Psalm 10

A prayer for help against wicked people

1 Lord, why do you stand so far away from us?

Why do you hide when we are in trouble?

2  Wicked people are cruel to poor people.

They use their evil ideas

to take hold of weak people.

3 Wicked people boast

because they get the things that they want.

They praise greedy people,

and they curse the Lord.

4 Wicked people are too proud to turn to God.

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

5 Wicked people always seem to have success.

They do not respect your commands, God.

They laugh at all their enemies.

6 They think, ‘No trouble will cause us to fail.

Nothing bad will ever happen to us.’

7 Many lies come from their mouths,

and they are always cursing people.

They say evil things

to be cruel and to hurt people.

8 They hide near the villages.

They wait there to catch people

and they kill them.

They look for any weak person who passes that way.

9 They hide like lions among bushes.

They wait to catch a poor, weak person.

Like hunters who catch animals in their nets,

they carry the people away.

10 They stamp on these helpless people.

They knock them down to the ground.

The weak people fall down,

because the wicked people are too strong.

11 Wicked people think,

‘God will give us no trouble!

He does not even see what we do.’

12 Rise up, Lord!

Knock down wicked people!

Do not forget to help weak people.

13 Why do wicked people insult God?

They think,

‘God will not give me any trouble.’

14 But you, God, see what is happening.

You see how wicked people bring pain and trouble.

You decide how to punish them.

Helpless people trust that you will help them.

You take care of children who have no father.

15 So destroy the power of wicked, evil men!

Punish them for the wicked things that they have done.

Cause them to stop.

16 The Lord rules as king for ever!

The nations who do not serve him

will disappear from his land.

17 Lord, you listen to the prayers

of people who are suffering.

When they call to you for help,

you make them feel brave and strong.

18 You stand beside children who have no father,

and all those who are poor and weak.

As a result, no human on the earth can frighten them again.