Study Desk

For the choir director: according to Muth-labben.^[a] A Davidic psalm.

I will thank Yahweh with all my heart; I will declare all Your wonderful works.^(a)

I will rejoice and boast about You;^(b) I will sing about Your name, Most High.^(c)

When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.^(d)

For You have upheld my just cause;^[b](e) You are seated on Your throne as a righteous judge.^(f)

You have rebuked the nations:^(g) You have destroyed the wicked;^(h) You have erased their name forever and ever.⁽ⁱ⁾

The enemy has come to eternal ruin; You have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished.^(j)

But the Lord sits enthroned forever;^(k) He has established His throne for judgment.^(l)

He judges the world with righteousness; He executes judgment on the nations with fairness.^(m)

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.⁽ⁿ⁾

Those who know Your name trust in You because You have not abandoned those who seek You, Yahweh.^(o)

Sing to the Lord , who dwells in Zion;^(p) proclaim His deeds among the nations.^(q)

For the One who seeks an accounting for bloodshed remembers them;^(r) He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.^(s)

Be gracious to me, Lord ; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me.^(t) Lift me up from the gates of death,^(u)

so that I may declare all Your praises. I will rejoice in Your salvation^(v) within the gates of Daughter Zion.

The nations have fallen into the pit they made; their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.^(w)

The Lord has revealed Himself; He has executed justice,^(x) striking down^[c] the wicked^[d] by the work of their hands.^(y) Higgaion. Selah

The wicked will return to Sheol^(z)— all the nations that forget God.^(aa)

For the oppressed will not always be forgotten; the hope of the afflicted^[e] will not perish forever.^(ab)

Rise up, Lord ! Do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your presence.^(ac)

Put terror in them, Lord ;^(ad) let the nations know they are only men.^(ae) Selah

Lord ,^[a][b] why do You stand so far away?^(a) Why do You hide in times of trouble?^(b)

In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.^(c)

For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;^(d) the one who is greedy curses^[c] and despises the Lord .^(e)

In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks:^[d] "There is no accountability, since God does not exist."^(f)

His ways are always secure;^[e] Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight; he scoffs at all his adversaries.^(g)

He says to himself, "I will never be moved— from generation to generation without calamity."^(h)

Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth; trouble and malice are under his tongue.⁽ⁱ⁾

He waits in ambush near the villages;^(j) he kills the innocent in secret places. His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;^(k)

he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket. He lurks in order to seize the afflicted; he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.

So he is oppressed and beaten down; the helpless fall because of his strength.^(l)

He says to himself, "God has forgotten; He hides His face and will never see."^(m)

Rise up, Lord God! Lift up Your hand.⁽ⁿ⁾ Do not forget the afflicted.^(o)

Why has the wicked person despised God? He says to himself, "You will not demand an account."^(p)

But You Yourself have seen trouble and grief, observing it in order to take the matter into Your hands.^(q) The helpless entrusts himself to You; You are a helper of the fatherless.^(r)

Break the arm of the wicked and evil person;^(s) call his wickedness into account until nothing remains of it.^[f](t)

The Lord is King forever and ever;^(u) the nations will perish from His land.^(v)

Lord , You have heard the desire of the humble;^[g] You will strengthen their hearts. You will listen carefully,^(w)

doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.^(x)

For the choir director. Davidic.

I have taken refuge in the Lord .^(a) How can you say to me, "Escape to the mountain like a bird!^[a](b)

For look, the wicked string the bow; they put the^[b] arrow on the bowstring to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.^(c)

When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"^(d)

The Lord is in His holy temple;^(e) the Lord 's throne is in heaven.^(f) His eyes watch; He examines^[c] everyone.

The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked. He hates the lover of violence.^(g)

He will rain burning coals^[d] and sulfur on the wicked; a scorching wind will be their portion.^[e](h)

For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds. The upright will see His face.⁽ⁱ⁾