Psalm 55

Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And do not hide Thyself from my supplication.
Give heed to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,
Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the pressure of the wicked;
For they bring down trouble upon me,
And in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me;
And horror has overwhelmed me,
And I said, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
"Behold, I would wander far away,
I would lodge in the wilderness.
"I would hasten to my place of refuge
From the stormy wind and tempest."

Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,
For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around her upon her walls;
And iniquity and mischief are in her midst.
Destruction is in her midst;
Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets.

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
But it is you, a man my equal,
My companion and my familiar friend.
We who had sweet fellowship together,
Walked in the house of God in the throng.
Let death come deceitfully upon them;
Let them go down alive to Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

As for me, I shall call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur,
And He will hear my voice.
He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me,
For they are many who strive with me.
God will hear and answer them--
Even the one who sits enthroned from of old-- [Selah]
With whom there is no change,
And who do not fear God.
He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;
He has violated his covenant.
His speech was smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
But Thou, O God, wilt bring them down to the pit of destruction;
Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.
But I will trust in Thee.

~Psalm 55 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 44

O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our fathers have told us,
The work that Thou didst in their days,
In the days of old.
Thou with Thine own hand didst drive out the nations;
Then Thou didst plant them;
Thou didst afflict the peoples,
Then Thou didst spread them abroad.
For by their own sword they did not possess the land;
And their own arm did not save them;
But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy presence,
For Thou didst favor them.

Thou art my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob.
Through Thee we will push back our adversaries;
Through Thy name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
But Thou hast saved us from our adversaries,
And Thou hast put to shame those who hate us.
In God we have boasted all day long,
And we will give thanks to Thy name forever. Selah.

Yet Thou hast rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And dost not go out with our armies.
Thou dost cause us to turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
Thou dost give us as sheep to be eaten,
And hast scattered us among the nations.
Thou dost sell Thy people cheaply,
And hast not profited by their sale.
Thou dost make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
Thou dost make us a byword among the nations,
A laughingstock among the peoples.
All day long my dishonor is before me,
And my humiliation has overwhelmed me,
Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.

All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten Thee,
And we have not dealt falsely with Thy covenant.
Our heart has not turned back,
And our steps have not deviated from Thy way,
Yet Thou hast crushed us in a place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.
If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or extended our hands to a strange god;
Would not God find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
But for Thy sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

Arouse Thyself, why dost Thou sleep, O LORD?
Awake, do not reject us forever.
Why dost Thou hide Thy face,
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
For our soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
Rise up, be our help,
And redeem us for the sake of Thy lovingkindness.

~Psalm 44 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity;
And I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Examine me, O LORD, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.
For Thy lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Thy truth.
I do not sit with deceitful men,
Nor will I go with pretenders.
I hate the assembly of evildoers,
And I will not sit with the wicked.
I shall wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Thine, altar, O LORD,
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And declare all Thy wonders.

O LORD, I love the habitation of Thy house,
And the place where Thy glory dwells.
Do not take my soul away along with sinners,
Nor my life with men of bloodshed,
In whose hands is a wicked scheme,
And whose right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
Redeem me, and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on a level place;
In the congregations I shall bless the LORD.

~Psalm 26 (NASB 1977)