Reading for February 29th

Psalms 59-60 (Listen)

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam1 of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;

protect me from those who rise up against me;

deliver me from those who work evil,

and save me from bloodthirsty men.

For behold, they lie in wait for my life;

fierce men stir up strife against me.

For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

Awake, come to meet me, and see!

You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

Each evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

There they are, bellowing with their mouths

with swords in their lips—

for “Who,” they think,2 “will hear us?”

But you, O Lord, laugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are my fortress.

My God in his steadfast love3 will meet me;

God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter4 by your power and bring them down,

O Lord, our shield!

For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

consume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

that they may know that God rules over Jacob

to the ends of the earth. Selah

Each evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

They wander about for food

and growl if they do not get their fill.

But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me a fortress

and a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, are my fortress,

the God who shows me steadfast love.

He Will Tread Down Our Foes

To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam5 of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;

you have been angry; oh, restore us.

You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;

repair its breaches, for it totters.

You have made your people see hard things;

you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

You have set up a banner for those who fear you,

that they may flee to it from the bow.6 Selah

That your beloved ones may be delivered,

give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

God has spoken in his holiness:7

“With exultation I will divide up Shechem

and portion out the Vale of Succoth.

Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim is my helmet;

Judah is my scepter.

Moab is my washbasin;

upon Edom I cast my shoe;

over Philistia I shout in triumph.”8

Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

Have you not rejected us, O God?

You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.

Oh, grant us help against the foe,

for vain is the salvation of man!

With God we shall do valiantly;

it is he who will tread down our foes.