Psalm 10

¹Why dost thou stand afar off, O Lord?

Why dost thou hide thyself in times of trouble?

²In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

let them be caught in the schemes which they have devised.

³For the wicked boasts of the desires of his heart,

and the man greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

⁴In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him;

all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

⁵His ways prosper at all times;

thy judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

⁶He thinks in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

⁷His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

⁸He sits in ambush in the villages;

in hiding places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the hapless,

⁹he lurks in secret like a lion in his covert;

he lurks that he may seize the poor,

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

¹⁰The hapless is crushed, sinks down,

and falls by his might.

¹¹He thinks in his heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

¹²Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thy hand;

forget not the afflicted.

¹³Why does the wicked renounce God,

and say in his heart, “Thou wilt not call to account”?

¹⁴Thou dost see; yea, thou dost note trouble and vexation,

that thou mayst take it into thy hands;

the hapless commits himself to thee;

thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break thou the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

¹⁶The Lord is king for ever and ever;

the nations shall perish from his land.

¹⁷O Lord, thou wilt hear the desire of the meek;

thou wilt strengthen their heart, thou wilt incline thy ear

¹⁸to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.