Psalms Of Vengeance

For Back-To-Sender Prayer

Psalm 11

To the choirmaster. Of David

1 In the Lord I take refuge;

how can you say to me,

"Flee like a bird to the mountains;

2 for lo, the wicked bend the bow,

they have fitted their arrow to the string,

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

3 if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do"?

4 The Lord is in his holy temple,

the Lord's throne is in heaven;

his eyes behold, his eyelids test,

the children of men.

5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,

and his soul hates him that loves violence.

6 On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone;

a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

7 For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

Psalm 79

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, the heathen have come into

thy inheritance;

they have defiled thy holy temple;

they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

2 They have given the bodies of thy servants

to the birds of the air for food,

the flesh of thy saints to the beasts of the earth.

3 They have poured out their blood like water

round about Jerusalem,

and there was none to bury them.

4 We have become a taunt to our neighbours,

mocked and derided by those round about us.

5 How long, O Lord?

Wilt thou be angry forever?

Will thy jealous wrath burn like fire?

6 Pour out thy anger on the nations

that do not know thee,

and on the kingdoms

that do not call on thy name!

7 For they have devoured Jacob,

and laid waste his habitation.

8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of

our forefathers;

let thy compassion come speedily to meet us,

for we are brought very low.

9 Help us, O God of our salvation,

for the glory of thy name;

deliver us, and forgive our sins,

for thy name's sake!

10 Why should the nations say,

"Where is their God?"

Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of

thy servants

be known among the nations before our eyes!

11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before thee;

according to thy great power preserve

those doomed to die!

12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbours

the taunts with which they have taunted

thee, O Lord!

13 Then we thy people, the flock of thy pasture,

will give thanks to thee forever;

from generation to generation we will

recount thy praise.

Psalm 83

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

1O God, do not keep silence;

do not hold thy peace or be still, O God!

2 For lo, thy enemies are in tumult;

those who hate thee have raised their heads.

3 They lay crafty plans against thy people;

they consult together against thy protected ones.

4 They say, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;

let the name of Israel be remembered no more!"

5 Yea, they conspire with one accord;

against thee they make a covenant--

6 the tents of Edom and the Ish'maelites,

Moab and the Hagrites,

7 Gebal and Ammon and Am'alek,

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8 Assyria also has joined them;

they are the strong arm of the children of Lot.

9 Do to them as thou didst to Mid'ian,

as to Sis'era and Jabin at the River Kishon,

10 who were destroyed at En-dor,

who became dung for the ground.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

all their princes like Zebah and Zalmun'na,

12 who said, "Let us take possession for ourselves

of the pastures of God."

13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,

like chaff before the wind.

14 As fire consumes the forest,

as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,

15 so do thou pursue them with thy tempest

and terrify them with thy hurricane!

16 Fill their faces with shame,

that they may seek thy name, O Lord.

17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever;

let them perish in disgrace.

18 Let them know that thou alone,

whose name is the Lord,

art the Most High over all the earth.

Psalm 94

1 O Lord, thou God of vengeance,

thou God of vengeance, shine forth!

2 Rise up, O judge of the earth;

render to the proud their deserts!

3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked,

how long shall the wicked exult?

4 They pour out their arrogant words,

they boast, all the evildoers.

5 They crush thy people, O Lord,

and afflict thy heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the sojourner,

and murder the fatherless;

7 and they say, "The Lord does not see;

the God of Jacob does not perceive."

8 Understand, O dullest of the people!

Fools, when will you be wise?

9 He who planted the ear, does He not hear?

He who formed the eye, does He not see?

10 He who chastens the nations,

does He not chastise?

He who teaches men knowledge,

11 the Lord, knows the thoughts of man,

that they are but a breath.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten,

O Lord,

and whom thou dost teach out of thy law

13 to give him respite from days of trouble,

until a pit is dug for the wicked.

14 For the Lord will not forsake his people;

He will not abandon His heritage;

15 for justice will return to the righteous,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers?

17 If the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have dwelt in the land

of silence.

18 When I thought, "My foot slips,"

thy steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

19 When the cares of my heart are many,

thy consolations cheer my soul.

20 Can wicked rulers be allied with thee,

who frame mischief by statute?

21 They band together against the life of the righteous,

and condemn the innocent to death.

22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,

and my God the rock of my refuge.

23 He will bring back on them their iniquity

and wipe them out for their wickedness;

the Lord our God will wipe them out.

Psalm 109

To the choirmaster.

A Psalm of David.

1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!

2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are

opened against me,

speaking against me with lying tongues.

3 They beset me with words of hate,

and attack me without cause.

4 In return for my love they accuse me,

even as I make prayer for them.

5 So they reward me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

6 Appoint a wicked man against him;

let an accuser bring him to trial.

7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;

let his prayer be counted as sin!

8 Let his days be few;

may another seize his goods!

9 …10

11 Let the creditor seize all that he has;

Let strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!

12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,

nor any to pity his fatherless children!

13 Let his posterity be cut off;

let his name be blotted out in the second generation!

14 …

15 Let them be before the Lord continually;

and let his memory be cut off from the earth!

16 For he did not remember to show kindness,

but pursued the poor and needy

and the broken-hearted to their death.

17 He loved to curse; let curses come on him!

He did not like blessing; may it be far from him!

18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,

let it soak into his body like water,

like oil into his bones!

19 Let it be like a garment which he wraps round him,

like a belt with which he daily girds himself!

20 Let this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,

of those who speak evil against my life!

21 But thou, O God my Lord,

deal on my behalf for thy name's sake;

because thy steadfast love is good, deliver me!

22 For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is stricken within me.

23 I am gone, like a shadow at evening;

I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees are weak through fasting;

my body has become gaunt.

25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they wag their heads.

26 Help me, O Lord my God!

Save me according to thy steadfast love!

27 Let them know that this is thy hand;

thou, O Lord, hast done it!

28 Let them curse, but do thou bless!

Let my assailants be put to shame;

Let thy servant be glad!

29 Let my accusers be clothed with dishonour;

let they be wrapped in their own shame

as in a mantle!

30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to

the Lord;

I will praise Him in the midst of the throng.

31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy,

to save the needy from those

who condemn the helpless to death.

(Verses 9, 10 and 14 were removed,

because children, who abide in the Lord,

shall not pay for the sins of the their fathers.)

Psalm 129

A Song of Ascents.

1 "Sorely have they afflicted me from my youth,"

let Israel now say -

2 "Sorely have they afflicted me from my youth,

yet they have not prevailed against me.

3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back;

they made long their furrows."

4 The Lord is righteous;

he has cut the cords of the wicked.

5 Let all who hate Zion

be put to shame and turned backward!

6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,

which withers before it grows up,

7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand

or the binder of sheaves his bosom,

8 while those who pass by do not say,

"The blessing of the Lord be upon you!

We bless you in the name of the Lord!"

Psalm 137

1 By the waters of Babylon,

there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2 On the willows there

we hung up our lyres.

3 For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

"Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How shall we sing the Lord's song

in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand wither!

6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7 Remember, O Lord, against the E'domites

the day of Jerusalem,

how they said, "Rase it, rase it!

Down to its foundations!"

8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastator!

Happy shall he be who requites you

with what you have done to us!

9 Happy shall he be who does to you

all that you have done to us!

(Verse 9 was corrected, a Godly child

shall not suffer for the sins of the father.)