Psalm 7–12

Psalm 7

A shiggaion^aby David; he sang it to the Lord about the ⸤slanderous⸥ words of Cush, a descendant of Benjamin. 

¹O Lord my God, I have taken refuge in you. 

Save me, and rescue me from all who are pursuing me. 

²Like a lion they will tear me to pieces 

and drag me off with no one to rescue me. 

³O Lord my God, 

if I have done this— 

if my hands are stained with injustice, 

⁴if I have paid back my friend with evil 

or rescued someone who has no reason to attack me— 

⁵then let the enemy chase me and catch me. 

Let him trample my life into the ground. 

Let him lay my honor in the dust. 

Selah 

⁶Arise in anger, O Lord. 

Stand up against the fury of my attackers. 

Wake up, my God.^c

You have already pronounced judgment. 

⁷Let an assembly of people gather around you. 

Take your seat high above them. 

⁸The Lord judges the people of the world. 

Judge me, O Lord, 

according to my righteousness, 

according to my integrity. 

⁹Let the evil within wicked people come to an end, 

but make the righteous person secure, 

O righteous God who examines thoughts and emotions. 

¹⁰My shield is God above, 

who saves those whose motives are decent. 

¹¹God is a fair judge, 

a God who is angered by injustice every day. 

¹²If a person does not change, God sharpens his sword. 

By bending his bow, he makes it ready ⸤to shoot⸥. 

¹³He prepares his deadly weapons 

and turns them into flaming arrows. 

¹⁴See how that person conceives evil, 

is pregnant with harm, 

and gives birth to lies. 

¹⁵He digs a pit and shovels it out. 

Then he falls into the hole that he made ⸤for others⸥. 

¹⁶His mischief lands back on his own head. 

His violence comes down on top of him. 

¹⁷I will give thanks to the Lord for his righteousness. 

I will make music to praise the name of the Lord Most High. 

Psalm 8

For the choir director; on the gittith;^aa psalm by David. 

¹O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! 

Your glory is sung above the heavens. 

²From the mouths of little children and infants, 

you have built a fortress against your opponents 

to silence the enemy and the avenger. 

³When I look at your heavens, 

the creation of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars that you have set in place— 

⁴what is a mortal that you remember him 

or the Son of Man that you take care of him? 

⁵You have made him a little lower than yourself. 

You have crowned him with glory and honor. 

⁶You have made him rule what your hands created. 

You have put everything under his control: 

⁷all the sheep and cattle, the wild animals, 

⁸the birds, the fish, 

whatever swims in the currents of the seas. 

⁹O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! 

Psalm 9

For the choir director; according to muth labben;^aa psalm by David.^b

¹I will give ⸤you⸥ thanks, O Lord, with all my heart. 

I will tell about all the miracles you have done. 

²I will find joy and be glad about you. 

I will make music to praise your name, O Most High. 

³When my enemies retreat, they will stumble and die in your presence. 

⁴You have defended my just cause: 

You sat down on your throne as a fair judge. 

⁵You condemned nations. 

You destroyed wicked people. 

You wiped out their names forever and ever. 

⁶The enemy is finished—in ruins forever. 

You have uprooted their cities. 

Even the memory of them has faded. 

⁷Yet, the Lord is enthroned forever. 

He has set up his throne for judgment. 

⁸He alone judges the world with righteousness. 

He judges ⸤its⸥ people fairly. 

⁹The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, 

a stronghold in times of trouble. 

¹⁰Those who know your name trust you, O Lord, 

because you have never deserted those who seek your help. 

¹¹Make music to praise the Lord, who is enthroned in Zion. 

Announce to the nations what he has done. 

¹²The one who avenges murder has remembered oppressed people. 

He has never forgotten their cries. 

¹³Have pity on me, O Lord. 

Look at what I suffer because of those who hate me. 

You take me away from the gates of death 

¹⁴so that I may recite your praises one by one 

in the gates of Zion 

and find joy in your salvation. 

¹⁵The nations have sunk into the pit they have made. 

Their feet are caught in the net they have hidden ⸤to trap others⸥. 

¹⁶The Lord is known by the judgment he has carried out. 

The wicked person is trapped 

by the work of his own hands. 

Higgaion Selah 

¹⁷Wicked people, all the nations who forget God, 

will return to the grave. 

¹⁸Needy people will not always be forgotten. 

Nor will the hope of oppressed people be lost forever. 

¹⁹Arise, O Lord. 

Do not let mortals gain any power. 

Let the nations be judged in your presence. 

²⁰Strike them with terror, O Lord. 

Let the nations know that they are ⸤only⸥ mortal. 

Selah 

Psalm 10

¹Why are you so distant, Lord? 

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 

²The wicked person arrogantly pursues oppressed people. 

He will be caught in the schemes that he planned. 

³The wicked person boasts about his selfish desires. 

He blesses robbers, but he curses the Lord. 

⁴He turns up his nose ⸤and says⸥, “God doesn’t care.” 

His every thought ⸤concludes⸥, “There is no God.” 

⁵He always seems to succeed. 

Your judgments are beyond his understanding. 

He spits at all his opponents. 

⁶He says to himself, “Nothing can shake me. 

I’ll never face any trouble.” 

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deception, and oppression. 

Trouble and wrongdoing are on the tip of his tongue. 

⁸He waits in ambush in the villages. 

From his hiding places he kills innocent people. 

His eyes are on the lookout for victims. 

⁹He lies in his hiding place like a lion in his den. 

He hides there to catch oppressed people. 

He catches oppressed people when he draws them into his net. 

¹⁰⸤His⸥ victims are crushed. 

They collapse, 

and they fall under ⸤the weight of⸥ his power. 

¹¹He says to himself, 

“God has forgotten. 

He has hidden his face. 

He will never see it!” 

¹²Arise, O Lord! 

Lift your hand, O God. 

Do not forget oppressed people! 

¹³Why does the wicked person despise God? 

Why does he say to himself, “God doesn’t care”? 

¹⁴You have seen ⸤it⸥; yes, you have taken note of trouble and grief 

and placed them under your control. 

The victim entrusts himself to you. 

You alone have been the helper of orphans. 

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evil person. 

Punish his wickedness until you find no more. 

¹⁶The Lord is king forever and ever. 

The nations have vanished from his land. 

¹⁷You have heard the desire of oppressed people, O Lord. 

You encourage them. 

You pay close attention to them 

¹⁸in order to provide justice for orphans and oppressed people 

so that no mere mortal will terrify them again. 

Psalm 11

For the choir director; by David. 

¹I have taken refuge in the Lord. 

How can you say to me: 

“Flee to your mountain like a bird? 

²Wicked people bend their bows. 

They set their arrows against the strings 

to shoot in the dark at people whose motives are decent. 

³When the foundations ⸤of life⸥ are undermined, 

what can a righteous person do?” 

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple. 

The Lord’s throne is in heaven. 

His eyes see. 

They examine Adam’s descendants. 

⁵The Lord tests righteous people, 

but he hates wicked people and the ones who love violence. 

⁶He rains down fire and burning sulfur upon wicked people. 

He makes them drink from a cup filled with scorching wind. 

⁷The Lord is righteous. 

He loves a righteous way of life. 

Decent people will see his face. 

Psalm 12

For the choir director; on the sheminith; a psalm by David. 

¹Help, O Lord. 

No godly person is left. 

Faithful people have vanished from among Adam’s descendants! 

²All people speak foolishly. 

They speak with flattering lips. They say one thing but mean another. 

³May the Lord cut off every flattering lip 

and every bragging tongue 

⁴that has said, 

“We will overcome with our tongues. 

With lips such as ours, who can be our master?” 

⁵“Because oppressed people are robbed and needy people groan, 

I will now arise,” says the Lord. 

“I will provide safety for those who long for it.” 

⁶The promises of the Lord are pure, 

like silver refined in a furnaceand purified seven times. 

⁷O Lord, you will protect them. 

You will keep each one safe from those people forever. 

⁸Wicked people parade around 

when immorality increases among Adam’s descendants.