The Lord Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

¹O Lord my God, in You I take refuge;

Save me and rescue me from all those who pursue me,

²So that my enemy will not tear me like a lion,

Dragging me away while there is no one to rescue [me].

³¶O Lord my God, if I have done this,

If there is injustice in my hands,

⁴If I have done evil to him who was at peace with me,

Or without cause robbed him who was my enemy,

⁵Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;

And let him trample my life to the ground

And lay my honor in the dust. Selah.

⁶¶Arise, O Lord , in Your anger;

Lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies;

Rise up for me; You have commanded judgment and vindication.

⁷Let the assembly of the nations be gathered around You,

And return on high over them.

⁸The Lord judges the peoples;

Judge me, O Lord , and grant me justice according to my righteousness and according to the integrity within me.

⁹Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous [those in right standing with You];

For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. [Rev 2:23]

¹⁰My shield and my defense depend on God,

Who saves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a righteous judge,

And a God who is indignant every day.

¹²¶If a man does not repent, God will sharpen His sword;

He has strung and bent His [mighty] bow and made it ready.

¹³He has also prepared [other] deadly weapons for Himself;

He makes His arrows fiery shafts [aimed at the unrepentant].

¹⁴Behold, the [wicked and irreverent] man is pregnant with sin,

And he conceives mischief and gives birth to lies.

¹⁵He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,

And has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap].

¹⁶His mischief will return on his own head,

And his violence will come down on the top of his head [like loose dirt].

¹⁷¶I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness and justice,

And I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.