Psalms of David …

Psalm 55 WEB

¹Listen to my prayer, God. Don’t hide yourself from my supplication. ²Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moan ³because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me. ⁴My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. ⁵Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me. ⁶I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest. ⁷Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.” Selah. ⁸“I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.” ⁹Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. ¹⁰Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her. ¹¹Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets. ¹²For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. ¹³But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. ¹⁴We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company. ¹⁵Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling. ¹⁶As for me, I will call on God. The LORD will save me. ¹⁷Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice. ¹⁸He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me. ¹⁹God, who is enthroned forever, will hear and answer them. Selah. They never change and don’t fear God. ²⁰He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. ²¹His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. ²²Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. ²³But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.

Psalm 58 WEB

¹Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men? ²No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands on the earth. ³The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. ⁴Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, ⁵which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be. ⁶Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, LORD. ⁷Let them vanish like water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt. ⁸Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun. ⁹Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike. ¹⁰The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, ¹¹so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

Psalms 61–62 WEB

^61:1Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer. ²From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. ³For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy. ⁴I will dwell in your tent forever. I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah. ⁵For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. ⁶You will prolong the king’s life. His years will be for generations. ⁷He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever. Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him. ⁸So I will sing praise to your name forever, that I may fulfill my vows daily.

^62:1My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him. ²He alone is my rock, my salvation, and my fortress. I will never be greatly shaken. ³How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence? ⁴They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. ⁵My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him. ⁶He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken. ⁷My salvation and my honor is with God. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. ⁸Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah. ⁹Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath. ¹⁰Don’t trust in oppression. Don’t become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them. ¹¹God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God. ¹²Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.

Psalm 64 WEB

¹Hear my voice, God, in my complaint. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. ²Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil; ³who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words, ⁴to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly. ⁵They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?” ⁶They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning. ⁷But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow. ⁸Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads. ⁹All mankind shall be afraid. They shall declare the work of God, and shall wisely ponder what he has done. ¹⁰The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall take refuge in him. All the upright in heart shall praise him!

2 Samuel 19 WEB

¹Joab was told, “Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom.” ²The victory that day was turned into mourning among all the people, for the people heard it said that day, “The king grieves for his son.” ³The people sneaked into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. ⁴The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁵Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have shamed the faces of all your servants who today have saved your life, and the lives of your sons and of your daughters, and the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines; ⁶in that you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have declared today that princes and servants are nothing to you. For today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and we had all died today, then it would have pleased you well. ⁷Now therefore arise, go out and speak to comfort your servants; for I swear by the LORD, if you don’t go out, not a man will stay with you this night. That would be worse to you than all the evil that has happened to you from your youth until now.” ⁸Then the king arose and sat in the gate. The people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” All the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent. ⁹All the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. ¹⁰Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why don’t you speak a word of bringing the king back?” ¹¹King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the speech of all Israel has come to the king, to return him to his house? ¹²You are my brothers. You are my bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?’ ¹³Say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you aren’t captain of the army before me continually instead of Joab.’” ¹⁴He bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as one man, so that they sent to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.” ¹⁵So the king returned, and came to the Jordan. Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan. ¹⁶Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who was of Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of Saul’s house, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went through the Jordan in the presence of the king. ¹⁸A ferry boat went to bring over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had come over the Jordan. ¹⁹He said to the king, “Don’t let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. ²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore behold, I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.” ²¹But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?” ²²David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be adversaries to me today? Shall any man be put to death today in Israel? For don’t I know that I am king over Israel today?” ²³The king said to Shimei, “You will not die.” The king swore to him. ²⁴Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither groomed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace. ²⁵When he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?” ²⁶He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king,’ because your servant is lame. ²⁷He has slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is as an angel of God. Therefore do what is good in your eyes. ²⁸For all my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table. What right therefore have I yet that I should appeal any more to the king?” ²⁹The king said to him, “Why do you speak any more of your matters? I say, you and Ziba divide the land.” ³⁰Mephibosheth said to the king, “Yes, let him take all, because my lord the king has come in peace to his own house.” ³¹Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim; and he went over the Jordan with the king to conduct him over the Jordan. ³²Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old. He had provided the king with sustenance while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. ³³The king said to Barzillai, “Come over with me, and I will sustain you with me in Jerusalem.” ³⁴Barzillai said to the king, “How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁵I am eighty years old, today. Can I discern between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear the voice of singing men and singing women any more? Why then should your servant be a burden to my lord the king? ³⁶Your servant will just go over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward? ³⁷Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold, your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to you.” ³⁸The king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you. Whatever you request of me, that I will do for you.” ³⁹All the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. Then the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him; and he returned to his own place. ⁴⁰So the king went over to Gilgal, and Chimham went over with him. All the people of Judah brought the king over, and also half the people of Israel. ⁴¹Behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king and his household, over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?” ⁴²All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative to us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s cost? Or has he given us any gift?” ⁴³The men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, “We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more claim to David than you. Why then did you despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?” The words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.