Psalms 56
1 God, be merciful to me because men have harassed me; all day my enemies pursue me.
For the music director. According to “Dove on Distant Oaks.” A psalm (miktam) of David concerning the time the Philistines captured him in Gath. God, please be gracious to me, for people are persecuting me; my attackers fight against me all day long.
2 My enemies harass me all day long; there are many of them who proudly attack me.
My enemies chase me down all the time—there are many of them, attacking me in their arrogance.
3 But whenever I am afraid, I trust in you.
But when I'm afraid, I trust in you.
4 God, I praise/thank you because you do what you have promised; I trust in you, and then I am not afraid. Ordinary humans certainly cannot [RHQ] harm me!
I thank God for his promises. I trust in God, so why should I be fearful? What can mere human beings do to me?
5 All day long my enemies claim that I said things that I did not say (OR, try to destroy what I am doing); they are always thinking of ways to harm me.
They constantly twist my words against me; they spend all their time thinking of evil things to do to me.
6 In order to cause trouble for me, they hide and watch everything that I do, waiting for [an opportunity] to kill me [MTY].
They gather together in their hiding places to keep watch on me, hoping to kill me.
7 So, God, punish them for the wicked things that they are doing; show that you are angry by defeating those people!
Will they escape when they do so much evil? God, in anger bring these people down!
8 You have counted [all] the times that I have been wandering alone/distressed; [it is as though] you have put [all] my tears in a bottle [in order that you can see how much I have cried]. [You have counted my tears and written] the number in your book.
You've kept track of all my wanderings. You've collected all my tears in your bottle. You've kept a record of each one.
9 When I call out to you, [my] God, my enemies will be defeated; I know that will happen, because you are fighting for me.
Then those who hate me will run away when I call for your help. For I know this: God is for me!
10 I praise/thank you that you do what you have promised; Yahweh, I [will always] praise you for that [DOU].
I thank God for his promises. I thank the Lord for his promises.
11 I trust in you, and as a result, I will not be afraid. I know that humans cannot really [RHQ] harm me!
I trust in God, so why should I be fearful? What can mere human beings do to me?
12 I will bring to you the offering that I promised; I will bring an offering to you to thank you,
God, I will keep my promises to you. I will give thank offerings to you,
13 because you have rescued me from being killed; you have kept me from stumbling. As a result, I will continue to live in your presence in the light that [shines on those who are still] alive (OR, in the light that [enables people to] live).
for you have saved me from death and kept me from falling. Now I walk in the presence of God, in the light that gives life.
