Bible Browser

Psalm 9

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 judgement.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
   you have blotted out their name for ever 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 for ever,
   he has established his throne for judgement.
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 judgement;
   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 for ever.

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

Psalm 10

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

¹ Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
   Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
² In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor—
   let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

³ For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart,
   those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord.
⁴ In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, ‘God will not seek it out’;
   all their thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’

⁵ Their ways prosper at all times;
   your judgements are on high, out of their sight;
   as for their foes, they scoff at them.
⁶ They think in their heart, ‘We shall not be moved;
   throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.’

⁷ Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
   under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.
⁸ They sit in ambush in the villages;
   in hiding-places they murder the innocent.

Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
⁹   they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert;
they lurk that they may seize the poor;
   they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.

¹⁰ They stoop, they crouch,
   and the helpless fall by their might.
¹¹ They think in their heart, ‘God has forgotten,
   he has hidden his face, he will never see it.’

¹² Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
   do not forget the oppressed.
¹³ Why do the wicked renounce God,
   and say in their hearts, ‘You will not call us to account’?

¹⁴ But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief,
   that you may take it into your hands;
the helpless commit themselves to you;
   you have been the helper of the orphan.

¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers;
   seek out their wickedness until you find none.
¹⁶ The Lord is king for ever and ever;
   the nations shall perish from his land.

¹⁷ O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek;
   you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear
¹⁸ to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed,
   so that those from earth may strike terror no more.^*