Psalm 140—Rescue me from fools, villains, and violent men.
"Lord, you are my God. You see me. I am here on the floor. Hear my prayer."
Rendition of Psalm 140
Rescue me from fools, villains, and violent men. Guard me from those who devise distress And who hatch strife From the nest in their hearts Where evil broods and breeds. They sharpen the knives of their tongues And their smiles are dagger-bladed. When they bite, it is rage. When they speak, it is poison. Slender snakes hide in their words. Oh Lord, keep me out of their grasp. I say again: protect me from violent men. They have laid snares for my feet And would wile me into them. With head high, they’ve made a glamour that—if I gave myself to it, Would eat me alive. Instead, I sought you in the stillness and said, “Lord, you are my God. You see me. I am here on the floor. Hear my prayer. You are the strength of my strength And the hope of my hope. You have already given me enough For the day my trial finds me, Even as I ask you to keep me from it. If you must collapse The schemes of evil men Down upon their heads By the very act of rending their lines In my flogged flesh, Then may it be so. If your servant will suffer To know the care of your care In the life of my life, Then may it be so. As for those who would make evil, And eat us like bread— Send their harm flooding back toward them. Kindle in their own laps The fire they hoped would burn. Put them in the pit They dug with their precious time And show them it was even deeper Than they hoped. Shatter at a stroke the fearsome And brittle works hate built. Lord, I know that you have never forgotten We poor who cry out to you, Who name our afflictions day by day, So we are not afraid. We already stand in your presence. We already shelter under your name.
Psalms: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 46, 50, 51, 53, 54, 62, 63, 65, 66, 73, 74, 75, 84, 86, 88, 90, 91, 100, 107, 110, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 142, 147, 148.
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