The LORD Is a Stronghold for the Oppressed

Verses 1–12 · thanksgiving for past justice

1. ^{verse 1}I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will recount all Your wonders.
2. ^{verse 2}I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
3. ^{verse 3}When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.
4. ^{verse 4}For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.
5. ^{verse 5}You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.
6. ^{verse 6}The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.
7. ^{verse 7}But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment.
8. ^{verse 8}He judges the world with justice; He governs the people with equity.
9. ^{verse 9}The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10. ^{verse 10}Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
11. ^{verse 11}Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; proclaim His deeds among the nations.
12. ^{verse 12}For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Verses 13–20 · fresh plea in present trouble

1. ^{verse 13}Be merciful to me, O LORD; see how my enemies afflict me! Lift me up from the gates of death,
2. ^{verse 14}that I may declare all Your praises — that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.
3. ^{verse 15}The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
4. ^{verse 16}The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
5. ^{verse 17}The wicked will return to Sheol— all the nations who forget God.
6. ^{verse 18}For the needy will not always be forgotten; nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.
7. ^{verse 19}Rise up, O LORD, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your presence.
8. ^{verse 20}Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah