God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
1 Save and help and rescue, Lord, for godly people cease to be, For the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.
2 They speak deceitful and worthless words to one another; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things [in boasting];
4 Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; who is lord and master over us?”
5 “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words and promises of the Lord are pure words, Like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will preserve and keep them; You will protect him from this [evil] generation forever.
8 The wicked strut about [in pompous self-importance] on every side, As vileness is exalted and baseness is prized among the sons of men.