O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹Blessed is the one who considers the poor!1

In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

²the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.

³The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.2

⁴As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;

heal me,3 for I have sinned against you!”

⁵My enemies say of me in malice,

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

⁶And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

⁷All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.4

⁸They say, “A deadly thing is poured out5 on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.”

⁹Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

¹⁰But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

¹¹By this I know that you delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

¹²But you have upheld me because of my integrity,

and set me in your presence forever.

¹³Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.