God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to hDo Not Destroy. A iMiktam1 of David.

¹Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?2

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

²No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands jdeal out violence on earth.

³The wicked are kestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

⁴lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

⁵so that it mdoes not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

⁶O God, nbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

⁷Let them ovanish like water that runs away;

when he paims his arrows, let them be blunted.

⁸Let them be like the snail othat dissolves into slime,

like qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.

⁹Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of rthorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he ssweep them away!3

¹⁰tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹Mankind will say, “Surely there is va reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who wjudges on earth.”

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to xDo Not Destroy. A yMiktam1 of David, zwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

¹aDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

bprotect me from those who crise up against me;

²deliver me from dthose who work evil,

and save me from ebloodthirsty men.

³For behold, they flie in wait for my life;

fierce men gstir up strife against me.

hFor no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

⁴for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

iAwake, come to meet me, and see!

⁵You, jLord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

⁶Each evening they kcome back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

⁷There they are, lbellowing with their mouths

with mswords in their lips—

for n“Who,” they think,2 “will hear us?”

⁸But you, O Lord, olaugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

⁹O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are pmy fortress.

¹⁰qMy God in his steadfast love3 rwill meet me;

God will let me slook in triumph on my enemies.

¹¹Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter4 by your power and tbring them down,

O Lord, our ushield!

¹²For vthe sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

¹³wconsume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

that they may xknow that God rules over Jacob

to ythe ends of the earth. Selah

¹⁴zEach evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

¹⁵They awander about for food

and growl if they do not get their fill.

¹⁶But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me ba fortress

and ca refuge in dthe day of my distress.

¹⁷O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, bare my fortress,

ethe God who shows me steadfast love.