³ The wicked brag about their body’s^[b] cravings;
    the greedy reject the Lord, cursing.
⁴ At the peak of their wrath,
    the wicked don’t seek God:
    There’s no God—
    that’s what they are always thinking.
⁵ Their ways are always twisted.
        Your rules are too lofty for them.
    They snort at all their foes.
⁶     They think to themselves,
        We’ll never stumble.
        We’ll never encounter any resistance.
⁷ Their mouths are filled
        with curses, dishonesty, violence.
    Under their tongues lie
        troublemaking and wrongdoing.
⁸ They wait in a place perfect for ambush;^[c]
    from their hiding places
    they kill innocent people;
    their eyes spot those who are helpless.
⁹ They lie in ambush
    in secret places,
    like a lion in its lair.
They lie in ambush
    so they can seize those who suffer!
They seize the poor, all right,
    dragging them off in their nets.
¹⁰ Their helpless victims are crushed;
    they collapse, falling prey to the strength of the wicked.
¹¹ The wicked think to themselves:
    God has forgotten.
    God has hidden his face.
    God never sees anything!

¹² Get up, Lord!
    Get your fist ready, God!
    Don’t forget the ones who suffer!
¹³ Why do the wicked reject God?
    Why do they think to themselves
        that you won’t find out?
¹⁴ But you do see!
    You do see troublemaking and grief,
    and you do something about it!
The helpless leave it all to you.
    You are the orphan’s helper.

¹⁵ Break the arms of those
    who are wicked and evil.
Seek out their wickedness
    until there’s no more to find.
¹⁶ The Lord rules forever and always!
    The nations will vanish from his land.

¹⁷ Lord, you listen to the desires of those who suffer.
    You steady their hearts;
you listen closely to them,
¹⁸     to establish justice
        for the orphan and the oppressed,
    so that people of the land
        will never again be terrified.

¹⁰ The Lord overrules what the nations plan;
    he frustrates what the peoples intend to do.
¹¹ But the Lord’s plan stands forever;
    what he intends to do lasts from one generation to the next.
¹² The nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom God has chosen as his possession,
    is truly happy!
¹³ The Lord looks down from heaven;
    he sees every human being.
¹⁴ From his dwelling place God observes
    all who live on earth.
¹⁵ God is the one who made all their hearts,
    the one who knows everything they do.

¹⁶ Kings aren’t saved by the strength of their armies;
    warriors aren’t rescued by how much power they have.
¹⁷ A warhorse is a bad bet for victory;
    it can’t save despite its great strength.
¹⁸ But look here: the Lord’s eyes watch all who honor him,
    all who wait for his faithful love,
¹⁹     to deliver their lives^[a] from death
    and keep them alive during a famine.

²⁰ We put our hope in the Lord.
    He is our help and our shield.
²¹ Our heart rejoices in God
    because we trust his holy name.
²² Lord, let your faithful love surround us
    because we wait for you.