Psalm 11–12

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.