1 Lord, fight my battles. Fight my wars! 2 Lord, pick up the shield and buckler. Get up and help me. 3 Take a spear and javelin and fight the people that are chasing me. Lord, tell my soul, ”I will save you.” 4 Some people are trying to kill me. Disappoint them and make them ashamed. Make them turn and run away. Those people are planning to hurt me. ˻Defeat them and˼ embarrass them. 5 Make those people be like chaff blown by the wind. Let them be chased by the Lord’s angel. 6 Lord, make their road dark and slippery. Let the Lord’s angel chase them. 7 I did nothing wrong, but those people tried to trap me. For no reason at all, they tried to trap me. 8 So, Lord, let them fall into their own traps. Let them stumble into their own nets. Let some unknown danger catch them. 9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be happy when he saves me. 10 With my whole self I will say, ”Lord, there is no one like you. You save a poor person from people that are stronger. You take things from strong people, and you give those things to that poor, helpless person.” 11 A group of witnesses are planning to hurt me. Those people will ask me questions that I know nothing about. 12 I have done only good things. But those people will do bad things to me. ˻Lord,˼ give me the good things I deserve. 13 When those people were sick, I was sad for them. I showed my sadness by not eating. Is this what I get for praying for them? 14 I wore clothes of sadness for those people. I treated those people like my friends or even like brothers. I was sad, like a man crying because his mother had died. I wore black clothes to show my sadness for those people. I walked with my head bowed in sadness. 15 But when I made a mistake, those people laughed at me. Those people were not really friends. I didn’t even know them. But they surrounded me and attacked me. 16 They used bad language and made fun of me. Those people showed they were angry at me by grinding their teeth. 17 My Master, how long will you watch these bad things happen? Those people are trying to destroy me. Lord, save my life. Save my dear life from those bad people. They are like lions. 18 Lord, I will praise you in the great assembly. I will praise you when I am with the powerful people. 19 My lying enemies will not keep laughing. Surely my enemies will be punished for their secret plans. 20 My enemies are not really making plans for peace. They are secretly making plans to do bad things to the peaceful people in this country. 21 My enemies are saying bad things about me. ˻They tell lies and say,˼ ”Aha! We know what you are doing!” 22 Lord, surely you can see what is happening. So don’t keep quiet. Don’t leave me. 23 Lord, wake up! Get up! My God and my Lord, fight for me, and bring me justice. 24 Lord my God, judge me with your fairness. Don’t let those people laugh at me. 25 Don’t let those people say, ”Aha! We got what we wanted!” Lord, don’t let them say, ”We destroyed him!” 26 I hope that all my enemies will be ashamed and embarrassed. Those people were happy when bad things happened to me. They thought they were better than me! So let those people be covered with shame and humiliation. 27 Some people want good things to happen to me. I hope those people will be very happy! Those people always say, ”The Lord is great! He wants what is best for his servant.” 28 So Lord, I tell people how good you are. I praise you every day.
