Why Do You Hide Yourself?

¹Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

²In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

³For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,

and the one greedy for gain curses1 and renounces the Lord.

⁴In the pride of his face2 the wicked does not seek him;3

all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

⁵His ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

⁶He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

⁷His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

⁸He sits in ambush in the villages;

in hiding places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;

⁹he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;

he lurks that he may seize the poor;

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

¹⁰The helpless are crushed, sink down,

and fall by his might.

¹¹He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

¹²Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;

forget not the afflicted.

¹³Why does the wicked renounce God

and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?

¹⁴But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,

that you may take it into your hands;

to you the helpless commits himself;

you have been the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

call his wickedness to account till you find none.

¹⁶The Lord is king forever and ever;

the nations perish from his land.

¹⁷O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

¹⁸to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

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The Lord Is in His Holy Temple

To the choirmaster. Of David.

¹In the Lord I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

“Flee like a bird to your mountain,

²for behold, the wicked bend the bow;

they have fitted their arrow to the string

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

³if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”1

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord's throne is in heaven;

his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

⁵The Lord tests the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

⁶Let him rain coals on the wicked;

fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷For the Lord is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

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The Faithful Have Vanished

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.

¹Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

²Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

⁴those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

⁵“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the Lord;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

⁶The words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

⁷You, O Lord, will keep them;

you will guard us2 from this generation forever.

⁸On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

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How Long, O Lord?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

²How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

⁴lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

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The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

¹The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,

there is none who does good.

²The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,1

who seek after God.

³They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

⁴Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the Lord?

⁵There they are in great terror,

for God is with the generation of the righteous.

⁶You would shame the plans of the poor,

but2 the Lord is his refuge.

⁷Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

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