< Psalms 28 >
1 Yahweh, I call out to you; [you are like an overhanging] rock [under which I can hide]. Do not refuse to answer me, because if you are silent, I will soon be with those who are in their graves.
A Psalm of David. Unto thee, O LORD, do I call; my Rock, be not Thou deaf unto me; lest, if Thou be silent unto me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Listen to me when I call out for you [to help me], when I pray, lifting up my hands as I face your sacred temple.
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee, when I lift up my hands toward Thy holy Sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with wicked people, with those who do wicked deeds, with those who pretend [to act] peacefully toward others while in their inner beings, they hate them.
Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity; who speak peace with their neighbours, but evil is in their hearts.
4 Punish those people in the way that they deserve for what they have done; punish them for their evil deeds [DOU].
Give them according to their deeds, and according to the evil of their endeavours; give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
5 Yahweh, they do not pay attention to the [wonderful] things that you have done and that you have created; so get rid of them permanently and do not let them appear again!
Because they give no heed to the works of the LORD, nor to the operation of His hands; He will break them down and not build them up.
6 Praise Yahweh because he has heard me when I called out for him to help me!
Blessed be the LORD, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Yahweh makes me strong and [protects] me [like a shield] [MET]; I trusted in him, and he helped me. I was glad, and from my inner being I praised him as I sang to him.
The LORD is my strength and my shield, in Him hath my heart trusted, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him.
8 Yahweh causes us to be strong and protects us; and he saves me, the one he appointed [MTY] to be king.
The LORD is a strength unto them; and He is a stronghold of salvation to His anointed.
9 Yahweh, save/rescue your people; bless those who belong to you. [Take care of them like] a shepherd [takes care of his sheep] [MET]; take care of them forever.
Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance; and tend them, and carry them for ever.