311 In you, O Lord, have I put my hope; let me never be shamed; keep me safe in your righteousness. 2 Let your ear be turned to me; take me quickly out of danger; be my strong Rock, my place of strength where I may be safe. 3 For you are my Rock and my strong tower; go in front of me and be my guide, because of your name. 4 Take me out of the net which they have put ready for me secretly; for you are my strength. 5 Into your hands I give my spirit; you are my saviour, O Lord God for ever true. 6 I am full of hate for those who go after false gods; but my hope is in the Lord. 7 I will be glad and have delight in your mercy; because you have seen my trouble; you have had pity on my soul in its sorrows; 8 And you have not given me into the hand of my hater; you have put my feet in a wide place.
9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eyes are wasted with grief, I am wasted in soul and body. 10 My life goes on in sorrow, and my years in weeping; my strength is almost gone because of my sin, and my bones are wasted away. 11 Because of all those who are against me, I have become a word of shame to my neighbours; a cause of shaking the head and a fear to my friends: those who saw me in the street went in flight from me. 12 I have gone from men's minds and memory like a dead man; I am like a broken vessel. 13 False statements against me have come to my ears; fear was on every side: they were talking together against me, designing to take away my life. 14 But I had faith in you, O Lord; I said, You are my God. 15 The chances of my life are in your hand; take me out of the hands of my haters, and of those who go after me. 16 Let your servant see the light of your face; in your mercy be my saviour. 17 Let me not be shamed, O Lord, for I have made my prayer to you; let the sinners be shamed, and let their mouths be shut in the underworld. 18 Let the false lips be shut, which say evil against the upright, looking down on him in their pride.
19 O how great is your grace, which you have put in store for your worshippers, and which you have made clear to those who had faith in you, before the sons of men! 20 You will keep them safe in your house from the designs of man; in the secret of your tent will you keep them from angry tongues. 21 May the Lord be praised, because he has made clear to me the wonder of his grace in a strong town. 22 And as for me, I said in my fear, I am cut off from before your eyes; but you gave ear to the voice of my prayer, when my cry went up to you. 23 O have love for the Lord, all you his saints; for the Lord keeps safe from danger all those who are true to him, and gives the workers of pride their right reward. 24 Put away fear and let your heart be strong, all you whose hope is in the Lord.
311 I run to you, God; I run for dear life. Don't let me down! Take me seriously this time! 2 Get down on my level and listen, and please - no procrastination! Your granite cave a hiding place, your high cliff aerie a place of safety. 3 You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be my safe leader, be my true mountain guide. 4 Free me from hidden traps; I want to hide in you. 5 I've put my life in your hands. You won't drop me, you'll never let me down. 6 I hate all this silly religion, but you, God, I trust. 7 I'm leaping and singing in the circle of your love; you saw my pain, you disarmed my tormentors, 8 You didn't leave me in their clutches but gave me room to breathe.
9 Be kind to me, God - I'm in deep, deep trouble again. I've cried my eyes out; I feel hollow inside. 10 My life leaks away, groan by groan; my years fade out in sighs. My troubles have worn me out, turned my bones to powder. 11 To my enemies I'm a monster; I'm ridiculed by the neighbors. My friends are horrified; they cross the street to avoid me. 12 They want to blot me from memory, forget me like a corpse in a grave, discard me like a broken dish in the trash. 13 The street-talk gossip has me "criminally insane"! Behind locked doors they plot how to ruin me for good. 14 Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God! 15 Hour by hour I place my days in your hand, safe from the hands out to get me. 16 Warm me, your servant, with a smile; save me because you love me. 17 Don't embarrass me by not showing up; I've given you plenty of notice. Embarrass the wicked, stand them up, leave them stupidly shaking their heads as they drift down to hell. 18 Gag those loudmouthed liars who heckle me, your follower, with jeers and catcalls.
19 What a stack of blessing you have piled up for those who worship you, Ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world. 20 You hide them safely away from the opposition. As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces, you silence the poisonous gossip. 21 Blessed God! His love is the wonder of the world. 22 I panicked. "Out of sight, out of mind," I said. But you heard me say it, you heard and listened. 23 Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him, But he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone. 24 Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up. Expect God to get here soon.
