For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

¹Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.²My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me.³When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.⁴In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?⁵All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil.⁶They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life.⁷Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.⁸You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?⁹Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this: that God is for me.¹⁰In God, I will praise his word. In the LORD, I will praise his word.¹¹I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?¹²Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.¹³For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.