1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart; ♦︎
I will tell of all your marvellous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; ♦︎
I will make music to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies are driven back, ♦︎
they stumble and perish at your presence.
4 For you have maintained my right and my cause; ♦︎
you sat on your throne giving righteous judgement.
5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; ♦︎
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
6 The enemy was utterly laid waste. ♦︎
You uprooted their cities;
their very memory has perished.
7 But the Lord shall endure for ever; ♦︎
he has made fast his throne for judgement.
8 For he shall rule the world with righteousness ♦︎
and govern the peoples with equity.
9 Then will the Lord be a refuge for the oppressed, ♦︎
a refuge in the time of trouble.
10 And those who know your name will put their trust in you, ♦︎
for you, Lord, have never failed those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion; ♦︎
declare among the peoples the things he has done.
12 The avenger of blood has remembered them; ♦︎
he did not forget the cry of the oppressed.
13 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; ♦︎
consider the trouble I suffer from those who hate me,
you that lift me up from the gates of death;
14 That I may tell all your praises in the gates of the city of Zion ♦︎
and rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations shall sink into the pit of their making ♦︎
and in the snare which they set will their own foot be taken.
16 The Lord makes himself known by his acts of justice; ♦︎
the wicked are snared in the works of their own hands.
17 They shall return to the land of darkness, ♦︎
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten ♦︎
and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.
19 Arise, O Lord, and let not mortals have the upper hand; ♦︎
let the nations be judged before your face.
20 Put them in fear, O Lord, ♦︎
that the nations may know themselves to be but mortal.
1 Why stand so far off, O Lord? ♦︎
Why hide yourself in time of trouble?
2 The wicked in their pride persecute the poor; ♦︎
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
3 The wicked boast of their hearts desire; ♦︎
the covetous curse and revile the Lord.
4 The wicked in their arrogance say, God will not avenge it; ♦︎
in all their scheming God counts for nothing.
5 They are stubborn in all their ways,
for your judgements are far above out of their sight; ♦︎
they scoff at all their adversaries.
6 They say in their heart, I shall not be shaken; ♦︎
no harm shall ever happen to me.
7 Their mouth is full of cursing, deceit and fraud; ♦︎
under their tongue lie mischief and wrong.
8 They lurk in the outskirts
and in dark alleys they murder the innocent; ♦︎
their eyes are ever watching for the helpless.
9 They lie in wait, like a lion in his den;
they lie in wait to seize the poor; ♦︎
they seize the poor when they get them into their net.
10 The innocent are broken and humbled before them; ♦︎
the helpless fall before their power.
11 They say in their heart, God has forgotten; ♦︎
he hides his face away; he will never see it.
12 Arise, O Lord God, and lift up your hand; ♦︎
forget not the poor.
13 Why should the wicked be scornful of God? ♦︎
Why should they say in their hearts, You will not avenge it?
14 Surely, you behold trouble and misery; ♦︎
you see it and take it into your own hand.
15 The helpless commit themselves to you, ♦︎
for you are the helper of the orphan.
16 Break the power of the wicked and malicious; ♦︎
search out their wickedness until you find none.
17 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever; ♦︎
the nations shall perish from his land.
18 Lord, you will hear the desire of the poor; ♦︎
you will incline your ear to the fullness of their heart,
19 To give justice to the orphan and oppressed, ♦︎
so that people are no longer driven in terror from the land.