He dug a pit and hollowed it out
but fell into the hole he had made.

You have freed me from the feuds among the people;
You have appointed me the head of nations;
a people I had not known serve me.

In my alarm I had said,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”
But You heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to You for help.

If we had forgotten the name of our God
and spread out our hands to a foreign god,

I said, “If only I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.

If I had been aware of malice in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.

If I had decided to say these things aloud,
I would have betrayed Your people.

They forgot what He had done,
the wonderful works He had shown them.

Before they had satisfied their desire,
while the food was still in their mouths,

Fire consumed His chosen young men,
and His young women had no wedding songs.

For I have had enough troubles,
and my life is near Sheol.

If the Lord had not been my helper,
I would soon rest in the silence of death.

where your fathers tested Me;
they tried Me, though they had seen what I did.

He had sent a man ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

He sent Moses His servant,
and Aaron, whom He had chosen.

Egypt was glad when they left,
for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.

He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they inherited
what other peoples had worked for.

So He said He would have destroyed them—
if Moses His chosen one
had not stood before Him in the breach
to turn His wrath away from destroying them.

They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them

If Your instruction had not been my delight,
I would have died in my affliction.

Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,
for we’ve had more than enough contempt.

We’ve had more than enough
scorn from the arrogant
and contempt from the proud.

A Davidic song of ascents.If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—

If the Lord had not been on our side
when men attacked us,

The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.