Contend with My Opponents, O LORD

Of David.

1 Contend with my opponents, O LORD;

fight against those who fight against me.

2Take up Your shield and buckler;

arise and come to my aid.

3Draw the spear and javelina against my pursuers;

say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”

4May those who seek my life

be disgraced and put to shame;

may those who plan to harm me

be driven back and confounded.

5May they be like chaff in the wind,

as the angel of the LORD drives them away.

6May their path be dark and slick,

as the angel of the LORD pursues.

7For without cause they laid their net for me;

without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

8May ruin befall them by surprise;

may the net they hid ensnare them;

may they fall into the hazard they created.

9Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD

and exult in His salvation.

10All my bones will exclaim,

“Who is like You, O LORD,

who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor,

the poor and needy from the robber?”

11Hostile witnesses come forward;

they make charges I know nothing about.

12They repay me evil for good,

to the bereavement of my soul.

13Yet when they were ill,

I put on sackcloth;

I humbled myself with fasting,

but my prayers returned unanswered.b

14I paced about

as for my friend or brother;

I was bowed down with grief,

like one mourning for his mother.

15But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee;

they gathered together against me.

Assailants I did not know

slandered me without ceasing.

16Like godless jesters at a feast,c

they gnashed their teeth at me.

17How long, O Lord, will You look on?

Rescue my soul from their ravages,

my precious life from these lions.

18Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly;

I will praise You among many people.

19Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause,

nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.d

20For they do not speak peace,

but they devise deceitful schemes

against those who live quietly in the land.

21They gape at me and say,

“Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”

22O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent.

O Lord, be not far from me.

23Awake and rise to my defense,

to my cause, my God and my Lord!

24Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God,

and do not let them gloat over me.

25Let them not say in their hearts,

“Aha, just what we wanted!”

Let them not say,

“We have swallowed him up!”

26May those who gloat in my distress

be ashamed and confounded;

may those who exalt themselves over me

be clothed in shame and reproach.

27May those who favor my vindication

shout for joy and gladness;

may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD

who delights in His servant’s well-being.”

28Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness

and Your praises all day long.