NAS - Psalms 7 to 12

Psalm 7

The LORD Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

¹O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, ² Or he will tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.

³O LORD my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands, ⁴If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, ⁵ Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

⁶Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment. ⁷ Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You, And over them return on high. ⁸ The LORD judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me. ⁹O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. ¹⁰ My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart. ¹¹God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.

¹²If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. ¹³ He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. ¹⁴ Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. ¹⁵ He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. ¹⁶ His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate.

¹⁷I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Psalm 8

The LORD'S Glory and Man's Dignity.

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

¹O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! ² From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

³When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; ⁴ What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? ⁵ Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! ⁶ You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, ⁷ All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, ⁸The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

⁹O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Psalm 9

A Psalm of Thanksgiving for God's Justice.

For the choir director; on Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

¹I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. ²I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

³When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish before You. ⁴For You have maintained my just cause; You have sat on the throne judging righteously. ⁵ You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. ⁶ The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished.

⁷But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, ⁸And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. ⁹ The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; ¹⁰ And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; Declare among the peoples His deeds. ¹² For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. ¹³ Be gracious to me, O LORD; See my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, ¹⁴That I may tell of all Your praises, That in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation. ¹⁵The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made; In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught. ¹⁶ The LORD has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. Higgaion Selah.

¹⁷The wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God. ¹⁸ For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever. ¹⁹ Arise, O LORD, do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged before You. ²⁰ Put them in fear, O LORD; Let the nations know that they are but men. Selah.

Psalm 10

A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.

¹Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? ² In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

³For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. ⁴ The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God."

⁵His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them. ⁶He says to himself, "I will not be moved; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity." ⁷ His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness. ⁸ He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the hiding places he kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate. ⁹ He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net. ¹⁰ He crouches, he bows down, And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones. ¹¹ He says to himself, "God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it."

¹²Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted. ¹³Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, "You will not require it." ¹⁴ You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan. ¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land. ¹⁷O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear ¹⁸ To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

Psalm 11

The LORD a Refuge and Defense.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹In 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?"

⁴The 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. ⁷For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.

Psalm 12

God, a Helper against the Treacherous.

For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.

¹Help, 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."

⁶The 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.