Psalm 74:11–83:9

11 Why do you hold back your hand?

Stretch outE your right hand and destroy them!i

12 God my King is from ancient times,

performing saving acts on the earth.j

13 You divided the sea with your strength;

you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water;k

14 you crushed the heads of Leviathan;

you fed him to the creatures of the desert.l

15 You opened up springs and streams;m

you dried up ever-flowing rivers.n

16 The day is yours, also the night;

you established the moon and the sun.o

17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;

you made summer and winter.p

18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked the Lord,

and a foolish people has insulted your name.q

19 Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;F

do not forget the lives of your poor people forever.r

20 Consider the covenant,s

for the dark places of the land are full of violence.t

21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;

let the poor and needy praise your name.u

22 Rise up, God, champion your cause!v

Remember the insults

that fools bring against you all day long.w

23 Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries,

the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly.x

Psalm 75

GOD JUDGES THE WICKED

For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph.y A song.

1 We give thanks to you, God;

we give thanks to you, for your name is near.*

People tell about your wondrous works.z

2 “When I choose a time,

I will judge fairly.aa

3 When the earth and all its inhabitants shake,

I am the one who steadies its pillars.ab

Selah

4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’

and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.ac

5 Do not lift up your horn against heavenA

or speak arrogantly.’ ”ad

6 Exaltation does not come

from the east, the west, or the desert,

7 for God is the Judge:

He brings down one and exalts another.ae

8 For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand,

full of wine blended with spices, and he pours from it.

All the wicked of the earth will drink,

draining it to the dregs.af

9 As for me, I will tell about him forever;

I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.a

10 “I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,b

but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”c

Psalm 76

GOD, THE POWERFUL JUDGE

For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph.d A song.

1 God is known in Judah;

his name is great in Israel.e

2 His tent is in Salem,

his dwelling place in Zion.f

3 There he shatters the bow’s flaming arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.g

Selah

4 You are resplendent and majestic

coming down from the mountains of prey.h

5 The brave-hearted have been plundered;

they have slipped into their final sleep.

None of the warriors was able to lift a hand.i

6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,

both chariot and horse lay still.j

7 And you—you are to be feared.A

When you are angry,

who can stand before you?k

8 From heaven you pronounced judgment.

The earth feared and grew quietl

9 when God rose up to judge

and to save all the lowly of the earth.m

Selah

10 Even human wrath will praise you;

you will clothe yourself

with the wrath that remains.B,n

11 Make and keep your vows

to the Lord your God;o

let all who are around him bring tribute

to the awe-inspiring one.C,p

12 He humbles the spirit of leaders;

he is feared by the kings of the earth.q

Psalm 77

CONFIDENCE IN A TIME OF CRISIS

For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph.r A psalm.

1 I cry aloud to God,

aloud to God, and he will hear me.s

2 I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.

My hands were continually lifted up

all night long;

I refused to be comforted.t

3 I think of God; I groan;

I meditate; my spirit becomes weak.u

Selah

4 You have kept me from closing my eyes;

I am troubled and cannot speak.v

5 I consider days of old,

years long past.w

6 At night I remember my music;

I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.x

7 “Will the Lord reject forever

and never again show favor?y

8 Has his faithful love ceased forever?

Is his promise at an end for all generations?z

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”aa

Selah

10 So I say, “I am grieved

that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”B,ab

11 I will remember the Lord’s works;

yes, I will remember your ancient wonders.ac

12 I will reflect on all you have done

and meditate on your actions.ad

13 God, your way is holy.

What god is great like God?ae

14 You are the God who works wonders;

you revealed your strength among the peoples.af

15 With power you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.ag

Selah

16 The water saw you, God.

The water saw you; it trembled.

Even the depths shook.ah

17 The clouds poured down water.

The storm clouds thundered;

your arrows flashed back and forth.a

18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

lightning lit up the world.b

The earth shook and quaked.c

19 Your way went through the sea

and your path through the vast water,

but your footprints were unseen.d

20 You led your people like a flocke

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.f

Psalm 78

LESSONS FROM ISRAEL’S PAST

A Maskil of Asaph.g

1 My people, hear my instruction;

listen to the words from my mouth.h

2 I will declare wise sayings;

I will speak mysteries from the pasti—

3 things we have heard and known

and that our ancestors have passed down to us.j

4 We will not hide them from their children,

but will tell a future generation

the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,

his might, and the wondrous works

he has performed.k

5 He established a testimony in Jacob

and set up a law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach to their childrenl

6 so that a future generation—

children yet to be born—might know.

They were to rise and tell their childrenm

7 so that they might put their confidence in God

and not forget God’s works,

but keep his commands.n

8 Then they would not be like their ancestors,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not loyal

and whose spirit was not faithful to God.o

9 The Ephraimite archers turned back

on the day of battle.p

10 They did not keep God’s covenant

and refused to live by his law.q

11 They forgot what he had done,

the wondrous works he had shown them.r

12 He worked wonders in the sight of their ancestors

in the land of Egypt, the territory of Zoan.s

13 He split the sea and brought them across;

the water stood firm like a wall.t

14 He led them with a cloud by day

and with a fiery light throughout the night.u

15 He split rocks in the wilderness

and gave them drink as abundant as the depths.v

16 He brought streams out of the stone

and made water flow down like rivers.w

17 But they continued to sin against him,

rebelling in the desert against the Most High.x

18 They deliberatelyA tested God,

demanding the food they craved.y

19 They spoke against God, saying,

“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?

20 Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out;

torrents overflowed.z

But can he also provide bread

or furnish meat for his people?”aa

21 Therefore, the Lord heard and became furious;

then fire broke out against Jacob,

and anger flared up against Israelab

22 because they did not believe God

or rely on his salvation.ac

23 He gave a command to the clouds above

and opened the doors of heaven.ad

24 He rained manna for them to eat;

he gave them grain from heaven.ae

25 PeopleB ate the bread of angels.C

He sent them an abundant supply of food.af

26 He made the east wind blow in the skies

and drove the south wind by his might.ag

27 He rained meat on them like dust,

and winged birds like the sand of the seas.

28 He made them fall in the camp,

all around the tents.a

29 The people ate and were completely satisfied,

for he gave them what they craved.b

30 Before they had turned from what they craved,

while the food was still in their mouths,

31 God’s anger flared up against them,

and he killed some of their best men.

He struck down Israel’s fit young men.c

32 Despite all this, they kept sinning

and did not believe his wondrous works.d

33 He made their days end in futility,

their years in sudden disaster.e

34 When he killed some of them,

the rest began to seek him;

they repented and searched for God.f

35 They remembered that God was their rock,

the Most High God, their Redeemer.g

36 But they deceived him with their mouths,

they lied to him with their tongues,h

37 their hearts were insincere toward him,

and they were unfaithful to his covenant.i

38 Yet he was compassionate;

he atoned for their iniquity

and did not destroy them.

He often turned his anger aside

and did not unleashA all his wrath.j

39 He remembered that they were only flesh,

a wind that passes and does not return.k

40 How often they rebelled against him

in the wilderness

and grieved him in the desert.

41 They constantly tested Godl

and provoked the Holy One of Israel.m

42 They did not remember his power shown

on the day he redeemed them from the foe,n

43 when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt

and his wonders in the territory of Zoan.o

44 He turned their rivers into blood,

and they could not drink from their streams.p

45 He sent among them swarms of flies,q

which fed on them,

and frogs, which devastated them.r

46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar

and the fruit of their labor to the locust.s

47 He killed their vines with hail

and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.

48 He handed over their livestock to hail

and their cattle to lightning bolts.t

49 He sent his burning anger against them:

fury, indignation, and calamity—

a band of deadly messengers.B,u

50 He cleared a path for his anger.

He did not spare them from death

but delivered their lives to the plague.v

51 He struck all the firstbornw in Egypt,

the first progeny of the tents of Ham.x

52 He led his people out like sheep

and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.y

53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid;

but the sea covered their enemies.z

54 He brought them to his holy territory,

to the mountain his right hand acquired.aa

55 He drove out nations before them.ab

He apportioned their inheritance by lot

and settled the tribes of Israel…