Lord, can’t you hear my cry, my bitter complaint? Keep me safe from this band of criminals and from the conspiracy of these wicked men. They gather in their secret counsel to destroy me. Can’t you hear their slander, their lies? Their words are like poison-tipped arrows shot from the shadows. They are unafraid and have no fear of consequences. They set their traps against us in secret; they strengthen one another, saying, “No one can see us. Who can stop us?” They’re nothing more than unruly mobs joined in their unholy alliance, searching out new opportunities to pervert justice— deceivers scheming together their ill-conceived plot as they plan the “perfect crime.” How unsearchable is their endless evil, trying desperately to hide the deep darkness of their hearts. But all the while God has his own fire-tipped arrows! Suddenly, without warning, they will be pierced and struck down. Staggering backward they will be destroyed by the very ones they spoke against. All who see this will view them with scorn. Then all will stand awestruck over what God has done, seeing how he vindicated the victims of these crimes. The lovers of God will be glad, rejoicing in the Lord. They will be found in his glorious wrap-around presence, singing songs of praise to God!

Listen to me, Lord. Hear the passionate prayer of this honest man. It’s my piercing cry for justice! My cause is just and my need is real. I’ve done what’s right and my lips speak truth. Lord, I always live my life before your face, so examine and exonerate me. Vindicate me and show the world I’m innocent. For in a visitation of the night you inspected my heart and refined my soul in fire until nothing vile was found in me. I’ve wanted my words and my ways to always agree. Following your word has kept me from wrong. Your ways have molded my footsteps, keeping me from going down the forbidden paths of the destroyer. My steps follow in the tracks of your chariot wheels, always staying in their path, never straying from your way. You will answer me, God; I know you always will, like you always do as you listen with love to my every prayer. Magnify the marvels of your mercy to all who seek you. Make your Pure One wonderful to me, like you do for all those who turn aside to hide themselves in you. Protect me from harm; keep an eye on me like you would a child reflected in the twinkling of your eye. Yes, hide me within the shelter of your embrace, under your outstretched wings. Protect me there from all my foes. For there are many who surround my soul to completely destroy me. They are pitiless, heartless—hard as nails, swollen with pride and filled with arrogance! See how they close in on me, waiting for the chance to throw me to the ground. They’re like lions eager to tear me apart, like young and fearless lions lurking in secret, so ferocious and cruel—ready to rip me to shreds. Arise, God, and confront them! Challenge them with your might! Free me from their clutches and rescue me from their rage. Throw them down to the ground, those who live for only this life on earth. Thrust them out of their prosperity and into their portion in eternity, leaving their wealth and wickedness behind! As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face until I see you for who you really are. Then I will awaken with your form and be fully satisfied, fulfilled in the revelation of your glory in me!

Look! Yahweh now reigns as King! He has covered himself with majesty and strength, wearing them as his splendor-garments. Regal power surrounds him as he sits securely on his throne. He’s in charge of it all, the entire world, and he knows what he’s doing! Lord, you have reigned as King from the very beginning of time. Eternity is your home. – Chaos once challenged you. The raging waves lifted themselves over and over, high above the ocean’s depths, letting out their mighty roar! Yet at the sound of your voice they were all stilled by your might. What a majestic King, filled with power! Nothing could ever change your royal decrees; they will last forever! Holiness is the beauty that fills your house; you are the one who abides forevermore!

O Lord, fight for me! Harass the hecklers, accuse my accusers. Fight those who fight against me. Put on your armor, Lord; take up your shield and protect me. Rise up, mighty God! Grab your weapons of war and block the way of the wicked who come to fight me. Stand for me when they stand against me! Speak over my soul: “I am your strong Savior!” Humiliate those who seek my harm. Defeat them all! Frustrate their plans to defeat me and drive them back. Disgrace them all as they have devised their plans to disgrace me. Blow them away like dust in the wind, with the Angel of Almighty God driving them back! Make the road in front of them nothing but slippery darkness, with the Angel of the Lord behind them, chasing them away! For though I did nothing wrong to them, they set a trap for me, wanting me to fall and fail. Surprise them with your ambush, Lord, and catch them in the very trap they set for me. Let them be the ones to fail and fall into destruction! Then my fears will dissolve into limitless joy; my whole being will overflow with gladness because of your mighty deliverance. Everything inside of me will shout it out: “There’s no one like you, Lord!” For look at how you protect the weak and helpless from the strong and heartless who oppress them.

Don’t let those who fight me for no reason be victorious. Don’t let them succeed, these heartless haters who come against me with their gloating sneers. They are the ones who would never seek peace as friends, for they are ever devising deceit against the innocent ones who mind their own business. They open their mouths with ugly grins, gloating with glee over my every fault. “Look,” they say, “we caught him red-handed! We saw him fall with our own eyes!” But my caring God, you have been there all along. You have seen their hypocrisy. God, don’t let them get away with this. Don’t walk away without doing something. Now is the time to awake! Rise up, Lord! Vindicate me, my Lord and my God! You have every right to judge me, Lord, according to your righteousness, but don’t let them rejoice over me when I stumble. Let them all be ashamed of themselves, humiliated when they rejoice over my every blunder. Shame them, Lord, when they say, “We saw what he did. Now we have him right where we want him. Let’s get him while he’s down!” Make them look ridiculous when they exalt themselves over me. May they all be disgraced and dishonored! But let all my true friends shout for joy, all those who know and love what I do for you. Let them all say, “The Lord is great, and he delights in the prosperity of his servant.” Then I won’t be able to hold it in— everyone will hear my joyous praises all day long! Your righteousness will be the theme of my glory-song of praise!

Keep trusting in the Lord and do what is right in his eyes. Fix your heart on the promises of God and you will be secure, feasting on his faithfulness. Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life, and he will provide for you what you desire the most. Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly! He will appear as your righteousness, as sure as the dawning of a new day. He will manifest as your justice, as sure and strong as the noonday sun. Quiet your heart in his presence and pray; keep hope alive as you long for God to come through for you. And don’t think for a moment that the wicked in their prosperity are better off than you. Stay away from anger and revenge. Keep envy far from you, for it only leads you into lies. For one day the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will live safe and sound with blessings overflowing. Just a little while longer and the ungodly will vanish; you will look for them in vain. But the humble of heart will inherit every promise and enjoy abundant peace. Let the wicked keep plotting against the godly with all their sneers and arrogant jeers. God doesn’t lose any sleep over them and he knows their day is coming! Evil ones take aim on the poor and helpless; they are ready to slaughter those who do right. But the Lord will turn all their weapons of wickedness back on themselves, piercing their pride-filled hearts until they are the helpless. It is much better to have little combined with much of God than to have the fabulous wealth of the wicked and nothing else. For the Lord takes care of all his forgiven ones while the strength of the evil will surely slip away. Day by day the Lord watches the good deeds of the godly and he prepares for them his forever-reward. Even in a time of disaster he will watch over them, and they will always have more than enough no matter what happens. All the enemies of God will perish. For the wicked have only a momentary value, a fading glory. Then one day they vanish! Here today, gone tomorrow.

My God, protect me! Keep me safe from all my enemies, for they’re coming to kill me. Put me in a high place out of their reach— a place so high that these assassins will never find me. Save me from these murdering men, these bloodthirsty killers. See how they set an ambush for my life. They’re fierce men ready to launch their attack against me. O Lord, I’m innocent; protect me! I’ve done nothing to deserve this, yet they are already plotting together to kill me. Arise, Lord, see what they’re scheming, and come and meet with me. Awaken, O God of Israel! Commander of Angel Armies, arise to punish these treacherous people who oppose you! Don’t go soft on these hardcase killers! (Pause in his presence) After dark they came to spy, sneaking around the city, snarling, prowling like a pack of stray dogs in the night— boiling over with rage, shouting out their curses, convinced that they’ll never get caught. But you, Lord, break out laughing at their plans, amused by their arrogance, scoffing at their sinful ways. My strength is found when I wait upon you. Watch over me, God, for you are my mountain fortress; you set me on high! The God of passionate love will meet with me. My God will empower me to rise in triumph over my foes. Don’t kill them; stagger them all with a vivid display of power. And scatter them with your armies of angels, O mighty God, our protector! Use your awesome power to make them wanderers and vagabonds and then bring them down. They are nothing but proud, cursing liars. They sin in every word they speak, boasting in their blasphemies!May your wrath be kindled to destroy them; finish them off! Make an end of them and their deeds until they are no more! Let them all know and learn that God is the ruler over Jacob, the God-King over all the earth! (Pause in his presence) Here they come again— prowling, growling like a pack of stray dogs in the city. Drifting, devouring, and coming in for the kill, they refuse to sleep until they’ve eaten their fill. But as for me, your strength shall be my song of joy. At each and every sunrise, my lyrics of your love will fill the air! For you have been my glory-fortress, a stronghold in my day of distress.O my strength, I sing with joy your praises. O my stronghold, I sing with joy your song! O my Savior, I sing with joy the lyrics of your faithful love for me!

Lord, you seem so far away when evil is near! Why do you stand so far off as though you don’t care? Why have you hidden yourself when I need you the most?The arrogant in their elitist pride persecute the poor and helpless. May you pour out upon them the very evil they’ve planned against others! How they brag and boast of their cravings, exalting the greedy. They congratulate themselves as they despise you.These arrogant ones, so smug and secure! In their delusion the wicked boast, saying, “God doesn’t care about what we do. There’s nothing to worry about! Our wealth will last a lifetime.” So seemingly successful are they in their schemes, prosperous in all their plans and scoffing at any restraint.They boast that neither God nor men will bring them down. They sneer at all their enemies, saying in their hearts, “We’ll have success in all we do and never have to face trouble”— never realizing that they are speaking this in vain. Their mouths spout out cursing, lies, and threats. Only trouble and turmoil come from all their plans. Like beasts lurking in the shadows of the city they crouch silently in ambush for the people to pass by. Pouncing on the poor, they catch them in their snare to murder their prey in secret as they plunder their helpless victims. They crush the lowly as they fall beneath their brutal blows, watching their victims collapse in defeat! Then they say to themselves, “The Lofty One is not watching while we do this. He doesn’t even care! We can get away with it!” Now is the time to arise, Lord! Crush them once and for all! Don’t forget the forgotten and the helpless. How dare the wicked think they’ll escape judgment, believing that you would not call them to account for all their ways. Don’t let the wicked get away with their contempt of you! Lord, I know you see all that they’re doing, noting their each and every deed. You know the trouble and turmoil they’ve caused. Now punish them thoroughly for all that they’ve done! The poor and helpless ones trust in you, Lord, for you are famous for being the helper of the fatherless. I know you won’t let them down. Break the power of the wicked and all their strong-arm tactics. Search them out and destroy them for the evil things they’ve done. You, Lord, are King forever and ever! You will see to it that all the nations perish from your land. Lord, you know and understand all the hopes of the humble and will hear their cries and comfort their hearts, helping them all! The orphans and the oppressed will be terrified no longer, for you will bring them justice, and no one will trouble them.

I stand silently to listen for the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for the Lord to rescue me. For God alone has become my Savior. He alone is my safe place; his wrap-around presence always protects me. For he is my champion defender; there’s no risk of failure with God. So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me? But look at these who want me dead, shouting their vicious threats at me! The moment they discover my weakness they all begin plotting to take me down. Liars, hypocrites, with nothing good to say. All of their energies are spent on moving me from this exalted place. ( Pause in his presence) I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me. Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me.For he alone is my safe place. His wrap-around presence always protects me as my champion defender. There’s no risk of failure with God! So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me? God’s glory is all around me! His wrap-around presence is all I need, for the Lord is my Savior, my hero, and my life-giving strength. Join me, everyone! Trust only in God every moment! Tell him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to him. Believe me when I tell you—he will help you! (Pause in his presence) Before God all the people of the earth, high or low, are like smoke that disappears, like a vapor that quickly vanishes away. Compared to God they’re nothing but vanity, nothing at all! The wealth of the world is nothing to God. So if your wealth increases, don’t be boastful or put your trust in your money. And don’t you think for a moment that you can get away with stealing by overcharging others just to get more for yourself ! God said to me once and for all, “All the strength and power you need flows from me!” And again I heard it clearly said, “All the love you need is found in me!” And it’s true that you repay people for what they do.

For Zion’s sake, how can I keep silent? For Jerusalem’s sake, how can I remain quiet? I will keep interceding until her righteousness breaks forth like the blazing light of dawn and her salvation like a burning torch! Nations will see your victory-vindication, and every king will witness your blinding radiance! You will be called by a brand-new name, given to you from the mouth of Yahweh himself. You will be a beautiful crown held high in the hand of Yahweh, a royal crownof splendor held in the open palm of your God! You will never again be called the Abandoned One, nor will your land be called Deserted. But you will be called My Delight Is in You, and your land My Beloved Wife, for Yahweh finds his delight in you and he married your land. As a young man marries the young woman he loves, so your builder-sons will marry you. As the bridegroom finds joy in his union with his bride, so will your God take joy in his union with you! Jerusalem, I have stationed intercessors on your walls who will never be silent, day or night. You “reminders” of Yahweh, take no rest, and tirelessly give God no rest, until he firmly establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of all the earth! Yahweh swears an oath by the authority of his right hand and by his mighty arm: “I will never again give your new grain as food for your enemies, nor will foreigners drink your new wine that you worked hard to produce. Instead, you who harvest it will eat it and offer your praise to Yahweh, and you who gather the grapes will drink the new wine in my holy courts.” Pass through, pass through the gates, and go from old to new. Prepare a new path for the people. Build! Build up a highway for them to come to me! Remove every hindrance and unfurl a banner for the nations! See? Yahweh has proclaimed to the ends of the earth: Tell my daughter, Zion, “Look, here comes your Deliverer! See? He’s bringing his reward, and his recompense goes before him.” They will be called His Holy People, The Redeemed of Yahweh. And you will be known as Those Whom God Loves, A City Not Abandoned.