Psalm 9

To the Chief Musician; set for [possibly] soprano voices. A Psalm of David.

¹ I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your marvelous works and wonderful deeds!

² I will rejoice in You and be in high spirits; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High!

³ When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before You.

⁴ For You have maintained my right and my cause; You 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 have been cut off and have vanished in everlasting ruins, You have plucked up and overthrown their cities; the very memory of them has perished and vanished.

⁷ But the Lord shall remain and continue forever; He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.^(A)

⁸ And He will judge the world in righteousness (rightness and equity); He will minister justice to the peoples in uprightness.^(B)

⁹ The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation).

¹⁰ And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity].^(C)

¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, Who dwells in Zion! Declare among the peoples His doings!

¹² For He Who avenges the blood [of His people shed unjustly] remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted (the poor and the humble).

¹³ Have mercy upon me and be gracious to me, O Lord; consider how I am afflicted by those who hate me, You Who lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴ That I may show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your praises! In the gates of the Daughter of Zion I will rejoice in Your salvation and Your saving help.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot caught.

¹⁶ The Lord has made Himself known; He executes judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion [meditation]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

¹⁷ The wicked shall be turned back [headlong into premature death] into Sheol (the place of the departed spirits of the wicked), even all the nations that forget or are forgetful of God.

¹⁸ For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the expectation and hope of the meek and the poor shall not perish forever.

¹⁹ Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before You.

²⁰ Put them in fear [make them realize their frail nature], O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

Psalm 10

¹ Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself, [veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble (distress and desperation)?

² The wicked in pride and arrogance hotly pursue and persecute the poor; let them be taken in the schemes which they have devised.

³ For the wicked man boasts (sings the praises) of his own heart’s desire, and the one greedy for gain curses and spurns, yes, renounces and despises the Lord.

⁴ The wicked one in the pride of his countenance will not seek, inquire for, and yearn for God; all his thoughts are that there is no God [so He never punishes].

⁵ His ways are grievous [or persist] at all times; Your judgments [Lord] are far above and on high out of his sight [so he never thinks about them]; as for all his foes, he sniffs and sneers at them.

⁶ He thinks in his heart, I shall not be moved; for throughout all generations I shall not come to want or be in adversity.

⁷ His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, oppression (fraud); under his tongue are trouble and sin (mischief and iniquity).

⁸ He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he slays the innocent; he watches stealthily for the poor (the helpless and unfortunate).

⁹ He lurks in secret places like a lion in his thicket; he lies in wait that he may seize the poor (the helpless and the unfortunate); he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

¹⁰ [The prey] is crushed, sinks down; and the helpless falls by his mighty [claws].

¹¹ [The foe] thinks in his heart, God has quite forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see [my deed].

¹² Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand; forget not the humble [patient and crushed].

¹³ Why does the wicked [man] condemn (spurn and renounce) God? Why has he thought in his heart, You will not call to account?

¹⁴ You have seen it; yes, You note trouble and grief (vexation) to requite it with Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked man; and as for the evil man, search out his wickedness until You find no more.

¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish out of His land.

¹⁷ O Lord, You have heard the desire and the longing of the humble and oppressed; You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts, You will cause Your ear to hear,

¹⁸ To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man, who is of the earth, may not terrify them any more.

Psalm 11

To the Chief Musician or Choir Leader. [A Psalm] of David.

¹ In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust]; how can you say to me, Flee like a bird to your mountain?

² For see, the wicked are bending the bow; they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they [furtively] in darkness may shoot at the upright in heart.

³ If the foundations are destroyed, what can the [unyieldingly] righteous do, or what has He [the Righteous One] wrought or accomplished?

⁴ The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold; His eyelids test and prove the children of men.^(A)

⁵ The Lord tests and proves the [unyieldingly] righteous, but His soul abhors the wicked and him who loves violence.^(B)

⁶ Upon the wicked He will rain quick burning coals or snares; fire, brimstone, and a [dreadful] scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷ For the Lord is [rigidly] righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face, or He beholds the upright.