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A Prayer for Victory

A song. A psalm of David.

108 God, my heart is ·steady [steadfast; ready].
    I will sing and ·praise [play a psalm for] you ·with all my being [L as will my soul/or glory].
Wake up, harp and lyre!
    I will wake up the dawn.
Lord, I will ·praise [thank] you among the ·nations [peoples];
    I will sing ·songs of praise [psalms] about you to all the nations.
Your great ·love [loyalty] ·reaches to [is greater than] the ·skies [heavens],
    your ·truth [faithfulness] to the heavens.
God, you are ·supreme [exalted] above the ·skies [heavens].
    Let your glory [C manifest presence] be over all the earth [57:5–11].

Answer us and ·save us [give us victory] by your ·power [L right hand]
    so ·the people you love [your beloved] will be rescued.
God has said ·from his Temple [L from his Holy Place; or in his holiness],
    “·When I win [or With joy], I will ·divide [parcel up] Shechem
    and measure off the Valley of Succoth [Gen. 33:17–20].
Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
    Ephraim is like my helmet.
    Judah holds my royal scepter [Gen. 49:10; C they are agents of God’s power].
Moab is like my washbowl.
    I throw my sandals at Edom [C showing contempt].
I shout [C in triumph] at Philistia [C enemies of Israel].”

10 Who will bring me to the ·strong, walled [fortified] city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
11 God, ·surely you have rejected [L have you not rejected…?] us;
    you do not go out with our armies.
12 ·Help us fight the enemy [L Give us help against the foe].
    Human ·help [aid] is useless,
13 but we can ·win [fight bravely] with God’s help.
    He will ·defeat [tread on] our ·enemies [foes; 60:5–12].

A Prayer Against an Enemy

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

109 God, I praise you.
    Do not be silent.
·Wicked [L The mouth of evil] people and ·liars [L the mouth of deceivers] have ·spoken [L opened] against me;
    they ·have told lies about me [L speak against me with lying tongues].
They have ·said hateful things about me [L surrounded me with hateful words]
    and attack me for no reason.
They ·attacked [accuse; charge] me, ·even though I loved them
    and prayed for them [in return for my love and prayer].
I was good to them, but they ·repay [reward] me with evil.
    I loved them, but they hate me in return.

They say about me [C this added phrase suggests another speaker, or perhaps the psalmist is speaking about his accusers], “·Have an evil person work [L Appoint an evil person] against him,
    and let an ·accuser [adversary] stand ·against him [L at his right hand; Job 1:6].
When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
    and let even his prayers ·show [be counted as] his ·guilt [sin].
Let his ·life [L days] be ·cut short [brief],
    and let another man ·replace him as leader [take his position/office; Acts 1:20].
Let his children become orphans
    and his wife a widow [C socially vulnerable, dependent on others].
10 Make his children wander around, begging for food [Jer. 18:21].
    Let them be forced out of the ruins in which they live.
11 Let ·the people to whom he owes money [creditors] ·take [ensnare] everything he owns [2 Kin. 4:1],
    and let strangers ·steal [plunder] everything he has worked for.
12 Let no one ·show [extend to] him ·love [loyalty]
    or have ·mercy [compassion] on his orphaned children.
13 Let all his descendants ·die [L be cut off]
    and ·be forgotten [L their name be blotted/wiped out] by ·those who live after him [L a later generation].
14 Lord, ·remember how wicked his ancestors were [L let the guilt of his fathers be remembered],
    and don’t let the sins of his mother be ·wiped [blotted] out.
15 ·Lord, always remember their sins [L Let them be before the Lord forever].
    ·Then make people forget about them completely [L Let memory of them be cut off from the land].

16 “He did not remember to be ·loving [loyal].
    He ·hurt [persecuted; L pursued] the poor, the needy, and those who were ·sad [depressed; L brokenhearted]
    ·until they were nearly dead [L to their death].
17 He loved to put curses on others,
    so let those same curses ·fall on [L come to] him.
He did not like to bless others,
    so ·do not let good things happen to him [L let them (blessings) be far from him].
18 He ·cursed others as often as he wore clothes [L wore curses like a coat].
    ·Cursing others filled his body and his life,
    like drinking water and using olive oil [L Let them come like water in his innards and like oil in his bones].
19 So let curses ·cover [wrap] him like ·clothes [a garment]
    and ·wrap around him like a belt [L continually gird him].”
20 May the Lord do these things to those who ·accuse [charge] me,
    to those who speak evil against me.

21 But you, Lord God,
    ·be kind to me so others will know you are good [L act on my behalf for the sake of your name].
    Because your ·love [loyalty] is good, ·save [protect] me.
22 I am poor and helpless
    and ·very sad [L my heart is pierced/wounded in me].
23 I am ·dying [L gone] like an evening shadow;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees ·are weak [buckle; stumble] from fasting,
    and ·I have grown thin [L my flesh is lean of fat].
25 ·My enemies insult me [L I am a reproach to them];
    they look at me and shake their heads [C in scorn].

26 Lord my God, help me;
    because you are ·loving [loyal], ·save me [give me victory].
27 Then they will know that ·your power has done this [L this is your hand];
    they will know that you have done it, Lord.
28 They may curse me, but you bless me.
    They may ·attack [L rise against] me, but they will be ·disgraced [embarrassed].
    Then I, your servant, will be glad.
29 Let those who ·accuse [charge; attack] me be ·disgraced [L clothed with disgrace]
    and ·covered [wrapped up] with shame like a coat.

30 I will ·thank [praise] the Lord very much [L with my mouth];
    I will praise him in ·front [the midst] of many people.
31 He ·defends [L stands at the right hand of] the helpless
    and ·saves them from [gives them victory over] those who ·accuse [judge] them.

The Lord Appoints a King

A psalm of David.

110 ·The Lord said [L Utterance/Oracle of the Lord] to my Lord,
    “Sit at my right ·side [L hand]
    until I put your enemies under your ·control [L feet; Matt. 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 16:19; Luke 20:42–44; 22:59; Acts 2:34–35; Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12–13; 12:2].”
The Lord will ·enlarge [L send] ·your kingdom [L the scepter of your strength; C symbol of royal power] beyond ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C location of the Temple],
    and ·you will rule over [L give you dominion in the midst of] your enemies.
Your people will ·join [freely offer themselves to] you on ·your day of battle [L the day of your power/army].
    You have been dressed in ·holiness [splendor of holiness] from ·birth [L the womb of dawn];
    you have the ·freshness of a child [L dew of your youth].

The Lord has made a promise
    and will not ·change his mind [waver].
He said, “You are a priest forever,
    a priest like Melchizedek [C in reference to an ancient priest-king in Jerusalem; ultimately fulfilled in Christ; Gen. 14:18; Heb. 5:6; 7:17, 21].”

The Lord is ·beside you to help you [L by your right hand].
    ·When he becomes angry [L In the day of his anger], he will ·crush [shatter] kings.
He will judge those nations, filling them with ·dead bodies [corpses];
    he will ·defeat rulers [L crush/shatter heads] ·all over the [L throughout the wide] world.
·The king [or The Lord; L He] will drink from the brook on the way.
    Then he will ·be strengthened [L lift up his head].

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