For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.

1 Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!

2 Neighbors lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.

3 May the Lord cut off their flattering lips and silence their boastful tongues.

4 They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content. Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”

5 The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.”

6 The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.

7 Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation,

8 even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.