I Take Refuge in You

A meditation by David, which he sang to God, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.

¹ Lord, my God, I take refuge in you.
Save me from all those who pursue me and deliver me,
² lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,
ripping it in pieces while there is no one to deliver.
³ Lord, my God, if I have done this,
if there is iniquity in my hands,
⁴ if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me
(yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary),
⁵ let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it.
Yes, let him tread my life down to the earth
and lay my glory in the dust.

Selah.

⁶ Arise, Lord, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.
Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
⁷ Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.
⁸ The Lord administers judgment to the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness
and to my integrity that is in me.
⁹ Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

¹⁰ My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
yes, a God who has indignation every day.

¹² If a man does not repent,
he will sharpen his sword.
He has bent and strung his bow.
¹³ He has prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.

¹⁴ The wicked one is pregnant with iniquity,
conceives mischief,
and gives birth to deception.
¹⁵ He has dug a hole,
and has fallen into the pit which he made.
¹⁶ The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
¹⁷ I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

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