God’s Power and Justice

To the leader: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turned back,

they stumbled and perished before you.

4 For you have maintained my just cause;

you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

5 You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;

their cities you have rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever,

he has established his throne for judgment.

8 He judges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with equity.

9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.

Declare his deeds among the peoples.

12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;

he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13 Be gracious to me, O Lord.

See what I suffer from those who hate me;

you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,

14 so that I may recount all your praises,

and, in the gates of daughter Zion,

rejoice in your deliverance.

15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;

in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.

16 The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

17 The wicked shall depart to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.

18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

19 Rise up, O Lord! Do not let mortals prevail;

let the nations be judged before you.

20 Put them in fear, O Lord;

let the nations know that they are only human. Selah