‭‭Psalms‬ ‭64:1‭-‬10‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1] Listen and help, O God. I’m reduced to a whine And a whimper, obsessed with feelings of doomsday. [2-6] Don’t let them find me— the conspirators out to get me, Using their tongues as weapons, flinging poison words, poison-tipped arrow-words. They shoot from ambush, shoot without warning, not caring who they hit. They keep fit doing calisthenics of evil purpose, They keep lists of the traps they’ve secretly set. They say to each other, “No one can catch us, no one can detect our perfect crime.” The Detective detects the mystery in the dark of the cellar heart. [7-8] The God of the Arrow shoots! They double up in pain, Fall flat on their faces in full view of the grinning crowd. [9-10] Everyone sees it. God’s work is the talk of the town. Be glad, good people! Fly to God! Good-hearted people, make praise your habit.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.64.1.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭63:1‭-‬11‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1] God—you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you! I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts. [2-4] So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in your strength and glory. In your generous love I am really living at last! My lips brim praises like fountains. I bless you every time I take a breath; My arms wave like banners of praise to you. [5-8] I eat my fill of prime rib and gravy; I smack my lips. It’s time to shout praises! If I’m sleepless at midnight, I spend the hours in grateful reflection. Because you’ve always stood up for me, I’m free to run and play. I hold on to you for dear life, and you hold me steady as a post. [9-11] Those who are out to get me are marked for doom, marked for death, bound for hell. They’ll die violent deaths; jackals will tear them limb from limb. But the king is glad in God; his true friends spread the joy, While small-minded gossips are gagged for good.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.63.1.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭62:1‭-‬12‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] God, the one and only— I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I’m set for life. [3-4] How long will you gang up on me? How long will you run with the bullies? There’s nothing to you, any of you— rotten floorboards, worm-eaten rafters, Anthills plotting to bring down mountains, far gone in make-believe. You talk a good line, but every “blessing” breathes a curse. [5-6] God, the one and only— I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I hope for comes from him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I’m set for life. [7-8] My help and glory are in God —granite-strength and safe-harbor-God— So trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for him. God is a safe place to be. [9] Man as such is smoke, woman as such, a mirage. Put them together, they’re nothing; two times nothing is nothing. [10] And a windfall, if it comes— don’t make too much of it. [11] God said this once and for all; how many times Have I heard it repeated? “Strength comes Straight from God.” [12] Love to you, Lord God! You pay a fair wage for a good day’s work!

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.62.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭61:1‭-‬8‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] God, listen to me shout, bend an ear to my prayer. When I’m far from anywhere, down to my last gasp, I call out, “Guide me up High Rock Mountain!” [3-5] You’ve always given me breathing room, a place to get away from it all, A lifetime pass to your safe-house, an open invitation as your guest. You’ve always taken me seriously, God, made me welcome among those who know and love you. [6-8] Let the days of the king add up to years and years of good rule. Set his throne in the full light of God; post Steady Love and Good Faith as lookouts, And I’ll be the poet who sings your glory— and live what I sing every day.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.61.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭60:1‭-‬12‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] God! you walked off and left us, kicked our defenses to bits And stomped off angry. Come back. Oh please, come back! You shook earth to the foundations, ripped open huge crevasses. Heal the breaks! Everything’s coming apart at the seams. [3-5] You made your people look doom in the face, then gave us cheap wine to drown our troubles. Then you planted a flag to rally your people, an unfurled flag to look to for courage. Now do something quickly, answer right now, so the one you love best is saved. [6-8] That’s when God spoke in holy splendor, “Bursting with joy, I make a present of Shechem, I hand out Succoth Valley as a gift. Gilead’s in my pocket, to say nothing of Manasseh. Ephraim’s my hard hat, Judah my hammer; Moab’s a scrub bucket, I mop the floor with Moab, Spit on Edom, rain fireworks all over Philistia.” [9-10] Who will take me to the thick of the fight? Who’ll show me the road to Edom? You aren’t giving up on us, are you, God? refusing to go out with our troops? [11-12] Give us help for the hard task; human help is worthless. In God we’ll do our very best; he’ll flatten the opposition for good.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.60.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭59:1‭-‬17‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] My God! Rescue me from my enemies, defend me from these mutineers. Rescue me from their dirty tricks, save me from their hit men. [3-4a] Desperadoes have ganged up on me, they’re hiding in ambush for me. I did nothing to deserve this, God, crossed no one, wronged no one. All the same, they’re after me, determined to get me. [4b-5] Wake up and see for yourself! You’re God, God-of-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God! Get on the job and take care of these pagans, don’t be soft on these hard cases. [6-7] They return when the sun goes down, They howl like coyotes, ringing the city. Then suddenly they’re all at the gate, Snarling invective, drawn daggers in their teeth. They think they’ll never get caught. [8-10] But you, God, break out laughing; you treat the godless nations like jokes. Strong God, I’m watching you do it, I can always count on you. God in dependable love shows up on time, shows me my enemies in ruin. [11-13] Don’t make quick work of them, God, lest my people forget. Bring them down in slow motion, take them apart piece by piece. Let all their mean-mouthed arrogance catch up with them, Catch them out and bring them down —every muttered curse —every barefaced lie. Finish them off in fine style! Finish them off for good! Then all the world will see that God rules well in Jacob, everywhere that God’s in charge. [14-15] They return when the sun goes down, They howl like coyotes, ringing the city. They scavenge for bones, And bite the hand that feeds them. [16-17] And me? I’m singing your prowess, shouting at dawn your largesse, For you’ve been a safe place for me, a good place to hide. Strong God, I’m watching you do it, I can always count on you— God, my dependable love.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.59.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭58:1‭-‬11‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] Is this any way to run a country? Is there an honest politician in the house? Behind the scenes you weave webs of deceit, behind closed doors you make deals with demons. [3-5] The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle; their first words out of the womb are lies. Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison, drips from their forked tongues— Deaf to threats, deaf to charm, decades of wax built up in their ears. [6-9] God, smash their teeth to bits, leave them toothless tigers. Let their lives be buckets of water spilled, all that’s left, a damp stain in the sand. Let them be trampled grass worn smooth by the traffic. Let them dissolve into snail slime, be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight. Before what they cook up is half-done, God, throw it out with the garbage! [10-11] The righteous will call up their friends when they see the wicked get their reward, Serve up their blood in goblets as they toast one another, Everyone cheering, “It’s worth it to play by the rules! God’s handing out trophies and tending the earth!”

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.58.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭57:1‭-‬10‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-3] Be good to me, God—and now! I’ve run to you for dear life. I’m hiding out under your wings until the hurricane blows over. I call out to High God, the God who holds me together. He sends orders from heaven and saves me, he humiliates those who kick me around. God delivers generous love, he makes good on his word. [4] I find myself in a pride of lions who are wild for a taste of human flesh; Their teeth are lances and arrows, their tongues are sharp daggers. [5] Soar high in the skies, O God! Cover the whole earth with your glory! [6] They booby-trapped my path; I thought I was dead and done for. They dug a mantrap to catch me, and fell in headlong themselves. [7-8] I’m ready, God, so ready, ready from head to toe, Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune: “Wake up, soul! Wake up, harp! wake up, lute! Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!” [9-10] I’m thanking you, God, out loud in the streets, singing your praises in town and country. The deeper your love, the higher it goes; every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.57.1-3.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭56:1‭-‬13‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-4] Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around, stomped on every day. Not a day goes by but somebody beats me up; They make it their duty to beat me up. When I get really afraid I come to you in trust. I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God. What can mere mortals do? [5-6] They don’t let up— they smear my reputation and huddle to plot my collapse. They gang up, sneak together through the alleys To take me by surprise, wait their chance to get me. [7] Pay them back in evil! Get angry, God! Down with these people! [8] You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book. [9] If my enemies run away, turn tail when I yell at them, Then I’ll know that God is on my side. [10-11] I’m proud to praise God, proud to praise God. Fearless now, I trust in God; what can mere mortals do to me? [12-13] God, you did everything you promised, and I’m thanking you with all my heart. You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.56.1-4.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭55:1‭-‬23‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-3] Open your ears, God, to my prayer; don’t pretend you don’t hear me knocking. Come close and whisper your answer. I really need you. I shudder at the mean voice, quail before the evil eye, As they pile on the guilt, stockpile angry slander. [4-8] My insides are turned inside out; specters of death have me down. I shake with fear, I shudder from head to foot. “Who will give me wings,” I ask— “wings like a dove?” Get me out of here on dove wings; I want some peace and quiet. I want a walk in the country, I want a cabin in the woods. I’m desperate for a change from rage and stormy weather. [9-11] Come down hard, Lord—slit their tongues. I’m appalled how they’ve split the city Into rival gangs prowling the alleys Day and night spoiling for a fight, trash piled in the streets, Even shopkeepers gouging and cheating in broad daylight. [12-14] This isn’t the neighborhood bully mocking me—I could take that. This isn’t a foreign devil spitting invective—I could tune that out. It’s you! We grew up together! You! My best friend! Those long hours of leisure as we walked arm in arm, God a third party to our conversation. [15] Haul my betrayers off alive to hell—let them experience the horror, let them feel every desolate detail of a damned life. [16-19] I call to God; God will help me. At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs—he hears, he rescues. My life is well and whole, secure in the middle of danger Even while thousands are lined up against me. God hears it all, and from his judge’s bench puts them in their place. But, set in their ways, they won’t change; they pay him no mind. [20-21] And this, my best friend, betrayed his best friends; his life betrayed his word. All my life I’ve been charmed by his speech, never dreaming he’d turn on me. His words, which were music to my ears, turned to daggers in my heart. [22-23] Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders— he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. But you, God, will throw the others into a muddy bog, Cut the lifespan of assassins and traitors in half. And I trust in you.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.55.1-3.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭54:1‭-‬7‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] God, for your sake, help me! Use your influence to clear me. Listen, God—I’m desperate. Don’t be too busy to hear me. [3] Outlaws are out to get me, hit men are trying to kill me. Nothing will stop them; God means nothing to them. [4-5] Oh, look! God’s right here helping! God’s on my side, Evil is looping back on my enemies. Don’t let up! Finish them off! [6-7] I’m ready now to worship, so ready. I thank you, God—you’re so good. You got me out of every scrape, and I saw my enemies get it.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.54.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭53:1‭-‬6‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-2] Bilious and bloated, they gas, “God is gone.” It’s poison gas— they foul themselves, they poison Rivers and skies; thistles are their cash crop. God sticks his head out of heaven. He looks around. He’s looking for someone not stupid— one man, even, God-expectant, just one God-ready woman. [3] He comes up empty. A string of zeros. Useless, unshepherded Sheep, taking turns pretending to be Shepherd. The ninety and nine follow the one. [4] Don’t they know anything, all these predators? Don’t they know they can’t get away with this, Treating people like a fast-food meal over which they’re too busy to pray? [5] Night is coming for them, and nightmare— a nightmare they’ll never wake up from. God will make hash of these squatters, send them packing for good. [6] Is there anyone around to save Israel? God turns life around. Turned-around Jacob skips rope, turned-around Israel sings laughter.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.53.1-2.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭52:1‭-‬9‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-4] Why do you brag of evil, “Big Man”? God’s mercy carries the day. You scheme catastrophe; your tongue cuts razor-sharp, artisan in lies. You love evil more than good, you call black white. You love malicious gossip, you foul-mouth. [5] God will tear you limb from limb, sweep you up and throw you out, Pull you up by the roots from the land of life. [6-7] Good people will watch and worship. They’ll laugh in relief: “Big Man bet on the wrong horse, trusted in big money, made his living from catastrophe.” [8] And I’m an olive tree, growing green in God’s house. I trusted in the generous mercy of God then and now. [9] I thank you always that you went into action. And I’ll stay right here, your good name my hope, in company with your faithful friends.

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.52.1-4.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:1‭-‬19‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-3] Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down. [4-6] You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. [7-15] Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise. [16-17] Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. [18-19] Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls. Then you’ll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large, Including all the bulls they can heave onto your altar!

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.51.1-3.MSG

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭50:1‭-‬23‬ ‭MSG‬‬
[1-3] The God of gods—it’s God!—speaks out, shouts, “Earth!” welcomes the sun in the east, farewells the disappearing sun in the west. From the dazzle of Zion, God blazes into view. Our God makes his entrance, he’s not shy in his coming. Starbursts of fireworks precede him. [4-5] He summons heaven and earth as a jury, he’s taking his people to court: “Round up my saints who swore on the Bible their loyalty to me.” [6] The whole cosmos attests to the fairness of this court, that here God is judge. [7-15] “Are you listening, dear people? I’m getting ready to speak; Israel, I’m about ready to bring you to trial. This is God, your God, speaking to you. I don’t find fault with your acts of worship, the frequent burnt sacrifices you offer. But why should I want your blue-ribbon bull, or more and more goats from your herds? Every creature in the forest is mine, the wild animals on all the mountains. I know every mountain bird by name; the scampering field mice are my friends. If I get hungry, do you think I’d tell you? All creation and its bounty are mine. Do you think I feast on venison? or drink drafts of goats’ blood? Spread for me a banquet of praise, serve High God a feast of kept promises, And call for help when you’re in trouble— I’ll help you, and you’ll honor me.” [16-21] Next, God calls up the wicked: “What are you up to, quoting my laws, talking like we are good friends? You never answer the door when I call; you treat my words like garbage. If you find a thief, you make him your buddy; adulterers are your friends of choice. Your mouth drools filth; lying is a serious art form with you. You stab your own brother in the back, rip off your little sister. I kept a quiet patience while you did these things; you thought I went along with your game. I’m calling you on the carpet, now, laying your wickedness out in plain sight. [22-23] “Time’s up for playing fast and loose with me. I’m ready to pass sentence, and there’s no help in sight! It’s the praising life that honors me. As soon as you set your foot on the Way, I’ll show you my salvation.”

https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.50.1-3.MSG