The psalm begins with a verdict on man's general attitude towards God, and follows it with a general view of the whole world, seeing it as totally sinful. It then moves on to the fact that either YHWH's or the psalmist's people are being devoured in that world by ‘the workers of iniquity', those who do not call on YHWH or obey His commandments but reveal the sinfulness of their hearts by their lives. This will assuredly result in some judgment on those workers of iniquity which will reduce them to great fear, because YHWH looks after the righteous. He allows them to be subject to chastening but in the end He will act to deliver them. But these workers of iniquity will have only themselves to blame because they will have deliberately thwarted God's people, overlooking the fact that YHWH is the refuge of His people. So from this position of confidence the psalmist then prays that that deliverance will now become actualised.