Saturday Psalm #28

I call out to you,
O Lord, my rock;
please don’t be silent.
If you stop speaking to me,
I would feel
like dropping dead.

Hear my words,
and my non-words,
when my soul cries out to you.
See my lifted hands
reaching out to you.

Save me from being enticed
by the way of the wicked;
I’m bad enough all by myself.
Make me unlike those who speak peace to their neighbors,
while all the while plotting “war” in their hearts.
Give such people what they deserve,
and turn their wickedness back on them.
Pay them their fair wages,
letting them reap the crop they have sown.
May those who ignore or defame your great works
be knocked down a peg
instead of climbing the ladder of success.

I bless you, Lord,
because you hear me when I call out to you.
You are my strength and my shield;
I trust you, and you help me;
my heart swells with joy in your presence,
and I sing your praises with my whole heart.

Lord, you are my strength;
you alone give me the victory I crave.
Save your people,
and bless those who belong to you:
Feed them and carry them for ever, amen.