O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.
He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made.
I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, 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?
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!
For the choir director; on Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.
For You have maintained my just cause; You have sat on the throne judging righteously.
You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished.
But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment,
And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; Declare among the peoples His deeds.
For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
Be gracious to me, O LORD; See my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,
That I may tell of all Your praises, That in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.
The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
The LORD has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. Higgaion Selah.
The wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God.
For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged before You.
Put them in fear, O LORD; Let the nations know that they are but men. Selah.
In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.
The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the hiding places he kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.
He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.
He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.
Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted.
Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”
You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan.
Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
The LORD is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land.
O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear
To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. In the LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain;
For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string To shoot in darkness 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 eyelids test the sons of men.
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.
For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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