PSALM 12

Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;

the faithful have disappeared from humankind.

They utter lies to each other;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;

our lips are our own – who is our master?”

“Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,

I will now rise up,” says the LORD;

“I will place them in the safety for which they long.”

The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure,

silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

You, O LORD, will protect us;

you will guard us from this generation forever.

On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among humankind.

PSALM 11

In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to me,

“Flee like a bird to the mountains;

for look, the wicked bend the bow,

they have fitted their arrow to the string,

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.

If the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD’s throne is in heaven.

His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.

The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,

and his soul hates the lover of violence.

On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and sulfur;

a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the LORD is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright  shall behold his face.

PSALM 10

Lord, why are you so far away?

Why do you hide when there is trouble?

Proudly the wicked chase down those who suffer.

Let them be caught in their own traps.

They brag about the things they want.

They bless the greedy but hate the LORD.

The wicked people are too proud.

They do not look for God;

there is no room for God in their thoughts.

They always succeed.

They are far from keeping your laws;

they make fun of their enemies.

They say to themselves, "Nothing bad will ever happen to me;

I will never be ruined."

Their mouths are full of curses, lies, and threats;

they use their tongues for sin and evil.

They hide near the villages.

They look for innocent people to kill;

they watch in secret for the helpless.

They wait in hiding like a lion.

They wait to catch poor people;

they catch the poor in nets.

The poor are thrown down and crushed;

they are defeated because the others are stronger.

The wicked think, "God has forgotten us.

He doesn't see what is happening."

Lord, rise up and punish the wicked.

Don't forget those who need help.

Why do wicked people hate God?

They say to themselves, "God won't punish us."

LORD, surely you see these cruel and evil things;

look at them and do something.

People in trouble look to you for help.

You are the one who helps the orphans.

Break the power of wicked people.

Punish them for the evil they have done.

The LORD is King forever and ever.

Destroy from your land those nations that do not worship you.

LORD, you have heard what the poor people want.

Do what they ask, and listen to them.

Protect the orphans and put an end to suffering

so they will no longer be afraid of evil people.

PSALM 9

I will praise you, O LORD, with my whole heart;

I will tell of all your marvelous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in you;

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

         

When my enemies turn back,

they shall fall and perish at your presence.

For you have maintained my right and my cause;

you sat on the throne judging in righteousness.

You have rebuked the nations,

you have destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

         

O enemy, destructions are finished forever!

And you have destroyed cities;

even their memory has perished.

But the LORD shall endure forever;

he has prepared his throne for judgment.

He shall judge the world in righteousness,

and he shall administer judgment

for the peoples in uprightness.

         

The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed,

a refuge in times of trouble.

And those who know your name will put their trust in you;

for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

         

Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion!

Declare his deeds among the people.

When he avenges blood, he remembers them;

he does not forget the cry of the humble.

Have mercy on me, O LORD!

Consider my trouble from those who hate me,

you who lift me up from the gates of death,

that I may tell of all your praise

in the gates of the daughter of Zion.

I will rejoice in your salvation.

         

The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;

in the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.

The LORD is known by the judgment he executes;

the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

Selah  

         

The wicked shall be turned into hell,

and all the nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten;

the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

         

Arise, O LORD,

do not let man prevail;

let the nations be judged in your sight.

Put them in fear, O LORD,

that the nations may know themselves to be but men.  

Selah

PSALM 8

O how majestic is your name in all the earth,
who have displayed your splendor above the heavens!

From the mouth of infants and nursing babes

you have established strength

because of your adversaries,

to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;

what is man that you take thought of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than God,

and you crown him with glory and majesty!

You make him to rule over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our LORD,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

PSALM 7

LORD my God, I take refuge in you;

save and deliver me from all who pursue me,

or they will tear me apart like a lion

and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

LORD my God, if I have done this

and there is guilt on my hands –

if I have repaid my ally with evil

or without cause have robbed my foe –

then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;

let him trample my life to the ground

and make me sleep in the dust.

Arise, LORD, in your anger;

rise up against the rage of my enemies.

Awake, my God; decree justice.

Let the assembled peoples gather around you,

while you sit enthroned over them on high.

Let the LORD judge the peoples.

Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,

according to my integrity, O Most High.

Bring to an end the violence of the wicked

and make the righteous secure –

you, the righteous God

who probes minds and hearts.

My shield is God Most High,

who saves the upright in heart.

God is a righteous judge,

a God who displays his wrath every day.

If he does not relent,

he will sharpen his sword;

he will bend and string his bow.

He has prepared his deadly weapons;

he makes ready his flaming arrows.

Those who are pregnant with evil

conceive trouble and give birth to disillusionment.

Those who dig a hole and scoop it out

fall into the pit they have made.

The trouble they cause recoils on them;

their violence comes down on their own heads.

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;

I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.

PSALM 6

LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;

heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in deep anguish.

How long, LORD, how long?

Turn, LORD, and deliver me;

save me because of your unfailing love.

Among the dead no one proclaims your name.

Who praises you from the grave?

I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping

and drench my couch with tears.

My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of all my foes.

Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the LORD has heard my weeping.

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;

the LORD accepts my prayer.

All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;

they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.