The Lord Remembers His People
1 O Lord, God, to whom vengeance belongs,
you God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine out.
2 Rise up. Judge of the earth.
Pay back the proud what they deserve.
3 Lord, how long will the wicked,
how long will the wicked triumph?
4 They pour out arrogant words.
All the evildoers boast.
5 They break your people in pieces, Lord,
and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the widow and the alien,
and murder the fatherless.
7 They say, “The Lord will not see,
nor will the God of Jacob regard it.”
8 Take heed, you senseless among the people,
you fools. When will you be wise?
9 He who implanted the ear, will he not hear?
He who formed the eye, will he not see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, will he not punish?
He who teaches man knows.
11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man,
that they are futile.
12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Lord,
and teach from your law,
13 that you may give him rest from the days of adversity,
until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people,
nor will he forsake his inheritance.
15 For judgment will return to righteousness.
All the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against those who do evil?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help,
my soul would have soon dwelt in the silence of the grave.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping!”
Your loving kindness, Lord, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me,
your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you,
which, by its own statute, brings about mischief?
21 They gather themselves together against the the righteous,
and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the Lord has been my high tower,
my God, the rock of my refuge.
23 He has brought on them their own iniquity
and will cut them off in their own wickedness.
The Lord, our God, will cut them off.