To the Director: To the tune ofa “The Lilies”. Davidic.

When God Seems Distant

1Deliver me, God,

because the waters are up to my neck.b

2I am sinking in deep mire,

and there is no solid ground.c

I have come into deep water,

and the flood overwhelms me.

3I am exhausted from calling for help.

My throat is parched.

My eyes are strained from looking for God.

4Those who hate me without cause

are more than the hairs of my head.

My persecutors are mighty,

and they want to destroy me.

Must I be forced to return what I did not steal?

5God, you know my sins,

and my guilt is not hidden from you.

6Do not let those who look up to you be ashamed

because of me,

Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.

Let not those who seek you be humiliated

because of me,

God of Israel.

7I am being mocked because of you.

Dishonor overwhelms me.

8I am a stranger to my brothers,

a foreigner to my mother’s sons.

9Zeal for your house consumes me,

and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me.

10I weep and fast,

and I am mocked for it.

11When I dressed in sackcloth,

I became an object of gossip among them.

12The prominent people mock me,

composing drinking songs.

Seeking God for Deliverance

13As for me, LORD, may my prayer to you come at a favorable time.

God, in the abundance of your gracious love,

answer me with your sure deliverance.

14Rescue me from the mud

and do not let me sink.

Rescue me from those who hate me,

and from the deep waters.

15Let neither the floodwaters overwhelm me

nor let the deep swallow me up,

nor the mouth of the well close over me.

16Answer me, LORD, for your gracious love is good;

Turn to me in keeping with your great compassion,

17andd do not ignore your servant,

because I am in distress.

Hurry to answer me!

18Draw near and redeem me;

ransom me because of my enemies.

19Truly you know my reproach, shame, and disgrace.

All my enemies are known toe you.

20Insults broke my heart.

I despaired and looked for sympathy;

but there was none,

for comforters, but I found none.

21They put poison in my food,

in my thirst they forced me to drink vinegar.

22May their diningf tables entrap them,

and become a snare for their allies.

23May their eyes be blinded

and may their bodies tremble continuously.

24May you pour out your fury on them.

May your burning anger overtake them.

25May their camp become desolate

and their tents remain unoccupied.

26For they persecute those whom you have struck,

and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded.

27May you punish them for their crimes;

may they receive no verdict of innocenceg from you.

28May they be erased from the Book of Life,

and their names not be written with the righteous.

29As for me, I am afflicted and hurting;

may your deliverance, God, establish me on high.

30Let me praise the name of God with a song

that I may magnify him with thanksgiving.

31That will please the LORD

more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves.

32The afflicted will watch and rejoice.

May you who seek God take courage.

33For the LORD listens to the needy

and doesn’t despise those in bondage.

34Let the heavens and earth praise him,

along with the sea and its swarming creatures.h

35For God will deliver Zion

and will rebuild the cities of Judah

so they may live there and possess them.

36The descendants of his servants will inherit it,

and those who cherish his name will live there.