1 Jehovah, hear my prayer, give ear to my supplications, In Thy faithfulness answer me, in Thy righteousness; 2 And enter not into judgment with Thy servant, For before Thee shall no man living be righteous. 3 For the enemy has pursued my soul, Crushed my life to the ground, Made me to dwell in dark places, like the dead of long ago. 4 Therefore my spirit wraps itself in gloom in me, Within me is my heart benumbed. 5 I remember the days of old, I muse on all Thy doings, On the work of Thy hands I brood. 6 I spread my hands to Thee, My soul is towards Thee like a thirsty land. Selah. 7 Make haste, answer me, Jehovah; my spirit faints; Hide not Thy face from me, Lest I become like those that descend into the pit. 8 Make me hear Thy loving-kindness in the morning, For in Thee do I trust; Make me know the way in which I should go, For to Thee do I lift my soul. 9 Deliver me from mine enemies, Jehovah, For to Thee do I flee for refuge. (?) 10 Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God; Let Thy good spirit lead me in a level land. 11 For Thy name's sake, Jehovah, quicken me; In Thy righteousness bring my soul out of all straits; 12 And in Thy loving-kindness cut off my foes, And destroy all who oppress my soul, For I am Thy servant. This psalm's depth of sadness and contrition, blended with yearning trust, recalls the earlier psalms attributed to David. Probably this general resemblance in inwardness and mood is all that is meant by the superscription in calling it "a psalm of David." Its copious use of quotations and allusions indicate a late date. But there is no warrant for taking the speaker to be the personified Israel. It is clearly divided into two equal halves, as indicated by the Selah, which is not found in Books IV. and V., except here, and in Psalm cxl. The former half (vv. 1-6) is complaint; the latter (vv. 7-12), petition. Each part may again be regarded as falling into two equal portions, so that the complaint branches out into a plaintive description of the psalmist's peril (vv. 1-3), and a melancholy disclosure of his feelings (vv. 4-6); while the prayer is similarly parted into cries for deliverance (vv. 7-9), and for inward enlightenment and help (vv. 10-12). But we are not reading a logical treatise, but listening to the cry of a tried spirit, and so need not wonder if the discernible sequence of thought is here and there broken.