Psalm 69:1-36 TLB

[1] Save me, O my God. The floods have risen. Deeper and deeper I sink in the mire; the waters rise around me. [3] I have wept until I am exhausted; my throat is dry and hoarse; my eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to act. [4] I cannot even count all those who hate me without cause. They are influential men, these who plot to kill me though I am innocent. They demand that I be punished for what I didn't do. [5] O God, you know so well how stupid I am, and you know all my sins. [6] O Lord God of the armies of heaven, don't let me be a stumbling block to those who trust in you. O God of Israel, don't let me cause them to be confused, [7] though I am mocked and cursed and shamed for your sake. [8] Even my own brothers pretend they don't know me! [9] My zeal for God and his work burns hot within me. And because I advocate your cause, your enemies insult me even as they insult you. [10] How they scoff and mock me when I mourn and fast before the Lord! [11] How they talk about me when I wear sackcloth to show my humiliation and sorrow for my sins! [12] I am the talk of the town and the song of the drunkards. [13] But I keep right on praying to you, Lord. For now is the time-you are bending down to hear! You are ready with a plentiful supply of love and kindness. Now answer my prayer and rescue me as you promised. [14] Pull me out of this mire. Don't let me sink in. Rescue me from those who hate me, and from these deep waters I am in. [15] Don't let the floods overwhelm me or the ocean swallow me; save me from the pit that threatens me. [16] O Jehovah, answer my prayers, for your loving-kindness is wonderful; your mercy is so plentiful, so tender and so kind. [17] Don't hide from me, for I am in deep trouble. Quick! Come and save me. [18] Come, Lord, and rescue me. Ransom me from all my enemies. [19] You know how they talk about me, and how they so shamefully dishonor me. You see them all and know what each has said. [20] Their contempt has broken my heart; my spirit is heavy within me. If even one would show some pity, if even one would comfort me! [21] For food they gave me gall; for my awful thirst they offered vinegar. [22] Let their joys turn to ashes and their peace disappear; [23] let darkness, blindness, and great feebleness be theirs. [24] Pour out your fury upon them; consume them with the fierceness of your anger. [25] Let their homes be desolate and abandoned. [26] For they persecute the one you have smitten and scoff at the pain of the one you have pierced. [27] Pile their sins high and do not overlook them. [28] Let these men be blotted from the list of the living; do not give them the joys of life with the righteous. [29] But rescue me, O God, from my poverty and pain. [30] Then I will praise God with my singing! My thanks will be his praise- [31] that will please him more than sacrificing a bullock or an ox. [32] The humble shall see their God at work for them. No wonder they will be so glad! All who seek for God shall live in joy. [33] For Jehovah hears the cries of his needy ones and does not look the other way. [34] Praise him, all heaven and earth! Praise him, all the seas and everything in them! [35] For God will save Jerusalem; he rebuilds the cities of Judah. His people shall live in them and not be dispossessed. [36] Their children shall inherit the land; all who love his name shall live there safely.