1Save me, O God ; for the waters are come in unto my soul . 2I sink in deep mire , where there is no standing : I am come into deep waters , where the floods overflow me. 3I am weary of my crying : my throat is dried : mine eyes fail while I wait for my God . 4They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head : they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully , are mighty : then I restored that which I took not away . 5O God , thou knowest my foolishness ; and my sins are not hid from thee.
The Suffering of the Righteous
6Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts , be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel . 7Because for thy sake I have borne reproach ; shame hath covered my face . 8I am become a stranger unto my brethren , and an alien unto my mother’s children . 9For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up ; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. 10When I wept , and chastened my soul with fasting , that was to my reproach . 11I made sackcloth also my garment ; and I became a proverb to them. 12They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards .
A Plea for Salvation
13But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD , in an acceptable time : O God , in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation . 14Deliver me out of the mire , and let me not sink : let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters . 15Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up , and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 16Hear me, O LORD ; for thy lovingkindness is good : turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies . 17And hide not thy face from thy servant ; for I am in trouble : hear me speedily . 18Draw nigh unto my soul , and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies .
The Judgment of the Wicked
19Thou hast known my reproach , and my shame , and my dishonour : mine adversaries are all before thee. 20Reproach hath broken my heart ; and I am full of heaviness : and I looked for some to take pity , but there was none; and for comforters , but I found none. 21They gave me also gall for my meat ; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink . 22Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare , let it become a trap . 23Let their eyes be darkened , that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake . 24Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. 25Let their habitation be desolate ; and let none dwell in their tents . 26For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten ; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded . 27Add iniquity unto their iniquity : and let them not come into thy righteousness . 28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living , and not be written with the righteous .
A Song of Praise
29But I am poor and sorrowful : let thy salvation , O God , set me up on high . 30I will praise the name of God with a song , and will magnify him with thanksgiving . 31This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs . 32The humble shall see this, and be glad : and your heart shall live that seek God . 33For the LORD heareth the poor , and despiseth not his prisoners . 34Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas , and every thing that moveth therein. 35For God will save Zion , and will build the cities of Judah : that they may dwell there, and have it in possession . 36The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.