Psalm 10-12

New King James Version

A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil

10 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
²The wicked in his pride ^[a]persecutes the poor;
^(A)Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

³For the wicked ^(B)boasts of his heart’s desire;
^[b]He ^(C)blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
⁴The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
^[c]God is in none of his ^(D)thoughts.

⁵His ways ^[d]are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
⁶^(E)He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
^(F)I shall never be in adversity.”
⁷^(G)His mouth is full of cursing and ^(H)deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.

⁸He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
⁹He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
¹⁰So ^[e]he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his ^[f]strength.
¹¹He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”

¹²Arise, O Lord!
O God, ^(I)lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the ^(J)humble.
¹³Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.”

¹⁴But You have ^(K)seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless ^(L)commits^[g] himself to You;
^(M)You are the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶^(N)The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
¹⁷Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
¹⁸To ^[h]do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may ^[i]oppress no more.

Faith in the Lord’s Righteousness

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

11 In ^(O)the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
²For look! ^(P)The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot ^[j]secretly at the upright in heart.
³^(Q)If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?

⁴The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s ^(R)throne is in heaven;
^(S)His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
⁵The Lord ^(T)tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
⁶Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
^(U)Shall be ^[k]the portion of their cup.

⁷For the Lord is righteous,
He ^(V)loves righteousness;
^[l]His countenance beholds the upright.

Man’s Treachery and God’s Constancy

To the Chief Musician. ^(W)On ^[m]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.

12 Help,^[n] Lord, for the godly man ^(X)ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
²^(Y)They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and ^[o]a double heart they speak.

³May the Lord ^[p]cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks ^[q]proud things,
⁴Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”

⁵“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

⁶The words of the Lord are ^(Z)pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
⁷You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.