Yahweh, my God, I turn to hide my soul in you. Save me from all those who pursue and persecute me. There is none to deliver me but you! Don’t let my foes fall upon me like fierce lions with teeth bared. Can’t you see how they want to rip my soul to shreds? Yahweh, my God, if I have done evil like they say I have, and my hands are guilty, if I have wronged someone at peace with me, if I have betrayed a friend, repaying evil for good, or if I have unjustly harmed my enemy, Then let my enemy pursue and overtake me. Let them grind me into the ground. Let them take my life from me and drag my dignity through the dust! Pause in his presence Vindicate Me Yahweh, arise in your anger against the anger of my enemies. Awaken your fury and stand up for me! Execute the judgment you have decreed against them. All the people gather around you. Return to your place on high to preside over them. You are Yahweh who judges the people. Vindicate me publicly, Yahweh, and restore my honor and integrity. Declare me innocent. Once and for all, bring to an end the evil tactics of the wicked! Establish the cause of the righteous, for you are the righteous God, the soul searcher, who tests every heart to examine the thoughts and motives. God, your wraparound presence is my shield. You bring victory to all who are pure in heart. God, your righteousness is revealed when you judge. Because of the strength of your forgiveness, your anger does not break out every day. God’s Lethal Weapons Yet if one does not repent, you will not relent to sharpen your shining sword. You have an arsenal of lethal weapons that you’ve prepared for them. You have bent and strung your bow, making your judgment-arrows shafts of burning fire. Look how the wicked conceive their evil schemes. They go into labor with their lies and give birth to trouble. They dig a pit for others to fall into, not knowing that they will be the very ones who will fall into it. Every pit-digger who works to trap and harm others will be trapped by his own treachery. Thankful Praise But I will give my thanks to you, Yahweh, for you make everything right in the end. I will sing my highest praise to the God of the Highest Place!