Save me, LORD,
from dark hearts,
protect me
from graceless men and women,
who devise evil plans in their hearts
and are utterly blind to the darkness of their own ways.
They speak out of both sides
of their mouths,
and spread poison
wherever they go.
Keep me, O LORD, out of the hands of the wicked;
protect me from people who find fault so freely with others
and have no insight into the deceit and hypocrisy of their own actions.
People are constantly trying to trap me,
criticizing every step I make
as though they always knew so much better...
though they said nothing,
and offer no wisdom when asked.
O LORD, I say to you, "You are my God."
Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy.
O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer,
who shields my head in the day of battle-
do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD;
do not let their plans succeed,
for the sake of your people,
for the sake of your righteousness,
for the sake of your reputation.
Let the heads of those who convene to condemn me
and slander your servants
be slandered by their own hypocrisy.
Let them taste their own medicine;
let their own judgment be meted back to them.
Let slanderers not be established in the land;
may disaster hunt down men and women who wreak havoc.
I know that you secure justice for the poor
and uphold the cause of the needy;
do it now,
do it here,
do it, please,
that the righteous may praise your name
and the upright will live before you.
