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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