Psalms 11-12

The Lord a Refuge and Defense.

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;
2
For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,
They make ready their arrow upon the string
To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3
If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”

4
The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
5
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6
Upon the wicked He will rain snares;
Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
7
For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness;
The upright will behold His face.

God, a Helper against the Treacherous.

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.
2
They speak falsehood to one another;
With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.
3
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things;
4
Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
5
“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

6
The words of the Lord are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7
You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will preserve him from this generation forever.
8
The wicked strut about on every side
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.