Chapter 93

In thy divine vengeance, Lord, in thy divine vengeance stand revealed!

Judge of the world, mount thy throne, and give the proud their deserts!

Must it be the sinners still, Lord, the sinners still that triumph?

Shall there be no end to the prating, the rebellious talk, the boastfulness of wrong-doers?

See, Lord, how they crush down thy people, afflict the land of thy choice,

murder the widow and the stranger, slay the orphan!

And they think, The Lord will never see it, the God of Israel pays no heed.

Pay heed, rather, yourselves, dull hearts that count among my people; fools, learn your lesson ere it is too late.

Is he deaf, the God who implanted hearing in us; is he blind, the God who gave us eyes to see?

He who gives nations their schooling, who taught man all that man knows, will he not call you to account?

The Lord looks into men’s hearts, and finds there illusion.

Happy, Lord, is the man whom thou dost chasten, reading him the lesson of thy law!

For him, thou wilt lighten the time of adversity, digging a pit all the while to entrap the sinner.

God will not abandon his people, will not desert his chosen land;

ere long his justice will reappear in judgement, claiming all upright hearts for its own.

Who takes my part against the oppressor? Who rallies to my side against the wrong-doers?

It is the Lord that helps me; but for that, the grave would soon be my resting-place.

Still, when my foothold seems lost, thy mercy, Lord, holds me up;

amid all the thronging cares that fill my heart, my soul finds comfort in thy consolation.

What part have these unjust judges with thee, that make mischief in the name of law?

Let them harry the just as they will, pass sentence of death upon the innocent,

the Lord will be my defence, in my God I shall find a rock-fastness still.

He will punish the wrong, destroy them in their wickedness; doubt not the Lord our God will destroy them.