12
For the music director; according to the sheminith style; a psalm of David.
1 Deliver, Lord!
For the godly have disappeared;
people of integrity have vanished.
2 People lie to one another;
they flatter and deceive.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
and the tongue that boasts!
4 They say, “We speak persuasively;
we know how to flatter and boast.
Who is our master?”
5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed,
because of the painful cries of the needy,
I will spring into action,” says the Lord.
“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.”
6 The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable.
They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,
where it is thoroughly refined.
7 You, Lord, will protect them;
you will continually shelter each one from these evil people,
8 for the wicked seem to be everywhere,
when people promote evil.