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⁾

For the choir director: according to Sheminith.^(a) A Davidic psalm.

Help, Lord , for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race.^(b)

They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.^(c)

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks boastfully.^(d)

They say, "Through our tongues we have power;^[a] our lips are our own—who can be our master?"^(e)

"Because of the oppression of the afflicted and the groaning of the poor, I will now rise up," says the Lord . "I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place."^(f)

The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.^(g)

You, Lord , will guard us;^[b] You will protect us^[c] from this generation forever.^(h)

The wicked wander^[d] everywhere, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.⁽ⁱ⁾

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

Lord , how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?^(a)

How long will I store up anxious concerns^[a] within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?^(b)

Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes;^(c) otherwise, I will sleep in death.

My enemy will say, "I have triumphed over him," and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.^(d)

But I have trusted in Your faithful love;^(e) my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.^(f)

I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously.^(g)

For the choir director. Davidic.

The fool says in his heart, "God does not exist."^(a) They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race^(b) to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.^[a](c)

Will evildoers never understand? They consume My people as they consume bread;^(d) they do not call on the Lord .^(e)

Then^[b] they will be filled with terror, for God is with those who are^[c] righteous.^(f)

You sinners frustrate the plans of the afflicted,^(g) but the Lord is his refuge.^(h)

Oh, that Israel's deliverance would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people,^[d] Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.^[e](i)

A Davidic psalm.

Lord , who can dwell in Your tent?^(a) Who can live on Your holy mountain?^(b)

The one who lives honestly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in his heart^(c)—

who does not slander with his tongue,^(d) who does not harm his friend or discredit his neighbor,^(e)

who despises the one rejected by the Lord ^[a] but honors those who fear the Lord ,^(f) who keeps his word whatever the cost,^(g)

who does not lend his money at interest^(h) or take a bribe against the innocent⁽ⁱ⁾— the one who does these things will never be moved.^(j)

A Davidic Miktam.^(a)

Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.^(b)

I^[a] said to Yahweh, "You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides You."^[b](c)

As for the holy people who are in the land,^(d) they are the noble ones. All my delight is in them.

The sorrows of those who take another god for themselves will multiply; I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, and I will not speak their names with my lips.^(e)

Lord , You are my portion^[c] and my cup of blessing; You hold my future.^(f)

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.^(g)

I will praise the Lord who counsels me^(h)— even at night my conscience instructs me.⁽ⁱ⁾

I keep the Lord in mind^[d] always. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.^(j)

Therefore my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely.^(k)

For You will not abandon me to Sheol;^(l) You will not allow Your Faithful One to see decay.^(m)

You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy;⁽ⁿ⁾ in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.^(o)