Plea for Help in Evil Times

To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

1Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;

the faithful have disappeared from humankind.

2They utter lies to each other;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

4those who say, ‘With our tongues we will prevail;

our lips are our own—who is our master?’

5‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,

I will now rise up,’ says the LORD;

‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’

6The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure,

silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

7You, O LORD, will protect us;

you will guard us from this generation for ever.

8On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among humankind.