Psalm 72–83

Psalm 72

For Solomon.

O God, give the king thy judgments, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.

²He will judge thy people with righteousness, and thine afflicted with judgment. ³The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills, by righteousness. ⁴He will do justice to the afflicted of the people; he will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor. ⁵They shall fear thee as long as sun and moon endure, from generation to generation. ⁶He shall come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. ⁷In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon be no more. ⁸And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. ⁹The dwellers in the desert shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. ¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer tribute: ¹¹Yea, all kings shall bow down before him; all nations shall serve him. ¹²For he will deliver the needy who crieth, and the afflicted, who hath no helper; ¹³He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy: ¹⁴He will redeem their souls from oppression and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight. ¹⁵And he shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; and prayer shall be made for him continually: all the day shall he be blessed. ¹⁶There shall be abundance of corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall bloom like the herb of the earth. ¹⁷His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall bless themselves in him; all nations shall call him blessed.

¹⁸Blessed be Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel, who alone doeth wondrous things! ¹⁹And blessed be his glorious name for ever! and let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen, and Amen. ²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

Psalm 73

A Psalm of Asaph.

Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are of a pure heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped; For I was envious at the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs in their death, and their body is well nourished; They have not the hardships of mankind, neither are they plagued like other men: Therefore pride encompasseth them as a neck-chain, violence covereth them as a garment; Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart: They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily: They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fulness are wrung out to them. And they say, How can •God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked, and they prosper in the world: they heap up riches. Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency: For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

¹⁵If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children. ¹⁶When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes; ¹⁷Until I went into the sanctuaries of •God; then understood I their end. ¹⁸Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins. ¹⁹How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors. ²⁰As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image.

²¹When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins, ²²Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was as a beast with thee. ²³Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand; ²⁴Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me. ²⁵Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. ²⁶My flesh and my heart faileth: God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever. ²⁷For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee. ²⁸But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may declare all thy works.

Psalm 74

An instruction: of Asaph.

Why, O God, hast thou cast off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember thine assembly, which thou hast purchased of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the portion of thine inheritance, this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual desolations: everything in the sanctuary hath the enemy destroyed. Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy place of assembly; they set up their signs for signs. A man was known as he could lift up axes in the thicket of trees; And now they break down its carved work altogether, with hatchets and hammers. They have set on fire thy sanctuary, they have profaned the habitation of thy name to the ground. They said in their heart, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all •God’s places of assembly in the land. We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy contemn thy name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom: consume them.

¹²But God is my king of old, accomplishing deliverances in the midst of the earth. ¹³Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou didst break the heads of the monsters on the waters: ¹⁴Thou didst break in pieces the heads of leviathan, thou gavest him to be meat to those that people the desert. ¹⁵Thou didst cleave fountain and torrent, thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers. ¹⁶The day is thine, the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the moon and the sun: ¹⁷Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; summer and winter—thou didst form them.

¹⁸Remember this, that an enemy hath reproached Jehovah, and a foolish people have contemned thy name. ¹⁹Give not up the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast; forget not the troop of thine afflicted for ever. ²⁰Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the dwellings of violence. ²¹Oh let not the oppressed one return ashamed; let the afflicted and needy praise thy name. ²²Rise up, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day; ²³Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.

Psalm 75

To the chief Musician. ‘Destroy not.’ A Psalm of Asaph: a Song.

Unto thee we give thanks, O God, we give thanks; and thy name is near: thy marvellous works declare it. When I shall receive the assembly, I will judge with equity. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I have established its pillars. Selah. I said unto the boastful, Boast not; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Lift not up your horn on high; speak not arrogantly with a stiff neck.

⁶For not from the east nor from the west, nor yet from the south doth exaltation come: ⁷For God is the judge; he putteth down one and exalteth another. ⁸For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and it foameth with wine, it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same; yea, the dregs thereof shall all the wicked of the earth drain off, and drink. ⁹But as for me, I will declare for ever; I will sing psalms to the God of Jacob. ¹⁰And all the horns of the wicked will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Psalm 76

To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph: a Song.

In Judah is God known, his name is great in Israel; And in Salem is his tent, and his dwelling-place in Zion. There broke he the flashings of the bow, shield and sword and battle. Selah. More glorious art thou, more excellent, than the mountains of prey. The stout-hearted are made a spoil, they have slept their sleep; and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

⁷Thou, thou art to be feared, and who can stand before thee when once thou art angry? ⁸Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from the heavens; the earth feared, and was still, ⁹When God rose up to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. ¹⁰For the fury of man shall praise thee; the remainder of fury wilt thou gird on thyself. ¹¹Vow and pay unto Jehovah your God: let all that are round about him bring presents unto him that is to be feared. ¹²He cutteth off the spirit of princes; he is terrible to the kings of the earth.

Psalm 77

To the chief Musician. On Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.

My voice is unto God, and I will cry; my voice is unto God, and he will give ear unto me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord: my hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and I moaned; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Thou holdest open mine eyelids; I am full of disquiet and cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years of ancient times. I remember my song in the night; I muse in mine own heart, and my spirit maketh diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Hath his loving-kindness ceased for ever? hath his word come to an end from generation to generation? Hath •God forgotten to be gracious? or hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. Then said I, This is my weakness: —the years of the right hand of the Most High

¹¹Will I remember, —the works of Jah; for I will remember thy wonders of old, ¹²And I will meditate upon all thy work, and muse upon thy doings. ¹³O God, thy way is in the sanctuary: who is so great a •god as God? ¹⁴Thou art the •God that doest wonders; thou hast declared thy strength among the…