Psalms
Prayer for Justice
A
Shiggaion
of David, which he sang to the
Lord
concerning the words of
•Cush
, a Benjaminite.
7
•Yahweh
my God, I seek refuge in You;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me
2
or they will tear me like a lion,
ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.
3
Yahweh my God, if I have done this,
if there is injustice on my hands,
4
if I have done harm to one at peace with me
or have plundered my adversary without cause,
5
may an enemy pursue and overtake me;
may he trample me to the ground
and leave my honor in the dust.
6
Rise up,
Lord
, in Your anger;
lift Yourself up against the fury of my adversaries;
awake for me;
You have ordained a judgment.
7
Let the assembly of peoples gather around You;
take Your seat on high over it.
8
The
Lord
judges the peoples;
vindicate me,
Lord
,
according to my righteousness and my integrity.
9
Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous.
The One who examines the thoughts and emotions
is a righteous God.
10
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11
God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows His wrath every day.
12
If anyone does not repent,
God will sharpen His sword;
He has strung His bow and made it ready.
13
He has prepared His deadly weapons;
He tips His arrows with fire.
14
See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,
conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.
15
He dug a pit and hollowed it out
but fell into the hole he had made.
16
His trouble comes back on his own head,
and his violence falls on the top of his head.
17
I will thank the
Lord
for His righteousness;
I will sing about the name of Yahweh the
•Most
High.
Psalms
God's Glory, Man's Dignity
For the choir director: on the •
Gittith
. A Davidic psalm.
8
•Yahweh
, our Lord,
how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!
You have covered the heavens with Your majesty.
2
Because of Your adversaries,
You have established a stronghold
from the mouths of children and nursing infants
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3
When I observe Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You set in place,
4
what is man that You remember him,
the son of man that You look after him?
5
You made him little less than God
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6
You made him lord over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet:
7
all the sheep and oxen,
as well as the animals in the wild,
8
the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea
that pass through the currents of the seas.
9
Yahweh, our Lord,
how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!
Psalms
Celebration of God's Justice
For the choir director: according to
Muth-labben
. A Davidic psalm.
9
I will thank
•Yahweh
with all my heart;
I will declare all Your wonderful works.
2
I will rejoice and boast about You;
I will sing about Your name,
•Most
High.
3
When my enemies retreat,
they stumble and perish before You.
4
For You have upheld my just cause;
You are seated on Your throne as a righteous judge.
5
You have rebuked the nations:
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have erased their name forever and ever.
6
The enemy has come to eternal ruin;
You have uprooted the cities,
and the very memory of them has perished.
7
But the
Lord
sits enthroned forever;
He has established His throne for judgment.
8
He judges the world with righteousness;
He executes judgment on the nations with fairness.
9
The
Lord
is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
10
Those who know Your name trust in You
because You have not abandoned
those who seek You, Yahweh.
11
Sing to the
Lord
, who dwells in
•Zion
;
proclaim His deeds among the nations.
12
For the One who seeks an accounting
for bloodshed remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13
Be gracious to me,
Lord
;
consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me.
Lift me up from the gates of death,
14
so that I may declare all Your praises.
I will rejoice in Your salvation
within the gates of Daughter Zion.
15
The nations have fallen into the pit they made;
their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.
16
The
Lord
has revealed Himself;
He has executed justice,
striking down the wicked
by the work of their hands.
17
The wicked will return to
•Sheol
—
all the nations that forget God.
18
For the oppressed will not always be forgotten;
the hope of the afflicted will not perish forever.
19
Rise up,
Lord
! Do not let man prevail;
let the nations be judged in Your presence.
20
Put terror in them,
Lord
;
let the nations know they are only men.
Selah
Psalms
10
Lord
, why do You stand so far away?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
2
In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
3
For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;
the one who is greedy curses and despises the
Lord
.
4
In all his scheming,
the wicked arrogantly thinks:
“There is no accountability,
since God does not exist.”
5
His ways are always secure;
Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight;
he scoffs at all his adversaries.
6
He says to himself, “I will never be moved —
from generation to generation without calamity.”
7
Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.
8
He waits in ambush near the villages;
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;
9
he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize the afflicted;
he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.
10
So he is oppressed and beaten down;
the helpless fall because of his strength.
11
He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He hides His face and will never see.”
12
Rise up,
Lord
God! Lift up Your hand.
Do not forget the afflicted.
13
Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”
14
But You Yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into Your hands.
The helpless entrusts himself to You;
You are a helper of the fatherless.
15
Break the arm of the wicked and evil person;
call his wickedness into account
until nothing remains of it.
16
The
Lord
is King forever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land.
17
Lord
, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,
18
doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.
Psalms
Refuge in the
Lord
For the choir director. Davidic.
11
I have taken refuge in the
Lord
.
How can you say to me,
“Escape to the mountain like a bird!
2
For look, the wicked string the bow;
they put the arrow on the bowstring
to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
3
When 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 watch; He examines
•everyone
.
5
The
Lord
examines the righteous and the wicked.
He hates the lover of violence.
6
He will rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked;
a scorching wind will be their portion.
7
For the
Lord
is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.
The upright will see His face.
Psalms
Oppression by the Wicked
For the choir director: according to •
Sheminith
. A Davidic psalm.
12
Help,
Lord
, for no faithful one remains;
the loyal have disappeared from the
•human
race.
2
They lie to one another;
they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.
3
May the
Lord
cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaks boastfully.
4
They say, “Through our tongues we have power;
our lips are our own — who can be our master? ”
5
“Because of the oppression of the afflicted
and the groaning of the poor,
I will now rise up,” says the
Lord
.
“I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.”
6
The words of the
Lord
are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.
7
You,
Lord
, will guard us;
You will protect us from this generation forever.
8
The wicked wander everywhere,
and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.
Psalms
A Plea for Deliverance
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
13
Lord
, how long will You forget me?
Forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2
How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?
3
Consider me and answer,
Lord
my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
4
My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.