Psalm 10–12

Psalm 10

¹O Lord, why do you stand so far away?

Why do you hide when I am in trouble?

²The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor.

Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others.

³For they brag about their evil desires;

they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.

⁴The wicked are too proud to seek God.

They seem to think that God is dead.

⁵Yet they succeed in everything they do.

They do not see your punishment awaiting them.

They sneer at all their enemies.

⁶They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us!

We will be free of trouble forever!”

⁷Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats.

Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.

⁸They lurk in ambush in the villages,

waiting to murder innocent people.

They are always searching for helpless victims.

⁹Like lions crouched in hiding,

they wait to pounce on the helpless.

Like hunters they capture the helpless

and drag them away in nets.

¹⁰Their helpless victims are crushed;

they fall beneath the strength of the wicked.

¹¹The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us!

He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!”

¹²Arise, O Lord!

Punish the wicked, O God!

Do not ignore the helpless!

¹³Why do the wicked get away with despising God?

They think, “God will never call us to account.”

¹⁴But you see the trouble and grief they cause.

You take note of it and punish them.

The helpless put their trust in you.

You defend the orphans.

¹⁵Break the arms of these wicked, evil people!

Go after them until the last one is destroyed.

¹⁶The Lord is king forever and ever!

The godless nations will vanish from the land.

¹⁷Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.

Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.

¹⁸You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,

so mere people can no longer terrify them.

Psalm 11

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

¹I trust in the Lord for protection.

So why do you say to me,

“Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!

²The wicked are stringing their bows

and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings.

They shoot from the shadows

at those whose hearts are right.

³The foundations of law and order have collapsed.

What can the righteous do?”

⁴But the Lord is in his holy Temple;

the Lord still rules from heaven.

He watches everyone closely,

examining every person on earth.

⁵The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.

He hates those who love violence.

⁶He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked,

punishing them with scorching winds.

⁷For the righteous Lord loves justice.

The virtuous will see his face.

Psalm 12

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.

¹Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!

The faithful have vanished from the earth!

²Neighbors lie to each other,

speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.

³May the Lord cut off their flattering lips

and silence their boastful tongues.

⁴They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.

Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”

⁵The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,

and I have heard the groans of the poor.

Now I will rise up to rescue them,

as they have longed for me to do.”

⁶The Lord’s promises are pure,

like silver refined in a furnace,

purified seven times over.

⁷Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,

preserving them forever from this lying generation,

⁸even though the wicked strut about,

and evil is praised throughout the land.