Psalm 10

A prayer for help

1 Must you stand so far away, Lord?

Why do you hide when there is trouble?

2 Wicked people are cruel to poor people.

They use their evil ideas

to take hold of weak people.

3 Not only do wicked people boast

because they get the things that they want.

They also praise robbers,

and they curse the Lord.

4 Wicked people are too proud to worry about God.

They think, ‘God will not give me any trouble.’

5 Often the wicked person seems to have success.

He does not respect your commands, God.

He laughs at all his enemies.

6 He says to himself, ‘There will be no trouble for me.

Nothing bad will ever happen to me or to my children.’

7 Plenty of lies come from his mouth,

and he curses people.

The bad words that he speaks are very cruel,

and they hurt people.

8 He hides near the villages,

so that he can jump out and catch people.

He watches in secret to find a weak person that he can kill.

He murders people who have done nothing wrong.

9 Quietly, he hides like a lion among some bushes.

He waits there to catch a poor, weak person.

Like a hunter, he catches poor people in his net.

10 He stamps on the people that he catches,

and he knocks them down to the ground.

The weak person falls down,

because the wicked person is too strong.

11 The wicked person says to himself,

‘God will give me no trouble!

He does not even see what I do.’

12 Rise up, Lord!

Do something, God,

and knock down the wicked person!

Do not forget to help weak people.

13 Why do wicked people insult God?

They say to themselves,

‘God will not give me any trouble.’

14 Surely, God, you see what is happening.

You see how wicked people bring pain and trouble.

You decide what to do about it.

The weak person trusts that you will help him.

You take care of children who have no father.

15 Take hold of the arm of the wicked, evil man!

Break it and take away his strength!

Punish him for the bad things that he has done,

so that he has to stop.

16 The Lord will rule as king for ever!

The nations who do not serve him

will not remain in his land.

17 You, Lord, hear the prayers

of people who are suffering.

When they ask you to help them,

you make them feel strong.

18 You stand beside those who have no father,

and those who are poor and weak.

As a result, they will no longer be afraid.

No human on the earth can frighten them.