Study Desk

The LORD also will be a refuge and a stronghold for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble;

And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not abandoned those who seek You.

For He who avenges blood [unjustly shed] remembers them (His people); He does not forget the cry of the afflicted and abused.

For the poor will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the burdened perish forever.

For the wicked boasts and sings the praises of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns [and even despises] the LORD.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him; All his thoughts are, "There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment]."

His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments [LORD] are on high, out of his sight [so he never thinks about them]; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.

He says to himself, "I will not be moved; For throughout all generations I will not be in adversity [for nothing bad will happen to me]."

He lurks in ambush in the villages; In hiding places he kills the innocent; He lies in wait for the unfortunate [the unhappy, the poor, the helpless].

You have seen it, for You have noted mischief and vexation (irritation) to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

To vindicate and obtain justice for the fatherless and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer terrify them.

For look, the wicked are bending the bow; They take aim with their arrow on the string To shoot [by stealth] in darkness at the upright in heart.

For the LORD is [absolutely] righteous, He loves righteousness (virtue, morality, justice); The upright shall see His face.

Save and help and rescue, LORD, for godly people cease to be, For the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.

"Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise," says the LORD; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs."

The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the children of men To see if there are any who understand (act wisely), Who [truly] seek after God, [longing for His wisdom and guidance].

There they tremble with great fear, For God is with the [consistently] righteous generation.

In his eyes an evil person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder]. He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];

Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have placed my trust and found refuge.

As for the saints (godly people) who are in the land, They are the majestic and the noble and the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.