To the Director. A Davidic psalm.

A Prayer against the Evil One

1God, whom I praise,

do not be silent,

2for the mouths of wicked and deceitful people

are opened against me;

they speak against me with lying tongues.

3They surround me with hate-filled words,

attacking me for no reason.

4Instead of receivinga my love, they accuse me,

though I continue in prayer.

5They devise evil against me instead of good,

and hatred in place of my love.

6Appoint an evil person over him;

may an accuser stand at his right side.b

7When he is judged, may he be found guilty;

may his prayer be regarded as sin.

8May his days be few;

may another take over his position.c

9May his children become fatherless,

and his wife a widow.

10May his children roam around begging,

seeking foodd while driven fare from their ruined homes.

11May creditors seize all his possessions,

and may foreigners loot the property he has acquired.f

12May no one extend gracious love to him,

or show favor to his fatherless children.

13May his descendantsg be eliminated,

and their memoryh be erased from the next generation.

14May his ancestors’ guilt be remembered in the LORD’s presence,

and may his mother’s guilt not be erased.

15May whati they have donej be continually in the LORD’s presence;

and may their memory be excised from the earth.

16For he didn’t think to extend gracious love;

he harassed to death the poor, the needy, and the broken hearted.k

17He loved to curse—may his cursesl return upon him!

He took no delight in blessing othersm —

so may blessingsn be far from him.

18He wore curses like a garment—

may theyo enter his inner being like water

and his bones like oil.

19May those cursesp wrap around him like a garment,

or like a belt that one always wears.

20May this be the way the LORD repays my accuser,

those who speak evil against me.

21Now you, LORD my God, defendq me for your name’s sake;

because your gracious love is good, deliver me!

22Indeed, I am poor and needy,

and my heart is wounded within me.

23I am fadingr away like a shadow late in the day;

I am shaken off like a locust.

24My knees give ways from fasting,

and my skin is lean, deprived of oil.

25I have become an object of derision to them—

they shake their heads whenever they see me.

26Help me, LORD my God!

Deliver me in accord with your gracious love!

27Then they will realize that your hand is in this—

that you, LORD, have accomplished it.

28They will curse,

but you will bless.

When they attack,t they willu be humiliated,

while your servant rejoices.

29May my accusers be clothed with shame

and wrapped in their humiliation as with a robe.

30I will give many thanks to the LORD with my mouth,

praising him publicly,

31for he standsv at the right hand of the needy one,

to deliver him from his accusers.w