He looks at men and sees what they are working on.
No president can make his nation prosper by signing executive orders, and no strongman can save himself by his own muscles. Understand my meaning: Yahweh alone is the cause. All goodness, and all evil, comes from Yahweh. He decides which way things shall go.
He likes the people best who feel regard and hope. He will deliver them from death, and keep them alive during famine.
My soul waits for Yahweh: he is a colossal shield set before me.
My heart loves him. I love his holy name.
Give me mercy, O Yahweh. That is my hope.
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Yahweh is the very best, I will not stop saying it.
Young lions suffer a lack of food, and they feel hunger; but Yahweh keeps me well-fed.
Come, little children, let me teach you how to behave before Yahweh God. Do not let your tongue move evilly. Stop your lips from speaking guile. Go away from badness: do not pursue it. Remain righteous. Open your ears to the cry of the downtrodden.
Evil people will fight evil people: they will break each other’s bones. They shall slay each other and be desolate. But Yahweh lifts us up and takes us away from the evil people, so that we are not desolate.
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Be a vicious defender in court, O Yahweh, and fight against them that fight against me. Be my great shield, be my buckler, and stand up for me. Draw out your spear, and hurl it at the prosecuting attorney. Sheild my soul under your wing, and tell her: “Fear not, O soul, for I am your salvation.”
Let them be confounded and confused who seek to hurt my precious soul. Turn them backward and upside down. Blow them as chaff before the wind, and let your fierce jinni chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery. Let your jinni take them to court and cross-examine them, and win the case.
For without cause, they trapped me in this net; now they are dumping me into the pit. Make a giant destruction to fall upon them, so that their intentions are foiled, because I would like to escape.
All my bones will say: “O Yahweh, who is like you, such a valiant rescuer? You saved us from those who were too strong.” Yahweh did not allow the enemy to crack my bones, or to mash my bones down.
False witnesses entered the courtroom and tried to lie about me. They said things that I had never heard before. Any acts that I committed which were good, they described as if they were bad! I was surprised to hear this. For my part, when they were sick, I mourned for them and visited them: I treated them as a friend or as a brother; I was compassionate toward them. But then when my day in court came, they rejoiced like enemies, thinking to see my downfall: they gathered and tore me with their teeth; they kept roaring and gnashing.
“O Yahweh, how long will you watch me be feasted upon?” I cried: “Rise up and rescue me; save your darling from the lions.”
I will thank you before the multitudes in the amphitheater. I will praise you among much people.
Stop my enemies. Block them from whispering to each other their plans against me, saying “Aha, aha, this will trick him.” You saw them conspiring, Yahweh; do not let them continue: raise your voice; be not far from me. Wake up, arise, stir yourself to judgment, be my god and my lord; act like the powerful creator that you are: keep not silent. Prevent my enemies from rejoicing over me in their hearts, and saying: “Ah, now we have got him.” Let them not declare: “We have swallowed him whole.”
Let my enemies be ashamed; strip their clothes off, spin them around, magnify their flaws. Change their minds about me: cause them to cheer for me. Yes, make my enemies shout for joy when I win against them; let them never stop discussing how excellently I outdid them. If you move them to praise me as their powerful vanquisher, then I will be moved to praise you all day long as The Best God Ever.
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The wicked sinner who transgresses all the time does not fear God; he walks in a bad path and does not abhor evil. But you, O Yahweh, have mercy and faithfulness heaped up to the clouds. Your righteousness is a great mountain, piled way up; and your judgments are deep like many waters, and you preserve man and beast.
You protect innocent children under your wings. You abundantly satisfy them with the fatness of your house. You allow them to drink of your rivers of delight. You are the fountain of existence, O God; your light is the real light: all other light is dim.
Let anyone who would harm children be cast down, and let them not be able to rise.
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Do not worry about the crooks and criminals in high places. They will get cut down like tall grass. Yahweh will come through and burn them like herbs.
Delight in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit yourself to his way, and he shall bring your good dreams to pass.
Stop acting angry and wrathful. Evildoers shall not inherit the earth. In a short amount of time, wicked people shall disappear. And the considerate people whose hearts abound with lovingkindness shall inherit the earth. They shall have an abundance of peace.
Bad actors plot against the righteous; they gnash at them with their teeth. But Yahweh just laughs, because he knows that their day is coming.
The bloody-minded man crouches with his sword drawn, waiting to cut down the poor. But his sword shall enter into his own heart. When a man wheels out his catapult to launch heavy boulders at the needy, the catapult shall break. Yahweh shall crush those who would attack the upright. The wicked shall perish: they shall be like the fat of lambs: into smoke they shall consume away.
If a good man falls, he shall not remain on the ground, but Yahweh will help him back on his feet; Yahweh shall steady him with his hand.
I have been young, and now I am old; and I have never seen bad things happen to a good person.
One time I saw a wicked man growing great in power, spreading himself like a green bay tree. But that man dried up; he shriveled up and passed away: I looked for him, and could no longer find him.
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Yahweh, do not punish me in your anger, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure. For your arrows are painful when they stick into my flesh, and your fist is too heavy when it bashes me down.
I am now ill because I did wrong. My wounds stink. My loins are filled with a loathsome disease. I groan, my heart pants, my strength fails. All my friends and kinfolk keep their distance and stand far off; they eye me with disgust.
Nevertheless, I trust in you, O Yahweh. I believe that you will hear me. I howl for help: I am sorry that I sinned. But my enemies are lively: Do not permit them to triumph over me! Heal me, Yahweh, and render evil to my adversaries, because now I follow the thing that is good.
Do not forsake me. Do not leave me nailed to this tree as a curse. If I perish like so, I will remain dead forever. Be not far away. Make haste to rescue me: draw out the nails from my hands and my feet, O god of my salvation.
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Wicked people tried my patience. My heart was hot within me. The fire burned, then I spoke with my tongue.
Yahweh, act now: help me. You are older than I am, and you live longer than I do; my age is short, just a flash compared to your life; therefore, take a moment to rescue me.
First, I was silent; but my enemies were too provoking, so I let the fire of my heart burn them with many curses.
Now remove your stroke away from me: I am devastated by the blow of your hand. You make a man’s beauty consume away like a moth.
Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, for I am a wayfarer in your caravan, just like my ancestors. We are all sojourners; we all like to wander around with you. Spare me, so that I can recover my strength; otherwise I will evaporate, and you will not see me anymore.
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