Plea for Help in Evil Times
To the leader: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,
those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own—who is our master?”
“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.”
The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
You, O Lord, will protect us; you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among humankind.