A Prayer for Help
1Help us, Lord!
There is not a good person left;
honest people can no longer be found.
2All of them lie to one another;
they deceive each other with flattery.
3Silence those flattering tongues, O Lord!
Close those boastful mouths that say,
4“With our words we get what we want.
We will say what we wish,
and no one can stop us.”
5“But now I will come,” says the Lord,
“because the needy are oppressed
and the persecuted groan in pain.
I will give them the security they long for.”
6The promises of the Lord can be trusted;
they are as genuine as silver
refined seven times in the furnace.
7-8The wicked are everywhere,
and everyone praises what is evil.
Keep us always safe, O Lord,
and preserve us from such people.