Psalms For Justice

Psalm 9

To the choirmaster:

according to Muth-labben.

A Psalm of David

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds.

2 I will be glad and exult in thee,

I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turned back,

they stumbled and perished before thee.

4 For thou has maintained my just cause;

thou has sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.

5 Thou has rebuked the nations,

thou has destroyed the wicked;

thou has blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 The enemy have vanished in everlasting ruins;

their cities thou has rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever,

he has established His throne for judgment;

8 and He judges the world with righteousness,

He judges the peoples with equity.

9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 And those who know thy name put their trust in thee,

for thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those

who seek thee.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, those who dwells in Zion!

Tell among the peoples His deeds!

12 For He who avenges blood is mindful of them;

He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13 Be gracious to me, O Lord!

Behold what I suffer from those who hate me,

O thou who lifts me up from the gates of death,

14 that I may recount all thy praises,

that in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in thy deliverance.

15 The nations have sunk in the pit which they made;

in the net which they hid has their own

foot been caught.

16 The Lord has made Himself known, He has

executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their

own hands. [Higgaion.]

17 The wicked shall depart to Sheol,

all the nations that forget God.

18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever .

19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;

let the nations be judged before thee!

20 Put them in fear, O Lord!

Let the nations know that they are but men!

Psalm 10

1 Why dost thou stand afar off, O Lord?

Why dost thou hide thyself in times of trouble?

2 In arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

let them be caught in the schemes which

they have devised.

3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his heart,

and the man greedy for gain curses and

renounces the Lord.

4 In the pride of his countenance the wicked

does not seek Him;

all his thoughts are, "There is no God."

5 His ways prosper at all times;

thy judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

6 He thinks in his heart, "I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet

adversity."

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit

and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

8 He sits in ambush in the villages;

in hidden places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless,

9 he lurks in secret like a lion in his covert;

he lurks that he may seize the poor,

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

10 The helpless is crushed, sinks down,

and falls by his might.

11 He thinks in his heart, "God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, he will never see it."

12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thy hand;

forget not the afflicted.

13 Why does the wicked renounce God,

and say in his heart, "God will not call to account"?

14 Thou dost see; yea, thou does note trouble

and vexation,

that thou may take it into thy hands;

the helpless commits himself to thee;

thou has been the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 The Lord is king forever and ever;

the nations shall perish from his land.

17 O Lord, thou will hear the desire of the meek;

thou will strengthen their heart,

thou will incline thy ear

18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike

terror no more.

Psalm 58

A Miktam of David.

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy.

1 Do you indeed decree what is right,

you gods?

Do you judge the sons of men uprightly?

2 Nay, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands deal out violence on earth.

3 The wicked go astray from the womb,

they err from their birth, speaking lies.

4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;

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

7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;

like grass let them be trodden down and wither.

8 Let them be like the snail which dissolves

into slime,

like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.

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

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep

them away!

10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

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

11 Men will say,

"Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who judges on earth."

Psalm75

To the choirmaster:

according to Do Not Destroy.

A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1We give thanks to thee, O God;

we give thanks;

we call on thy name

and recount thy wondrous deeds.

2 At the set time which I appoint

I will judge with equity.

3 When the earth totters,

and all its inhabitants,

it is I who keep steady its pillars.

4 I say to the boastful, "Do not boast,"

and to the wicked,

"Do not lift up your horn;

5 do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with insolent neck."

6 For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up;

7 but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,

with foaming wine, well mixed;

and he will pour a draught from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall drain it down to the dregs.

9 But I will rejoice forever,

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

10 All the horns of the wicked he will cut off,

but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Psalm76

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1 To In Judah God is known,

His name is great in Israel.

2 His abode has been established in Salem,

His dwelling place in Zion.

3 There he broke the flashing arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.

4 Glorious art thou, more majestic

than the everlasting mountains.

5 The stout-hearted were stripped of their spoil;

they sank into sleep;

all the men of war

were unable to use their hands.

6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both rider and horse lay stunned.

7 But thou, awesome art thou!

Who can stand before thee

when once thy anger is roused?

8 From the heavens thou didst utter judgment;

the earth feared and was still,

9 when God arose to establish judgment

to save all the oppressed of the earth.

10 Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee;

the residue of wrath thou wilt gird upon thee.

11 Make your vows to the Lord your God,

and perform them;

let all around Him bring gifts

to Him, whom humanity should love,

12 who cuts off the spirit of princes,

who is terrible to the kings of the earth.

Psalm 82

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 God has taken His place in the divine council;

in the midst of the Gods He holds judgment:

2 "How long will you judge unjustly

and show partiality to the wicked?

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;

maintain the right of the afflicted and the

destitute.

4 Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk about in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 I say, "You are Gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

7 nevertheless, you shall die like men,

and fall like any prince."

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;

for to thee belong all the nations!

Psalm 99

1 The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!

He sits enthroned upon the cherubim;

let the earth quake!

2 The Lord is great in Zion;

He is exalted over all the peoples.

3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name!

Holy is He!

4 Mighty King, lover of justice,

thou hast established equity;

thou hast executed justice

and righteousness in Jacob.

5 Extol the Lord our God;

worship at His footstool!

Holy is He!

6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,

Samuel also was among those who called

on His name.

They cried to the Lord, and He answered them.

7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;

they kept His testimonies,

and the statutes that He gave them.

8 O Lord our God, thou didst answer them;

thou wast a forgiving God to them,

but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

9 Extol the Lord our God,

and worship at His holy mountain;

for the Lord our God is holy!

Psalm 101

A Psalm of David.

1 I will sing of loyalty and of justice;

to thee, O Lord, I will sing.

2 I will give heed to the way that is blameless.

Oh when wilt thou come to me?

I will walk with integrity of heart

within my house;

3 I will not set before my eyes

anything that is base.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cleave to me.

4 Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil.

5 Him who slanders his neighbour secretly

I will destroy.

The man of haughty looks and arrogant heart

I will not endure.

6 I will look with favour on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

he who walks in the way that is blameless

shall minister to me.

7 No man who practices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

no man who utters lies

shall continue in my presence.

8 Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

cutting off all the evildoers

from the city of the Lord.