The Living Bible (173 page)

Psalm
7

I am depending on you, O Lord my God, to save me from my persecutors.
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 Don’t let them pounce upon me as a lion would and maul me and drag me away with no one to rescue me.
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 It would be different, Lord, if I were doing evil things—
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 if I were paying back evil for good or unjustly attacking those I dislike.
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 Then it would be right for you to let my enemies destroy me, crush me to the ground, and trample my life in the dust.

    
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 But Lord! Arise in anger against the anger of my enemies. Awake! Demand justice for me, Lord!
^7-8
 Gather all peoples before you; sit high above them, judging their sins. But justify me publicly; establish my honor and truth before them all.
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 End all wickedness, O Lord, and bless all who truly worship God;
*
for you, the righteous God, look deep within the hearts of men and examine all their motives and their thoughts.

    
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 God is my shield; he will defend me. He saves those whose hearts and lives are true and right.
*

    
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 God is a judge who is perfectly fair, and he is angry with the wicked every day.
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 Unless they repent, he will sharpen his sword and slay them.

    
He has bent and strung his bow
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 and fitted it with deadly arrows made from shafts of fire.

    
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 The wicked man conceives an evil plot, labors with its dark details, and brings to birth his treachery and lies;
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 let him fall into his own trap.
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 May the violence he plans for others boomerang upon himself; let him die.

    
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 Oh, how grateful and thankful I am to the Lord because he is so good. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord who is above all lords.

Psalm
8

O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name fills all the earth and overflows the heavens.
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 You have taught the little children to praise you perfectly. May their example shame and silence your enemies!

    
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 When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made—
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 I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!

    
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 And yet you have made him only a little lower than the angels
*
and placed a crown of glory and honor upon his head.

    
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 You have put him in charge of everything you made; everything is put under his authority:
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 all sheep and oxen, and wild animals too,
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 the birds and fish, and all the life in the sea.
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 O Jehovah, our Lord, the majesty and glory of your name fills the earth.

Psalm
9

O Lord, I will praise you with all my heart and tell everyone about the marvelous things you do.
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 I will be glad, yes, filled with joy because of you. I will sing your praises, O Lord God above all gods.
*

    
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 My enemies will fall back and perish in your presence;
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 you have vindicated me; you have endorsed my work, declaring from your throne that it is good.
*
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 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked, blotting out their names forever and ever.
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 O enemies of mine, you are doomed forever. The Lord will destroy your cities; even the memory of them will disappear.

    
^7-8
 But the Lord lives on forever; he sits upon his throne to judge justly the nations of the world.
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 All who are oppressed may come to him. He is a refuge for them in their times of trouble.
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 All those who know your mercy, Lord, will count on you for help. For you have never yet forsaken those who trust in you.

    
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 Oh, sing out your praises to the God who lives in Jerusalem.
*
Tell the world about his unforgettable deeds.
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 He who avenges murder has an open ear to those who cry to him for justice. He does not ignore the prayers of men in trouble when they call to him for help.

    
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 And now, O Lord, have mercy on me; see how I suffer at the hands of those who hate me. Lord, snatch me back from the jaws of death.
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 Save me, so that I can praise you publicly before all the people at Jerusalem’s gates
*
and rejoice that you have rescued me.

    
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 The nations fall into the pitfalls they have dug for others; the trap they set has snapped on them.
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 The Lord is famous for the way he punishes the wicked in their own snares!
*

    
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 The wicked shall be sent away to hell; this is the fate of all the nations forgetting the Lord.
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 For the needs of the needy shall not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor shall not always be crushed.

    
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 O Lord, arise and judge and punish the nations; don’t let them defy you!
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 Make them tremble in fear; put the nations in their place until at last they know they are but puny men.

Psalm
10

Lord, why are you standing aloof and far away? Why do you hide when I need you the most?

    
²
 Come and deal with all these proud and wicked men who viciously persecute the poor. Pour upon these men the evil they planned for others!
³
 For these men brag of all their evil lusts; they revile God and congratulate those the Lord abhors, whose only goal in life is money.

    
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 These wicked men, so proud and haughty, seem to think that God is dead.
*
They wouldn’t think of looking for him!
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 Yet there is success in everything they do, and their enemies fall before them. They do not see your punishment awaiting them.
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 They boast that neither God nor man can ever keep them down—somehow they’ll find a way!

    
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 Their mouths are full of profanity and lies and fraud. They are always boasting of their evil plans.
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 They lurk in dark alleys of the city and murder passersby.
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 Like lions they crouch silently, waiting to pounce upon the poor. Like hunters they catch their victims in their traps.
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 The unfortunate are overwhelmed by their superior strength and fall beneath their blows.
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 “God isn’t watching,” they say to themselves; “he’ll never know!”

    
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 O Lord, arise! O God, crush them! Don’t forget the poor or anyone else in need.
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 Why do you let the wicked get away with this contempt for God? For they think that God will never call them to account.
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 Lord, you see what they are doing. You have noted each evil act. You know what trouble and grief they have caused. Now punish them. O Lord, the poor man trusts himself to you; you are known as the helper of the helpless.
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 Break the arms of these wicked men. Go after them until the last of them is destroyed.

    
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 The Lord is King forever and forever. Those who follow other gods shall be swept from his land.

    
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 Lord, you know the hopes of humble people. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort their hearts by helping them.
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 You will be with the orphans and all who are oppressed, so that mere earthly man will terrify them no longer.