Psalm 8:1–9:20

God’s Glory and Man’s Dignity ^l

8 O Lord, our Lord,

your greatness is seen in all the world!

Your praise reaches up to the heavens;

^2*it is sung by children and babies.

You are safe and secure from all your enemies;

you stop anyone who opposes you.

³When I look at the sky, which you have made,

at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places-

^4*what are human beings, that you think of them;

mere mortals, that you care for them?

⁵Yet you made them inferior only to yourself;^m

you crowned them with glory and honour.

^6*You appointed them rulers over everything you made;

you placed them over all creation:

⁷sheep and cattle,

and the wild animals too;

⁸the birds and the fish and the creatures in the seas.

⁹O Lord, our Lord,

your greatness is seen in all the world!

Thanksgiving to God for His Justiceⁿ

9 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.

²I will sing with joy because of you.

I will sing praise to you, Almighty God.

³My enemies turn back when you appear;

they fall down and die.

⁴You are fair and honest in your judgements,

and you have judged in my favour.

⁵You have condemned the heathen

and destroyed the wicked;

they will be remembered no more.

⁶Our enemies are finished for ever;

you have destroyed their cities,

and they are completely forgotten.

⁷But the Lord is king for ever;

he has set up his throne for judgement.

⁸He rules the world with righteousness;

he judges the nations with justice.

⁹The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

a place of safety in times of trouble.

¹⁰Those who know you, Lord, will trust you;

you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.

¹¹Sing praise to the Lord, who rules in Zion!

Tell every nation what he has done!

¹²God remembers those who suffer;

he does not forget their cry,

and he punishes those who wrong them.

¹³Be merciful to me, O Lord!

See the sufferings my enemies cause me!

Rescue me from death, O Lord,

¹⁴that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem

and tell them all the things for which I praise you.

I will rejoice because you saved me.

¹⁵The heathen have dug a pit and fallen in;

they have been caught in their own trap.

¹⁶The Lord has revealed himself by his righteous judgements,

and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.

¹⁷Death is the destiny of all the wicked,

of all those who reject God.

¹⁸The needy will not always be neglected;

the hope of the poor will not be crushed for ever.

¹⁹Come, Lord! Do not let human beings defy you!

Bring the heathen before you

and pronounce judgement on them.

²⁰Make them afraid, O Lord;

make them know that they are only mortal beings.