Why Do You Hide Yourself?

10 Why, O Lord, do you stand kfar away?

Why ldo you hide yourself in mtimes of trouble?

2  In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

let them nbe caught in the schemes that they have devised.

3  For the wicked oboasts of the desires of his soul,

and the one greedy for gain pcurses1 and qrenounces the Lord.

4  In the pride of his face2 the wicked does not qseek him;3

all his thoughts are, r“There is no God.”

5  His ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are on high, sout of his sight;

as for all his foes, he tpuffs at them.

6  He usays in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I vshall not meet adversity.”

7  wHis mouth is filled with cursing and xdeceit and yoppression;

zunder his tongue are amischief and biniquity.

8  He sits in ambush in the villages;

in chiding places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;

9  he lurks in ambush like da lion in his ethicket;

he flurks that he may seize the poor;

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his gnet.

10  The helpless are crushed, sink down,

and fall by his might.

11  He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hhidden his face, he iwill never see it.”

12  jArise, O Lord; O God, klift up your hand;

lforget not the afflicted.

13  Why does the wicked mrenounce God

and say in his heart, “You will not ncall to account”?

14  But you do see, for you onote mischief and vexation,

that you may take it into your hands;

to you the helpless pcommits himself;

you have been qthe helper of the fatherless.

15  rBreak the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

scall his wickedness to account till you find none.

16  tThe Lord is king forever and ever;

the unations perish from his land.

17  O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you will vstrengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

18  to wdo justice to the fatherless and xthe oppressed,

so that yman who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

The Lord Is in His Holy Temple

11 To the choirmaster. Of David.

1  In the Lord I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

z“Flee like a bird to your mountain,

2  for behold, the wicked abend the bow;

bthey have fitted their arrow to the string

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

3  if cthe foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”1

4  dThe Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord’s ethrone is in heaven;

his eyes see, his eyelids ftest the children of man.

5  The Lord gtests the righteous,

but hhis soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

6  Let him rain coals on the wicked;

ifire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be jthe portion of their cup.

7  For the Lord is righteous;

he kloves righteous deeds;

lthe upright shall behold his face.

The Faithful Have Vanished

12 To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.

1  Save, O Lord, for mthe godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

2  Everyone nutters lies to his neighbor;

with oflattering lips and pa double heart they speak.

3  May the Lord cut off all oflattering lips,

the tongue that makes qgreat boasts,

4  those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

5  “Because rthe poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

sI will now arise,” says the Lord;

“I will place him in the tsafety for which he longs.”

6  uThe words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

7  You, O Lord, will keep them;

you will guard us2 from this generation forever.

8  On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

How Long, O Lord?

13 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  vHow long, O Lord? Will you wforget me forever?

How long will you xhide your face from me?

2  How long must I take ycounsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3  zConsider and answer me, O Lord my God;

alight up my eyes, lest bI sleep the sleep of death,

4  clest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am dshaken.

5  But I have etrusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall frejoice in your salvation.

6  I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The Fool Says, There Is No God

14 To the choirmaster. Of David.

1  gThe hfool says in his heart, i“There is no God.”

They are jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;

kthere is none who does good.

2  The Lord llooks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,1

who mseek after God.

3  They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

4  Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers

who peat up my people as they eat bread

and qdo not call upon the Lord?

5  There they are in great terror,

for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.

6  You would shame the plans of the poor,

but2 the Lord is his srefuge.

7  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord trestores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?

15 A Psalm of David.

1  O Lord, uwho shall sojourn in your vtent?

Who shall dwell on your wholy hill?

2  He who xwalks blamelessly and ydoes what is right

and zspeaks truth in his heart;

3  who adoes not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor btakes up a reproach against his friend;

4  cin whose eyes a vile person is despised,

but who honors those who fear the Lord;

who dswears to his own hurt and does not change;

5  who edoes not put out his money at interest

and fdoes not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be gmoved.

You Will Not Abandon My Soul

16 A hMiktam1 of David.

1  Preserve me, O God, for in you I itake refuge.

2  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

jI have no good apart from you.”

3  As for kthe saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.2

4  The sorrows of those who run after3 another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or ltake their names on my lips.

5  The Lord is mmy chosen portion and my ncup;

you hold my olot.

6  pThe lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

7  I bless the Lord who qgives me counsel;

in rthe night also my sheart instructs me.4

8  tI have uset the Lord always before me;

because he is at my vright hand, I shall not be wshaken.

9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my xwhole being5 rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

10  For you will not abandon my soul to ySheol,

zor let your aholy one see bcorruption.6

11  You make known to me cthe path of life;

in your presence there is dfullness of joy;

at your right hand are epleasures forevermore.

In the Shadow of Your Wings

17 A fPrayer of David.

1  Hear a just cause, O Lord; gattend to my cry!

Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

2  From your presence hlet my vindication come!

Let your eyes behold the right!

3  You have itried my heart, you have jvisited me by knight,

you have ltested me, and you will find nothing;

I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.

4  With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.

5  My steps have mheld fast to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.

6  I ncall upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

oincline your ear to me; hear my words.

7  pWondrously show1 your steadfast love,

O Savior of those who seek refuge

from qtheir adversaries at your right hand.

8  Keep me as rthe apple of your eye;

hide me in sthe shadow of your wings,

9  from the wicked who do me violence,

my deadly enemies who tsurround me.

10  uThey close their hearts to pity;

with their mouths they vspeak arrogantly.

11  They have now surrounded our wsteps;

they set their eyes to xcast us to the ground.

12  He is like a lion eager to tear,

as a young lion ylurking in ambush.

13  Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!

Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

14  from men by your hand, O Lord,

from zmen of the world whose aportion is in this life.2

You fill their womb with treasure;3

they are satisfied with bchildren,

and they leave their abundance to their infants.

15  As for me, I shall cbehold your face in righteousness;

when I dawake, I shall be esatisfied with your likeness.