Psalm 9–10

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.