O LORD, keep me secure.-d
5 a-For the leader; on nehiloth.-a A psalm of David.
2Give ear to my speech, O LORD;
consider my utterance.
3Heed the sound of my cry,
my king and God,
for I pray to You.
4Hear my voice, O LORD, at daybreak;
at daybreak I plead before You, and wait.
5For You are not a God who desires wickedness;
evil cannot abide with You;
6wanton men cannot endure in Your sight.
You detest all evildoers;
7You doom those who speak lies;
murderous, deceitful men the LORD abhors.
8But I, through Your abundant love, enter Your house;
I bow down in awe at Your holy temple.
9O LORD, b-lead me along Your righteous [path]-b
because of my watchful foes;
make Your way straight before me.
10For there is no sincerity on their lips;c
their heart is [filled with] malice;
their throat is an open grave;
their tongue slippery.
11Condemn them, O God;
let them fall by their own devices;
cast them out for their many crimes,
for they defy You.
12But let all who take refuge in You rejoice,
ever jubilant as You shelter them;
and let those who love Your name exult in You.
13For You surely bless the righteous man, O LORD,
encompassing him with favor like a shield.
6 a-For the leader; with instrumental music on the sheminith.-a A psalm of David.
2O LORD, do not punish me in anger,
do not chastise me in fury.
3Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I languish;
heal me, O LORD, for my bones shake with terror.
4My whole being is stricken with terror,
while You, LORD—O, how long!
5O LORD, turn! Rescue me!
Deliver me as befits Your faithfulness.
6For there is no praise of You among the dead;
in Sheol, who can acclaim You?
7I am weary with groaning;
every night I drench my bed,
I melt my couch in tears.
8My eyes are wasted by vexation,
worn out because of all my foes.
9Away from me, all you evildoers,
for the LORD heeds the sound of my weeping.
10The LORD heeds my plea,
the LORD accepts my prayer.
11All my enemies will be frustrated and stricken with terror;
they will turn back in an instant, frustrated.
7 a-Shiggaion of David,-a which he sang to the LORD, concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
2O LORD, my God, in You I seek refuge;
deliver me from all my pursuers and save me,
3lest, like a lion, they tear me apart,
rending in pieces, and no one save me.
4O LORD, my God, if I have done such things,
if my hands bear the guilt of wrongdoing,
5if I have dealt evil to my ally,
—b-I who rescued my foe without reward-b—
6then let the enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground,
and lay my body in the dust. Selah.
7Rise, O LORD, in Your anger;
assert Yourself c-against the fury of my foes;-c
bestir Yourself on my behalf;
You have ordained judgment.
8 a-Let the assembly of peoples gather about You,
with You enthroned above, on high.-a
9The LORD judges the peoples;
vindicate me, O LORD,
for the righteousness and blamelessness that are mine.
10Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
he who probes the mind and conscienced is God the
righteous.
11e-I look to God to shield me;-e
the deliverer of the upright.
12God vindicates the righteous;
God f-pronounces doom-f each day.
13g-If one does not turn back, but whets his sword,
bends his bow and aims it,
14then against himself he readies deadly weapons,
and makes his arrows sharp.-g
15See, he hatches evil, conceives mischief,
and gives birth to fraud.
16He has dug a pit and deepened it,
and will fall into the trap he made.
17His mischief will recoil upon his own head;
his lawlessness will come down upon his skull.
18I will praise the LORD for His righteousness,
and sing a hymn to the name of the LORD Most High.
8 a-For the leader; on the gittith.-a A psalm of David.
2O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name throughout the earth,
b-You who have covered the heavens with Your splendor! -b
3a-From the mouths of infants and sucklings
You have founded strength on account of Your foes,
to put an end to enemy and avenger.-a
4When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and stars that You set in place,
5what is man that You have been mindful of him,
mortal man that You have taken note of him,
6that You have made him little less than divine,c
and adorned him with glory and majesty;
7You have made him master over Your handiwork,
laying the world at his feet,
8sheep and oxen, all of them,
and wild beasts, too;
9the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea,
whatever travels the paths of the seas.
10O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name throughout
the earth!
9 a-For the leader; ‘almuth labben.-a A psalm of David.
2I will praise You, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell all Your wonders.
3I will rejoice and exult in You,
singing a hymn to Your name, O Most High.
4When my enemies retreat,
they stumble to their doom at Your presence.
5For You uphold my right and claim,
enthroned as righteous judge.
6You blast the nations;
You destroy the wicked;
You blot out their name forever.
7 b-The enemy is no more—
ruins everlasting;
You have torn down their cities;
their very names are lost.-b
8But the LORD abides forever;
He has set up His throne for judgment;
9it is He who judges the world with righteousness,
rules the peoples with equity.
10The LORD is a haven for the oppressed,
a haven in times of trouble.
11Those who know Your name trust You,
for You do not abandon those who turn to You, O LORD.
12Sing a hymn to the LORD, c-who reigns in Zion;-c
declare His deeds among the peoples.
13 d-For He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted;
He who requites bloodshed is mindful of them.-d
14Have mercy on me, O LORD;
see my affliction at the hands of my foes,
You who lift me from the gates of death,
15so that in the gates of e-Fair Zion-e
I might tell all Your praise,
I might exult in Your deliverance.
16The nations sink in the pit they have made;
their own foot is caught in the net they have hidden.
17The LORD has made Himself known:
He works judgment;
the wicked man is snared by his own devices. Higgaion.b Selah.
18Let the wicked bef in Sheol,
all the nations who ignore God!
19Not always shall the needy be ignored,
nor the hope of the afflicted forever lost.
20Rise, O LORD!
Let not men have power;
let the nations be judged in Your presence.
21b-Strike fear into them,-b O LORD;
let the nations know they are only men. Selah.
10 Why, O LORD, do You stand aloof,
heedless in times of trouble?
2The wicked in his arrogance hounds the lowly—
a-may they be caught in the schemes they devise!-a
3b-The wicked crows about his unbridled lusts;
the grasping man reviles and scorns the LORD.
4The wicked, arrogant as he is,
in all his scheming [things],-b
“He does not call to account;
c-God does not care.”-c
5His ways prosper at all times;
Your judgments are far beyond him;
he snorts at all his foes.
6He thinks, “I shall not be shaken,
through all time never be in trouble.”
7His mouth is full of oaths, deceit, and fraud;
mischief and evil are under his tongue.
8He lurks in outlying places;
from a covert he slays the innocent;
his eyes spy out the hapless.
9He waits in a covert like a lion in his lair;
waits to seize the lowly;
he seizes the lowly as he pulls his net shut;
10he stoops, he crouches,
b-and the hapless fall prey to his might.-b
11He thinks, “God is not mindful,
He hides His face, He never looks.”
12Rise, O LORD!
d-Strike at him,-d O God!
Do not forget the lowly.
13Why should the wicked man scorn God,
thinking You do not call to account?
14You do look!
You take note of mischief and vexation!
b-To requite is in Your power.-b
To You the hapless can entrust himself;
You have ever been the orphan’s help.
15O break the power of the wicked and evil man,
so that when You e-look for-e his wickedness
You will find it no more.
16The LORD is king for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from His land.
17You will listen to the entreaty of the lowly, O LORD,
You will make their hearts firm;
You will incline Your ear
18to champion the orphan and the downtrodden,
b-that men who are of the earth tyrannize no more.-b
11 For the leader. Of David.
In the LORD I take refuge;
how can you say to me,
“Take to a-the hills like a bird! -a
2For see, the wicked bend the bow,
they set their arrow on the string
to shoot from the shadows at the upright.
3b-When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous man do?”-b
4The LORD is in His holy palace;
the LORD—His throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His gaze searches mankind.
5The LORD seeks out the righteous man,
but loathes the wicked one who loves injustice.
6He will rain down upon the wicked blazing coals and sulfur;
a scorching wind shall be c-their lot.-c
7For the LORD is righteous;
He loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold His face.
12 For the leader; on the sheminith. A psalm of David.
2Help, O LORD!
For the faithful are no more;
the loyal have vanished from among men.
3Men speak lies to one another;
their speech is smooth;
they talk with duplicity.
4May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
every tongue that speaks arrogance.
5They say, “By our tongues we shall prevail;
with lips such as ours, who can be our master?”
6“Because of the groans of the plundered poor and needy, I will now act,” says the LORD.
a-“I will give help,” He affirms to him.-a
7The words of the LORD are pure words,
silver purged in an earthen crucible,
refined sevenfold.
8You, O LORD, will keep them,
guarding each a-from this age-a evermore.
9On every side the wicked roam
a-when baseness is exalted among men.-a
13 For the leader. A psalm of David.
2How long, O LORD; will You ignore me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
3How long will I have cares on my mind,
grief in my heart all day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
4Look at me, answer me, O LORD, my God!
Restore the luster to my eyes,
lest I sleep the sleep of death;
5lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,”
my foes exult when I totter.
6But I trust in Your faithfulness,
my heart will exult in Your deliverance.
I will sing to the LORD,
for He has been good to me.
14 aFor the