Majesty and the Oppressed

¹For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens!

²From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

³When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,

⁴what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?

⁵For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:

⁷All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field,

⁸the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

⁹LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

¹For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm by David. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works.

²I will be glad and rejoice in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

³When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish in your presence.

⁴For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.

⁵You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.

⁷But the LORD reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment.

⁸He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.

⁹The LORD will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble.

¹⁰Those who know your name will put their trust in you, for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion, and declare among the people what he has done.

¹²For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.

¹³Have mercy on me, LORD. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴that I may show all of your praise. I will rejoice in your salvation in the gates of the daughter of Zion.

¹⁵The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.

¹⁶The LORD has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.

¹⁷The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, even all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

¹⁹Arise, LORD! Don’t let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in your sight.

²⁰Put them in fear, LORD. Let the nations know that they are only men. Selah.

¹Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

²In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

³For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns the LORD.

⁴The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God.

⁵His 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.

⁶He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.”

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.

⁹He 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.

¹⁰The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength.

¹¹He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”

¹²Arise, LORD! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless.

¹³Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account”?

¹⁴But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land.

¹⁷LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,

¹⁸to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

¹For the Chief Musician. By David. In the LORD, I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?

²For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

³If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

⁴The LORD is in his holy temple. The LORD is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.

⁵The LORD examines the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and him who loves violence.

⁶On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷For the LORD is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright shall see his face.

¹For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.

²Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts,

⁴who 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.”

⁶The LORD’s words are flawless words, as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.

⁷You will keep them, LORD. You will preserve them from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men.

¹For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

²How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?

³Behold, and answer me, LORD, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;

⁴lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;” lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.

⁵But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the LORD, because he has been good to me.

¹For the Chief Musician. By David. 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.

²The LORD looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God.

³They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on the LORD?

⁵There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.

⁶You frustrate the plan of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.

⁷Oh 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.

¹A Psalm by David. LORD, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill?

²He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;

³he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man;

⁴in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;

⁵he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.