Psalms 6-8

Psalm 6

¹To the chief music-maker on corded instruments, on the Sheminith. A Psalm. Of David. O Lord, do not be bitter with me in your wrath; do not send punishment on me in the heat of your passion.

²Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am wasted away: make me well, for even my bones are troubled.

³My soul is in bitter trouble; and you, O Lord, how long?

⁴Come back, O Lord, make my soul free; O give me salvation because of your mercy.

⁵For in death there is no memory of you; in the underworld who will give you praise?

⁶The voice of my sorrow is a weariness to me; all the night I make my bed wet with weeping; it is watered by the drops flowing from my eyes.

⁷My eyes are wasting away with trouble; they are becoming old because of all those who are against me.

⁸Go from me, all you workers of evil; for the Lord has given ear to the voice of my weeping.

⁹The Lord has given ear to my request; the Lord has let my prayer come before him.

¹⁰Let all those who are against me be shamed and deeply troubled; let them be turned back and suddenly put to shame.

Psalm 7

¹Shiggaion of David; a song which he made to the Lord, about the words of Cush the Benjamite. O Lord my God, I put my faith in you; take me out of the hands of him who is cruel to me, and make me free;

²So that he may not come rushing on my soul like a lion, wounding it, while there is no one to be my saviour.

³O Lord my God, if I have done this; if my hands have done any wrong;

⁴If I have given back evil to him who did evil to me, or have taken anything from him who was against me without cause;

⁵Let my hater go after my soul and take it; let my life be crushed to the earth, and my honour into the dust. (Selah.)

⁶Come up, Lord, in your wrath; be lifted up against my haters; be awake, my God, give orders for the judging.

⁷The meeting of the nations will be round you; take your seat, then, over them, on high.

⁸The Lord will be judge of the peoples; give a decision for me, O Lord, because of my righteousness, and let my virtue have its reward.

⁹O let the evil of the evil-doer come to an end, but give strength to the upright: for men's minds and hearts are tested by the God of righteousness.

¹⁰God, who is the saviour of the upright in heart, is my breastplate.

¹¹God is the judge of the upright, and is angry with the evil-doers every day.

¹²If a man is not turned from his evil, he will make his sword sharp; his bow is bent and ready.

¹³He has made ready for him the instruments of death; he makes his arrows flames of fire.

¹⁴That man is a worker of evil; the seed of wrongdoing has given birth to deceit.

¹⁵He has made a hole deep in the earth, and is falling into the hole which he has made

¹⁶His wrongdoing will come back to him, and his violent behaviour will come down on his head.

¹⁷I will give praise to the Lord for his righteousness; I will make a song to the name of the Lord Most High.

Psalm 8

¹To the chief music-maker on the Gittith. A Psalm. Of David. O Lord, our Lord, whose glory is higher than the heavens, how noble is your name in all the earth!

²You have made clear your strength even out of the mouths of babies at the breast, because of those who are against you; so that you may put to shame the cruel and violent man.

³When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have put in their places;

⁴What is man, that you keep him in mind? the son of man, that you take him into account?

⁵For you have made him only a little lower than the gods, crowning him with glory and honour.

⁶You have made him ruler over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet;

⁷All sheep and oxen, and all the beasts of the field;

⁸The birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatever goes through the deep waters of the seas.

⁹O Lord, our Lord, how noble is your name in all the earth!