A Prayer for God to Throw down the Wicked

• Why do you hide[fn] during times of distress?
• 2 In arrogance the wicked persecutes[fn] the poor. Let them be caught in the schemes that they devised,
• 3 for the wicked boasts about the desire of his heart ,[fn] and the one greedy for gain curses and treats Yahweh with contempt.
• 4 With bald-faced pride[fn] the wicked will not seek God. There is no God in any of his thoughts.
• 5 His ways[fn] endure at all times.[fn] Your judgments are aloof from him.
• As for all his enemies, he scoffs at them.
• 6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved throughout all generations ,[fn] during which I will have no trouble.”
• 7 His mouth is filled with cursing, with deceits and oppression;
• under his tongue are trouble and evil.
• 8 He sits in ambush in villages; in the hiding places he kills the innocent.
• His eyes lurk[fn] for the helpless.
• 9 He lies in ambush secretly,[fn] like a lion in a thicket. He lies in ambush to seize the poor;
• he seizes the poor by catching him in his net.
• 10 He is crushed;[fn] he is bowed down;[fn] so[fn] the helpless host[fn] falls by his might .[fn]
• 11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He has hidden his face.
• He never sees.”
• 12 Rise up, O Yahweh; O God, lift up your hand.
• Do not forget the afflicted.
• 13 Why does the wicked treat God with contempt? He says in his heart, “You will not call me to account.”
• 14 But you have seen; indeed you have noted trouble and grief to take it into your hand.
• The helpless abandons himself upon you;
• you have been the helper for the orphan.
• 15 Break the arm of the wicked, and as for the evil man—
• seek out his wickedness until you find none.
• 16 Yahweh is king forever and ever; the nations have perished from his land.
• 17 The longing of the afflicted you have heard, O Yahweh. You will make their heart secure. You will listen attentively[fn]
• 18 to render judgment for the fatherless and the oppressed so that a mere mortal from the earth will no longer cause terror.