4 if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me
(yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),
5 let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;
yes, let him tread my life down to the earth,
and lay my glory in the dust.
Selah.
6 Arise, LORD, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.
Awake for me. You have commanded judgement.
7 Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.
8 The LORD administers judgement to the peoples.
Judge me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
and to my integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
yes, a God who has indignation every day.
12 If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow.
13 He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 Behold,† he travails with iniquity.
Yes, he has conceived mischief,
and brought out falsehood.
15 He has dug a hole,
and has fallen into the pit which he made.
16 The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to his righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
Psalm 8
For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David.
1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens!
2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,
4 what is man, that you think of him?
What is the son of man, that you care for him?
5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels,†
and crowned him with glory and honour.
6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
8 the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 9
For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm by David.
1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart.
I will tell of all your marvellous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish in your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause.
You sit on the throne judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations.
You have destroyed the wicked.
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin.
The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
7 But the LORD reigns forever.
He has prepared his throne for judgement.
8 He will judge the world in righteousness.
He will administer judgement to the peoples in uprightness.
9 The LORD will also be a high tower for the oppressed;
a high tower in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name will put their trust in you,
for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion,
and declare amongst the people what he has done.
12 For he who avenges blood remembers them.
He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Have mercy on me, LORD.
See my affliction by those who hate me,
and lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may show all of your praise.
I will rejoice in your salvation in the gates of the daughter of Zion.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made.
In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
16 The LORD has made himself known.
He has executed judgement.
The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.
Meditation. Selah.
17 The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol,†
even all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
19 Arise, LORD! Don’t let man prevail.
Let the nations be judged in your sight.
20 Put them in fear, LORD.
Let the nations know that they are only men.
Selah.
Psalm 10
1 Why do you stand far off, LORD?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak.
They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings.
He blesses the greedy and condemns the LORD.
4 The wicked, in the pride of his face,
has no room in his thoughts for God.
5 His ways are prosperous at all times.
He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight.
As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken.
For generations I shall have no trouble.”
7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression.
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
8 He lies in wait near the villages.
From ambushes, he murders the innocent.
His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
9 He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless.
He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.
10 The helpless are crushed.
They collapse.
They fall under his strength.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face.
He will never see it.”
12 Arise, LORD!
God, lift up your hand!
Don’t forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked person condemn God,
and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account”?
14 But you do see trouble and grief.
You consider it to take it into your hand.
You help the victim and the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked.
As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.
16 The LORD is King forever and ever!
The nations will perish out of his land.
17 LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble.
You will prepare their heart.
You will cause your ear to hear,
18 to judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.
Psalm 11
For the Chief Musician. By David.
1 In the LORD, I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For, behold, the wicked bend their bows.
They set their arrows on the strings,
that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
4 The LORD is in his holy temple.
The LORD is on his throne in heaven.
His eyes observe.
His eyes examine the children of men.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and him who loves violence.
6 On the wicked he will rain blazing coals;
fire, sulphur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the LORD is righteous.
He loves righteousness.
The upright shall see his face.
Psalm 12
For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
1 Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases.
For the faithful fail from amongst the children of men.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbour.
They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
and the tongue that boasts,
4 who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail.
Our lips are our own.
Who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise,” says the LORD;
“I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”
6 The LORD’s words are flawless words,
as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.
7 You will keep them, LORD.
You will preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked walk on every side,
when what is vile is exalted amongst the sons of men.
Psalm 13
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
1 How long, LORD?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
having sorrow in my heart every day?
How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
3 Behold, and answer me, LORD, my God.
Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;”
lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your loving kindness.
My heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
because he has been good to me.
Psalm 14
For the Chief Musician. By David.
1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt.
They have done abominable deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven on the children of men,
to see if there were any who understood,
who sought after God.
3 They have all gone aside.
They have together become corrupt.
There is no one who does good, no, not one.
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and don’t call on the LORD?
5 There they were in great fear,
for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6 You frustrate the plan of the poor,
because the LORD is his refuge.
7 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Psalm 15
A Psalm by David.
1 LORD, who shall dwell in your sanctuary?
Who shall live on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right,
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 he who doesn’t slander
