David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold
which he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, from
Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Am′alek, and
from the spoil of Hadade′zer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
And David won a name for himself. When he returned, he slew
eighteen thousand E′domites in the Valley of Salt. And he put
garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and
all the E′domites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave
victory to David wherever he went. So David reigned over all
Israel; and David administered justice and equity to all his
people.
And here there is a Psalm, one of the famous prayers of the
Bible, for the most attributed to David. So I thought it would be
nice to put one here, to let them be known. This is, in
particular, a prayer against his enemies.
Psalm 69
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Psalm of David.
1 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, thou knowest my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from thee.
6 Let not those who hope in thee be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek thee be brought to dishonor through
me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is for thy sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brethren,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For zeal for thy house has
consumed me,
and the insults of those who
insult thee have fallen on me.
1 0 When I humbled[a] my soul with
fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my
clothing,
I became a byword to them.
1 2 I am the talk of those who sit in
the gate,
and the drunkards make songs
about me.
1 3 But as for me, my prayer is to
thee, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of thy steadfast
love answer me.
With thy faithful help 1 4 rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my
enemies
and from the deep waters.
1 5 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over
me.
1 6 Answer me, O Lord, for thy
steadfast love is good;
according to thy abundant mercy,
turn to me.
1 7 Hide not thy face from thy
servant;
for I am in distress, make haste
to answer me.
1 8 Draw near to me, redeem me,
set me free because of my
enemies!
1 9 Thou knowest my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to thee.
20 Insults have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was
none;
and for comforters, but I found
none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me