GOODMORNING

Attack my attackers!

²Shield me and help me.

³Aim your spear at everyone

who hunts me down,

but promise to save me.

⁴Let all who want to kill me

be disappointed

and disgraced.

Chase away and confuse

all who plan to harm me.

⁵Send your angel after them

and let them be like straw

in the wind.

⁶Make them run in the dark

on a slippery road,

as your angel chases them.

⁷I did them no harm,

but they hid a net

to trap me,

and they dug a deep pit

to catch and kill me.

⁸Surprise them with disaster!

Trap them in their own nets

and let them fall and rot

in the pits they have dug.

⁹I will celebrate and be joyful

because you, LORD,

have saved me.

¹⁰Every bone in my body

will shout:

“No one is like the LORD!”

You protect the helpless

from those in power;

you save the poor and needy

from those who hurt them.

¹¹Liars accuse me of crimes

I know nothing about.

¹²They repay evil for good,

and I feel all alone.

¹³When they were sick,

I wore sackcloth ^[a] and went without food. ^[b] I truly prayed for them, ^{[c] 14}as I would for a friend

or a relative.

I was in sorrow and mourned,

as I would for my mother.

¹⁵I have stumbled,

and worthless liars

I don’t even know

surround me and sneer.

¹⁶Worthless people make fun ^[d] and never stop laughing.

¹⁷But all you do is watch!

When will you do something?

Save me from the attack

of those vicious lions.

¹⁸And when your people meet,

I will praise you

and thank you, Lord,

in front of them all.

¹⁹Don’t let my brutal enemies

be glad because of me.

They hate me for no reason.

Don’t let them wink

behind my back.

²⁰They say hurtful things,

and they lie to people

who want to live in peace.

²¹They are quick to accuse me.

They say, “You did it!

We saw you ourselves.”

²²You see everything, LORD!

Please don’t keep silent

or stay so far away.

²³Fight to defend me, Lord God,

²⁴and prove that I am right

by your standards.

Don’t let them laugh at me

²⁵or say to each other,

“Now we’ve got what we want!

We’ll gobble him down!”

²⁶Disappoint and confuse

all who are glad

to see me in trouble,

but disgrace and embarrass

my proud enemies

who say to me,

“You are nothing!”

²⁷Let all who want me to win

be happy and joyful.

From now on let them say,

“The LORD is wonderful!

God is glad when all goes well

for his servant.”

²⁸Then I will shout all day,

“Praise the LORD God!

He did what was right.”