Psalms for Times of Distress

Chapter 20

1. For the Conductor, a psalm by David. 2. May the Lord answer you on the day of distress; may the Name of the God of Jacob fortify you. 3. May He send your help from the Sanctuary, and support you from Zion. 4. May He remember all your offerings, and always accept favorably your sacrifices. 5. May He grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill your every counsel. 6. We will rejoice in your deliverance, and raise our banners in the name of our God; may the Lord fulfill all your wishes. 7. Now I know that the Lord has delivered His anointed one, answering him from His holy heavens with the mighty saving power of His right hand. 8. Some [rely] upon chariots and some upon horses, but we [rely upon and] invoke the Name of the Lord our God. 9. They bend and fall, but we rise and stand firm. 10. Lord, deliver us; may the King answer us on the day we call.

Chapter 22

11. For the Conductor, on the ayelet hashachar, a psalm by David. 12. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me! So far from saving me, from the words of my outcry? 13. My God, I call out by day, and You do not answer; at night-but there is no respite for me. 14. Yet You, Holy One, are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. 15. In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You saved them. 16. They cried to You and were rescued; they trusted in You and were not shamed. 17. And I am a worm and not a man; scorn of men, contempt of nations. 18. All who see me mock me; they open their lips, they shake their heads. 19. But one that casts [his burden] upon the Lord-He will save him; He will rescue him, for He desires him. 20. For You took me out of the womb, and made me secure on my mother's breasts. 21. I have been thrown upon You from birth; from my mother's womb You have been my God. 22. Be not distant from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. 23. Many bulls surround me, the mighty bulls of Bashan encircle me. 24. They open their mouths against me, like a lion that ravages and roars. 25. I am poured out like water, all my bones are disjointed; my heart has become like wax, melted within my innards. 26. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my palate; You set me in the dust of death. 27. For dogs surround me, a pack of evildoers enclose me; my hands and feet are like a lion's prey. 28. I count all my limbs, while they watch and gloat over me. 29. They divide my garments amongst them; they cast lots upon my clothing. 30. But You, Lord, do not be distant; my Strength, hurry to my aid! 31. Save my life from the sword, my soul from the grip of dogs. 32. Save me from the lion's mouth, as You have answered me from the horns of wild beasts. 33. I will recount [the praises of] Your Name to my brothers; I will extol You amidst the congregation. 34. You that fear the Lord, praise Him! Glorify Him, all you progeny of Jacob! Stand in awe of Him, all you progeny of Israel! 35. For He has not despised nor abhorred the entreaty of the poor, nor has He concealed His face from him; rather He heard when he cried to Him. 36. My praise comes from You, in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before those that fear Him. 37. Let the humble eat and be satisfied; let those who seek the Lord praise Him-may your hearts live forever! 38. All the ends of the earth will remember and return to the Lord; all families of nations will bow down before You. 39. For sovereignty is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations. 40. All the fat ones of the earth will eat and bow down, all who descend to the dust shall kneel before Him, but He will not revive their soul. 41. The progeny of those who serve Him will tell of the Lord to the latter generations. 42. They will come and relate His righteousness-all that He has done-to a newborn nation.

Chapter 69

43. For the Conductor, on the shoshanim,1 by David. 44. Deliver me, O God, for the waters have reached until my soul! 45. I have sunk in muddy depths without foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the current sweeps me away. 46. I am wearied by my crying, my throat is parched; my eyes pined while waiting for my God. 47. More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me without reason. Mighty are those who would cut me off, those who are my enemies without cause. What I have not stolen, I will then have to return. 48. O God, You know my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from You. 49. Let not those who hope in You be shamed through me, O my Lord, God of Hosts; let not those who seek You be disgraced through me, O God of Israel, 50. because for Your sake I have borne humiliation, disgrace covers my face. 51. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons, 52. for the envy of Your House has consumed me, and the humiliations of those who scorn You have fallen upon me. 53. And I wept while my soul fasted, and it was a humiliation to me. 54. I made sackcloth my garment, and became a byword for them. 55. Those who sit by the gate speak of me, and [of me] are the songs of drunkards. 56. May my prayer to You, Lord, be at a gracious time; God, in Your abounding kindness, answer me with Your true deliverance. 57. Rescue me from the mire, so that I not sink; let me be saved from my enemies and from deep waters. 58. Let not the current of water sweep me away, nor the deep swallow me; and let not the pit close its mouth over me. 59. Answer me, Lord, for Your kindness is good; according to Your abundant mercies, turn to me. 60. Do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress-hurry to answer me. 61. Draw near to my soul and liberate it; redeem me, so that my enemies [not feel triumphant]. 62. You know my humiliation, my shame, and my disgrace; all my tormentors are before You. 63. Humiliation has broken my heart, and I have become ill. I longed for comfort, but there was none; for consolers, but I did not find. 64. They put gall into my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 65. Let their table become a trap before them, and [their] serenity, a snare. 66. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and let their loins continually falter. 67. Pour Your wrath upon them, and let the fierceness of Your anger overtake them. 68. Let their palace be desolate, let there be no dweller in their tents, 69. for they persecute the one whom You struck, and tell of the pain of Your wounded ones. 70. Add iniquity to their iniquity, and let them not enter into Your righteousness. 71. May they be erased from the Book of Life, and let them not be inscribed with the righteous. 72. But I am poor and in pain; let Your deliverance, O God, streng-then me. 73. I will praise the Name of God with song, I will extol Him with thanksgiving! 74. And it will please the Lord more than [the sacrifice of] a mature bull with horns and hooves. 75. The humble will see it and rejoice; you seekers of God, [see] and your hearts will come alive. 76. For the Lord listens to the needy, and He does not despise His prisoners. 77. Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and all that moves within them, 78. for God will deliver Zion and build the cities of Judah, and they will settle there and possess it; 79. and the seed of His servants will inherit it, and those who love His Name will dwell in it.

Chapter 150

80. Praise the Lord! Praise God in His holiness; praise Him in the firmament of His strength. 81. Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His abundant greatness. 82. Praise Him with the call of the shofar; praise Him with harp and lyre. 83. Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flute. 84. Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with clanging cymbals. 85. Let every soul praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!