Today’s word: To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed

prayer and thanksgiving Psalm 9

Prayer and Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Righteous Judgments

To the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David.

9 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
² I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

³ When my enemies turn back,
They shall fall and perish at Your presence.
⁴ For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.
⁵ You have rebuked the nations,
You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶ O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
And you have destroyed cities;
Even their memory has perished.
⁷ But the Lord shall endure forever;
He has prepared His throne for judgment.
⁸ He shall judge the world in righteousness,
And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

⁹ The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
¹⁰ And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion!
Declare His deeds among the people.
¹² When He avenges blood, He remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the humble.

¹³ Have mercy on me, O Lord!
Consider my trouble from those who hate me,
You who lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ That I may tell of all Your praise
In the gates of the daughter of Zion.
I will rejoice in Your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
¹⁶ The Lord is known by the judgment He executes;
The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

Meditation. Selah

¹⁷ The wicked shall be turned into hell,
And all the nations that forget God.
¹⁸ For the needy shall not always be forgotten;
The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

¹⁹ Arise, O Lord,
Do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
²⁰ Put them in fear, O Lord,
That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah

Psalm 10

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?
² The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

³ For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;
He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
⁴ The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
God is in none of his thoughts.

⁵ His ways are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
⁶ He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
I shall never be in adversity.”
⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.

⁸ He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
⁹ He 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.
¹⁰ So he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his strength.
¹¹ He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”

¹² Arise, O Lord!
O God, lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the humble.
¹³ Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.”

¹⁴ But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless commits himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
¹⁷ Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
¹⁸ To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may oppress no more.