God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

73 A Psalm of bAsaph.

1  Truly God is good to cIsrael,

to those who are dpure in heart.

2  But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had nearly slipped.

3  eFor I was fenvious of the arrogant

when I saw the gprosperity of the wicked.

4  For they have no pangs until death;

their bodies are fat and sleek.

5  They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not hstricken like the rest of mankind.

6  Therefore pride is itheir necklace;

violence covers them as ja garment.

7  Their keyes swell out through fatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.

8  They scoff and lspeak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

9  They set their mouths against the heavens,

and their tongue struts through the earth.

10  Therefore his people turn back to them,

and find mno fault in them.1

11  And they say, n“How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

12  Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they oincrease in riches.

13  All in vain have I pkept my heart clean

and qwashed my hands in innocence.

14  For all the day long I have been hstricken

and rrebuked severy morning.

15  If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed tthe generation of your children.

16  But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me ua wearisome task,

17  until I went into vthe sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their wend.

18  Truly you set them in xslippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

19  How they are destroyed yin a moment,

swept away utterly by zterrors!

20  Like aa dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when byou rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

21  When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

22  I was cbrutish and ignorant;

I was like da beast toward you.

23  Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

you ehold my right hand.

24  You fguide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will greceive me to glory.

25  hWhom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

26  iMy flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is jthe strength2 of my heart and my kportion lforever.

27  For behold, those who are mfar from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is nunfaithful to you.

28  But for me it is good to obe near God;

I have made the Lord God my prefuge,

that I may qtell of all your works.

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

74 A Maskil1 of rAsaph.

1  O God, why do you scast us off forever?

Why does your anger tsmoke against uthe sheep of your pasture?

2  vRemember your congregation, which you have wpurchased of old,

which you have xredeemed to be ythe tribe of your heritage!

Remember Mount Zion, zwhere you have dwelt.

3  Direct your steps to athe perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

4  Your foes have broared in the midst of your meeting place;

cthey set up their down signs for esigns.

5  They were like those who swing faxes

in a forest of trees.2

6  And all its gcarved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

7  They hset your sanctuary on fire;

they iprofaned jthe dwelling place of your name,

bringing it down to the ground.

8  They ksaid to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9  We do not see our lsigns;

mthere is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

10  How long, O God, nis the foe to scoff?

Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

11  Why odo you hold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the fold of your garment3 and destroy them!

12  Yet pGod my King is from of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13  You qdivided the sea by your might;

you rbroke the heads of sthe sea monsters4 on the waters.

14  You crushed the heads of tLeviathan;

you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

15  You usplit open springs and brooks;

you vdried up ever-flowing streams.

16  Yours is the day, yours also the night;

you have established wthe heavenly lights and the sun.

17  You have xfixed all the boundaries of the earth;

you have made ysummer and winter.

18  zRemember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,

and aa foolish people reviles your name.

19  Do not deliver the soul of your bdove to the wild beasts;

cdo not forget the life of your poor forever.

20  Have regard for dthe covenant,

for ethe dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

21  Let not fthe downtrodden gturn back in shame;

let hthe poor and needy praise your name.

22  Arise, O God, idefend your cause;

jremember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

23  Do not forget the clamor of your foes,

kthe uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

God Will Judge with Equity

75 To the choirmaster: according to lDo Not Destroy. mA Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1  We give thanks to you, O God;

we give thanks, for your name is nnear.

We1 recount your wondrous deeds.

2  “At othe set time that I appoint

I will judge pwith equity.

3  When the earth qtotters, and all its inhabitants,

it is I who keep steady its rpillars. Selah

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

and to the wicked, s‘Do not lift up your horn;

5  do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with haughty neck.’ ”

6  For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes tlifting up,

7  but it is uGod who executes judgment,

vputting down one and lifting up another.

8  wFor in the hand of the Lord there is xa cup

with foaming wine, ywell mixed,

and he pours out from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall zdrain it down to the dregs.

9  But I will declare it forever;

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

10  aAll the horns of the wicked I will cut off,

bbut the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Who Can Stand Before You?

76 To the choirmaster: with cstringed instruments. A Psalm of dAsaph. A Song.

1  In Judah God is eknown;

his name is great in Israel.

2  His fabode has been established in gSalem,

his hdwelling place in Zion.

3  There he ibroke the flashing arrows,

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

4  Glorious are you, more majestic

jthan the mountains full of kprey.

5  lThe stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;

mthey sank into sleep;

all the men of war

were unable to use their hands.

6  At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both nrider and horse lay stunned.

7  oBut you, you are to be feared!

Who can pstand before you

when once your anger is roused?

8  From the heavens you uttered judgment;

qthe earth feared and was still,

9  when God rarose to establish judgment,

to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

10  Surely sthe wrath of man shall praise you;

the remnant1 of wrath you will put on like a belt.

11  tMake your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;

let all around him ubring gifts

to him who vis to be feared,

12  who wcuts off the spirit of princes,

who xis to be feared by the kings of the earth.

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

77 To the choirmaster: according to yJeduthun. A Psalm of zAsaph.

1  I acry aloud to God,

aloud to God, and he will hear me.

2  bIn the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

in cthe night my dhand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul erefuses to be comforted.

3  When I remember God, I fmoan;

when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4  You hold my eyelids open;

I am so gtroubled that I cannot speak.

5  I consider hthe days of old,

the years long ago.

6  I said,1 “Let me remember my isong in the night;

let me jmeditate in my heart.”

Then my spirit made a diligent search:

7  “Will the Lord kspurn forever,

and never again lbe favorable?

8  Has his steadfast love forever ceased?

Are his mpromises at an end for all time?

9  nHas God forgotten to be gracious?

oHas he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10  Then I said, “I will appeal to this,

to the years of the pright hand of the Most High.”2

11  I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will qremember your wonders of old.

12  I will ponder all your rwork,

and meditate on your smighty deeds.

13  Your way, O God, is tholy.

uWhat god is great like our God?

14  You are the God who vworks wonders;

you have wmade known your might among the peoples.

15  You xwith your arm redeemed your people,

the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16  When ythe waters saw you, O God,

when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

indeed, the deep trembled.

17  The clouds poured out water;

the skies zgave forth thunder;

your aarrows flashed on every side.

18  bThe crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

cyour lightnings lighted up the world;

the earth dtrembled and shook.

19  Your eway was through the sea,

your path through the great waters;

yet your footprints fwere unseen.3

20  You gled your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Tell the Coming Generation

78 A Maskil1 of hAsaph.

1  iGive ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

2  jI will open my mouth kin a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

3  things that we have heard and known,

that our lfathers have told us.

4  We will not mhide them from their children,

but ntell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and othe wonders that he has done.

5  He established pa testimony in qJacob

and appointed a law in qIsrael,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

6  that rthe next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

7  so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget sthe works of God,

but tkeep his commandments;

8  and that they should not be ulike their fathers,

va stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation wwhose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9  The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,

xturned back on the day of battle.

10  They ydid not keep God’s covenant,

but refused to walk according to his law.

11  They zforgot his works

and athe wonders that he had shown them.

12  In the sight of their fathers bhe performed wonders

in the land of Egypt, in cthe fields of Zoan.

13  He ddivided the sea and let them pass through it,

and made the