Psalm 10-16

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.

⁸The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Trust in the Salvation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
^(AA)How long will You hide Your face from me?
²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
^(AB)Enlighten my eyes,
^(AC)Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
⁴Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph^(AD)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

14 The ^(AE)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

²^(AF)The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
³^(AG)They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And ^(AH)do not call on the Lord?
⁵There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the Lord is his ^(AI)refuge.

⁷^(AJ)Oh,^[r] that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
^(AK)When the Lord brings back ^[s]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord

A Psalm of David.

15 Lord, ^(AL)who may ^[t]abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

²He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the ^(AM)truth in his heart;
³He who ^(AN)does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
^(AO)Nor does he ^[u]take up a reproach against his friend;
⁴^(AP)In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who ^(AQ)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things ^(AR)shall never be moved.

The Hope of the Faithful, and the Messiah’s Victory

A ^(AS)Michtam of David.

16 Preserve^[v] me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

²O my soul, you have said to the Lord,
“You are my Lord,
^(AT)My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
³As for the saints who are on the earth,
“They are the excellent ones, in ^(AU)whom is all my delight.”

⁴Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;
Their drink offerings of ^(AV)blood I will not offer,
^(AW)Nor take up their names on my lips.

⁵O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You ^[w]maintain my lot.
⁶The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.

⁷I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My ^[x]heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
⁸^(AX)I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will ^[y]rest in hope.
¹⁰^(AY)For You will not leave my soul in ^[z]Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to ^[aa]see corruption.
¹¹You will show me the ^(AZ)path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.