¹For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song by David. Listen, O God, to my prayer. Do not ignore my appeal for mercy. ²Pay attention to me and answer me. I am so upset and distressed, I am beside myself, ³because of what the enemy says, and because of how the wicked pressure me, for they hurl trouble down upon me and angrily attack me.⁴My heart beats violently within me; the horrors of death overcome me.⁵Fear and panic overpower me; terror overwhelms me.⁶I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and settle in a safe place.⁷Look, I will escape to a distant place; I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)⁸I will hurry off to a place that is safe from the strong wind and the gale.” ⁹Confuse them, O Lord. Frustrate their plans. For I see violence and conflict in the city. ¹⁰Day and night they walk around on its walls, while wickedness and destruction are within it.¹¹Disaster is within it; violence and deceit do not depart from its public square. ¹²Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me, or else I could bear it; it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me, or else I could hide from him.¹³But it is you, a man like me, my close friend in whom I confided. ¹⁴We would share personal thoughts with each other; in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd. ¹⁵May death destroy them. May they go down alive into Sheol. For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst. ¹⁶As for me, I will call out to God, and the Lord will deliver me.¹⁷During the evening, morning, and noontime I will lament and moan, and he will hear me. ¹⁸He will rescue me and protect me from those who attack me, even though they greatly outnumber me. ¹⁹God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago, will hear and humiliate them. (Selah) They refuse to change, and do not fear God. ²⁰He attacks his friends; he breaks his solemn promises to them.²¹His words are as smooth as butter, but he harbors animosity in his heart. His words seem softer than oil, but they are really like sharp swords. ²²Throw your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the godly to be shaken. ²³But you, O God, will bring them down to the deep Pit. Violent and deceitful people will not live even half a normal life-span. But as for me, I trust in you.