Psalm 7–12

Psalm 7

PRAYER FOR JUSTICE

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

¹Lord my God, I seek refuge in you;^r

save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,^s

²or they^A will tear me like a lion,

ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.^t

³Lord my God, if I have done this,

if there is injustice on my hands,^u

⁴if I have done harm to one at peace with me^v

or have plundered^B my adversary without cause,^w

⁵may an enemy pursue and overtake me;

may he trample me to the ground^x

and leave my honor in the dust.^y

Selah

⁶Rise up, Lord, in your anger;

lift yourself up against the fury of my adversaries;^z

awake for me;^Caa

you have ordained a judgment.^ab

⁷Let the assembly of peoples gather around you;^ac

take your seat on high over it.^ad

⁸The Lord judges the peoples;^ae

vindicate me, Lord,

according to my righteousness and my integrity.^af

⁹Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,^ag

but establish the righteous.^ah

The one who examines the thoughts and emotions^D

is a righteous God.^ai

¹⁰My shield is with God,^aj

who saves the upright in heart.^ak

¹¹God is a righteous judge

and a God who shows his wrath every day.^al

¹²If anyone does not repent,

he will sharpen his sword;^am

he has strung his bow and made it ready.^an

¹³He has prepared his deadly weapons;

he tips his arrows with fire.^ao

¹⁴See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,

conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.^ap

¹⁵He dug a pit and hollowed it out

but fell into the hole he had made.^aq

¹⁶His trouble comes back on his own head;

his own violence comes down on top of his head.^ar

¹⁷I will thank the Lord for his righteousness;

I will sing about the name of the Lord Most High.^as

Psalm 8

GOD’S GLORY, HUMAN DIGNITY

For the choir director: on the Gittith.^a A psalm of David.

¹Lord, our Lord,

how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!^b

You have covered the heavens with your majesty.^Ac

²From the mouths of infants and nursing babies,^d

you have established a stronghold^B

on account of your adversaries

in order to silence the enemy and the avenger.

³When I observe your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you set in place,^e

⁴what is a human being that you remember him,

a son of man^C that you look after him?^f

⁵You made him little less than God^DE

and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

you put everything under his feet:^g

⁷all the sheep and oxen,

as well as the animals in the wild,

⁸the birds of the sky,

and the fish of the sea

that pass through the currents of the seas.^h

⁹Lord, our Lord,

how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!

Psalm 9

CELEBRATION OF GOD’S JUSTICE

For the choir director: according to Muth-labben. A psalm of David.

¹I will thank the Lord with all my heart;

I will declare all your wondrous works.ⁱ

²I will rejoice and boast about you;^j

I will sing about your name, Most High.^k

³When my enemies retreat,

they stumble and perish before you.^l

⁴For you have upheld my just cause;^m

you are seated on your throne as a righteous judge.ⁿ

⁵You have rebuked the nations:^o

You have destroyed the wicked;^p

you have erased their name forever and ever.^q

⁶The enemy has come to eternal ruin;

you have uprooted the cities,

and the very memory of them has perished.^r

⁷But the Lord sits enthroned forever;^s

he has established his throne for judgment.^t

⁸And he judges the world with righteousness;

he executes judgment on the nations with fairness.^u

⁹The Lord is a refuge for the persecuted,

a refuge in times of trouble.^v

¹⁰Those who know your name trust in you

because you have not abandoned

those who seek you, Lord.^w

¹¹Sing to the Lord, who dwells in Zion;^x

proclaim his deeds among the nations.^y

¹²For the one who seeks an accounting

for bloodshed remembers them;^z

he does not forget the cry of the oppressed.^aa

¹³Be gracious to me, Lord;

consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me.^ab

Lift me up from the gates of death,^ac

¹⁴so that I may declare all your praises.

I will rejoice in your salvation^ad

within the gates of Daughter Zion.

¹⁵The nations have fallen into the pit they made;

their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.^ae

¹⁶The Lord has made himself known;

he has executed justice,^af

snaring the wicked

by the work of their hands.^a

Higgaion. Selah

¹⁷The wicked will return to Sheol^b—

all the nations that forget God.^c

¹⁸For the needy will not always be forgotten;

the hope of the oppressed^A will not perish forever.^d

¹⁹Rise up, Lord! Do not let mere humans prevail;

let the nations be judged in your presence.^e

²⁰Put terror in them, Lord;^f

let the nations know they are only humans.^g

Selah

Psalm 10

NEED FOR GOD’S JUSTICE

¹Lord, why do you stand so far away?^h

Why do you hide in times of trouble?ⁱ

²In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue their victims;

let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.^j

³For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;^k

the one who is greedy curses^D and despises the Lord.^l

⁴In all his scheming,

the wicked person arrogantly thinks,^A

“There’s no accountability,

since there’s no God.”^m

⁵His ways are always secure;^B

your lofty judgments have no effect on him;^C

he scoffs at all his adversaries.ⁿ

⁶He says to himself, “I will never be moved—

from generation to generation I will be without calamity.”^o

⁷Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;

trouble and malice are under his tongue.^p

⁸He waits in ambush near settlements;^q

he kills the innocent in secret places.

His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;^r

⁹he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.

He lurks in order to seize a victim;

he seizes a victim and drags him in his net.

¹⁰So he is oppressed and beaten down;

helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength.^s

¹¹He says to himself, “God has forgotten;

he hides his face and will never see.”^t

¹²Rise up, Lord God! Lift up your hand.^u

Do not forget the oppressed.^v

¹³Why has the wicked person despised God?

He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”^w

¹⁴But you yourself have seen trouble and grief,

observing it in order to take the matter into your hands.^x

The helpless one entrusts himself to you;

you are a helper of the fatherless.^y

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked, evil person,^z

until you look for his wickedness,

but it can’t be found.^aa

¹⁶The Lord is King forever and ever;^ab

the nations will perish from his land.^ac

¹⁷Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble;

you will strengthen their hearts.

You will listen carefully,^ad

¹⁸doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed

so that mere humans from the earth may terrify them no more.^ae

Psalm 11

REFUGE IN THE LORD

For the choir director. Of David.

¹I have taken refuge in the Lord.^af

How can you say to me,

“Escape to the mountains^D like a bird!^ag

²For look, the wicked string bows;

they put their arrows on bowstrings

to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.^a

³When the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”^b

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple;^c

the Lord—his throne is in heaven.^d

His eyes watch; his gaze^A examines everyone.^B

⁵The Lord examines the righteous, but he hates the wicked

and^C those who love violence.^e

⁶Let him rain burning coals^D and sulfur on the wicked;

let a scorching wind be the portion in their cup.^f

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

The upright will see his face.^g

Psalm 12

OPPRESSION BY THE WICKED

For the choir director: according to Sheminith.^h A psalm of David.

¹Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;

the loyal have disappeared from the human race.ⁱ

²They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.^j

³May the Lord cut off all flattering lips

and the tongue that speaks boastfully.^k

⁴They say, “Through our tongues we have power;

our lips are our own—who can be our master?”^l

⁵“Because of the devastation of the needy

and the groaning of the poor,

I will now rise up,” says the Lord.

“I will provide safety for the one who longs for it.”^m

⁶The words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in an earthen furnace,

purified seven times.ⁿ

⁷You, Lord, will guard us;^F

you will protect us^G from this generation forever.^o

⁸The wicked prowl^H all around,

and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.^p