Chapter 34

Lord, espouse my quarrel; disarm the enemies who rise in arms against me;

grip target and shield, bestir thyself in my defence.

With poised lance, bar the way against my pursuers; whisper in my heart, I am here to save thee.

For my mortal enemies, shame and disappointment; for my ill-wishers one and all, ruin and remorse;

chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord to scatter them,

benighted and bemired on their way, with the angel of the Lord in pursuit!

Wantonly they have spread their nets for me, wantonly they have dug the cruel snare;

now let sudden doom overtake them, their own nets enmesh, their own snare entrap them!

Mine to triumph in the Lord, to boast of the aid he brings me;

this be the cry of my whole being, There is none like thee, Lord; who else rescues the afflicted from the hand of tyranny, the poor, the destitute, from his oppressors?

See how perjured witnesses have come forward, to browbeat me over charges of which I know nothing;

how they have repaid my kindness with cruelty, and left me friendless!

Time was, when these were sick;1 what did I then? Sackcloth was my wear; rigorously I kept fast, prayed from my heart’s depths.

I went my way sadly, as one that mourns for brother or friend, bowed with grief, as one that bewails a mother’s loss.

And now it was my turn to reel under fortune’s blows; what did they?

Gleeful they met, and plotted to attack me unawares; tore at me without ceasing, baited and mocked me, gnashing their teeth in hatred.

Lord, wilt thou look on unheeding still? Wilt thou leave my life at the mercy of these roaring lions?

Let me live to praise and thank thee before the multitude that throngs thy courts.

No more the leer of triumph in the eye of yonder treacherous foe, that wantonly assails me!

In all their whispering, never a word of peace; they will still be plotting against the land’s repose.

See how they mop and mow at me, crying out, Joy, joy that we should have lived to see this!

Thou too, Lord, hast seen it, do not pass it by in silence; Lord, do not abandon me.

Bestir thyself and take my part, give me speedy redress, my Lord and my God.

As thou art just, O Lord my God, give thy award for me, never let them triumph over me;

never let them think, All goes well, and boast that they have made a prey of me.

Disappoint them, fill them with confusion, the men who delight in my misfortune; cover them with shame and self-reproach, the enemies that triumph over me.

Joy and gladness be theirs, who applaud my innocence; Praise to the Lord! be their cry, the Lord who defends his servant.

And all day long, for thy just awarding, this tongue shall make known thy praise.