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Psalm 142

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecutors

A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer.
¹ With my voice I cry to the Lord;
   with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.
² I pour out my complaint before him;
   I tell my trouble before him.
³ When my spirit is faint,
   you know my way.

In the path where I walk
   they have hidden a trap for me.
⁴ Look on my right hand and see—
   there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
   no one cares for me.

⁵ I cry to you, O Lord;
   I say, ‘You are my refuge,
   my portion in the land of the living.’
⁶ Give heed to my cry,
   for I am brought very low.

Save me from my persecutors,
   for they are too strong for me.
⁷ Bring me out of prison,
   so that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will surround me,
   for you will deal bountifully with me.

Psalm 144

Prayer for National Deliverance and Security

Of David.
¹ Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
   who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
² my rock^* and my fortress,
   my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
   who subdues the peoples^* under me.

³ O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them,
   or mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;
   their days are like a passing shadow.

⁵ Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
   touch the mountains so that they smoke.
⁶ Make the lightning flash and scatter them;
   send out your arrows and rout them.
⁷ Stretch out your hand from on high;
   set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters,
   from the hand of aliens,
⁸ whose mouths speak lies,
   and whose right hands are false.

⁹ I will sing a new song to you, O God;
   upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
¹⁰ the one who gives victory to kings,
   who rescues his servant David.
¹¹ Rescue me from the cruel sword,
   and deliver me from the hand of aliens,
whose mouths speak lies,
   and whose right hands are false.

¹² May our sons in their youth
   be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars,
   cut for the building of a palace.
¹³ May our barns be filled
   with produce of every kind;
may our sheep increase by thousands,
   by tens of thousands in our fields,
¹⁴   and may our cattle be heavy with young.
May there be no breach in the walls,^* no exile,
   and no cry of distress in our streets.

¹⁵ Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;
   happy are the people whose God is the Lord.