Why Do You Hide Yourself?

1Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

3For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,

and the one greedy for gain curses10:3 Or he blesses the one greedy for gain and renounces the LORD.

4In the pride of his face10:4 Or of his anger the wicked does not seek him;10:4 Or the wicked says, “He will not call to account”

all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

5His ways prosper at all times;

your judgements are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

6He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

7His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

8He sits in ambush in the villages;

in hiding places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;

9he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;

he lurks that he may seize the poor;

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

10The helpless are crushed, sink down,

and fall by his might.

11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

12Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand;

forget not the afflicted.

13Why does the wicked renounce God

and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?

14But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,

that you may take it into your hands;

to you the helpless commits himself;

you have been the helper of the fatherless.

15Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

call his wickedness to account till you find none.

16The LORD is king for ever and ever;

the nations perish from his land.

17O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

18to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.