To the Director: Accompanied by female voices. A Davidic Psalm.

A Cry for God’s Justicea

b 1I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,

I will declare all your wonderful deeds.

2I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praises to your name, Most High!

3When my enemies turn back,

they will stumble and perish before you.

4For you have brought about justice for me and my cause;

you sit on the throne judging righteously.

5You rebuked the nations,

you destroyed the wicked,

you wiped out their name forever and ever.

6The enemy has perished,

reduced to ruins forever.

You uprooted their cities,

the very memory of them vanished.

7But the LORD sits on his thronec forever;

his throne is established for judgment.

8He will judge the world righteously

and make just decisions for the people.

9The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,

a refuge in times of distress.

10Those who know your name will trust you,

for you have not forsaken those who seek you, LORD.

11Sing praises to the LORD who dwells in Zion;

declare his mighty deeds among the peoples.

12As an avenger of blood, he remembers them;

he has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.

13Be gracious to me, LORD,

take note of my affliction,

because of those who hate me.

You snatch me away from the gates of death,

14so I may declare everything for which you should be praisedd

in the gates of the daughter of Zion,e

so I will rejoice in your deliverance.

15The nations have sunk down into the pit they made,

their feet are ensnared in the trapf they set.

16The LORD has made himself known,

executing judgment.

The wicked are ensnared

by what their hands have made.

Interludeg

17The wicked will turn back to where the dead areh —

all the nations that have forgotten God.

18For he will not always overlook the plight of the poor,

nor will the hope of the afflicted perish forever.

19Rise up, LORD,

do not let man prevail!

The nations will be judged in your presence.

20Make them afraid, LORD,

Let the nations know that they are only human.i

Interlude