Psalms 143:3

⁶He has made me dwell in dark places, as those who have been long dead.

¹LORD, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, ²lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.

⁵let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

^4[+] I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help, ⁵set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand. ⁶You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.

⁶Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.

²²Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn away from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I look Joab your brother in the face?”

⁹from the wicked who oppress me, my deadly enemies, who surround me. ¹⁰They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly. ¹¹They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth. ¹²He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. ¹³Arise, LORD, confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

⁴Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.

³For strangers have risen up against me. Violent men have sought after my soul. They haven’t set God before them. Selah.

¹¹Joab said to the man who told him, “Behold, you saw it, and why didn’t you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a sash.”