Psalm 73–83

The Justice of God^e

73 God is indeed good to Israel,

to those who have pure hearts.

²But I had nearly lost confidence;

my faith was almost gone

³because I was jealous of the proud

when I saw that things go well for the wicked.

⁴They do not suffer pain;

they are strong and healthy.

⁵They do not suffer as other people do;

they do not have the troubles that others have.

⁶And so they wear pride like a necklace

and violence like a robe;

⁷their hearts pour out evil,^f

and their minds are busy with wicked schemes.

⁸They laugh at other people and speak of evil things;

they are proud and make plans to oppress others.

⁹They speak evil of God in heaven

and give arrogant orders to everyone on earth,

¹⁰so that even God’s people turn to them

and eagerly believe whatever they say.^g

¹¹They say, “God will not know;

the Most High will not find out.”

¹²That is what the wicked are like.

They have plenty and are always getting more.

¹³Is it for nothing, then, that I have kept myself pure

and have not committed sin?

¹⁴O God, you have made me suffer all day long;

every morning you have punished me.

¹⁵If I had said such things,

I would not be acting as one of your people.

¹⁶I tried to think this problem through,

but it was too difficult for me

¹⁷until I went into your Temple.

Then I understood what will happen to the wicked.

¹⁸You will put them in slippery places

and make them fall to destruction!

¹⁹They are instantly destroyed;

they go down to a horrible end.

²⁰They are like a dream that goes away in the morning;

when you rouse yourself, O Lord, they disappear.

²¹When my thoughts were bitter

and my feelings were hurt,

²²I was as stupid as an animal;

I did not understand you.

²³Yet I always stay close to you,

and you hold me by the hand.

²⁴You guide me with your instruction

and at the end you will receive me with honour.

²⁵What else have I in heaven but you?

Since I have you, what else could I want on earth?

²⁶My mind and my body may grow weak,

but God is my strength;

he is all I ever need.

²⁷Those who abandon

you will certainly perish; you will destroy those who are unfaithful to you.

²⁸But as for me, how wonderful to be near God,

to find protection with the Sovereign Lord

and to proclaim all that he has done!

A Prayer for National Deliverance^h

74 Why have you abandoned us like this, O God?

Will you be angry with your own people for ever?

²Remember your people,

whom you chose for yourself long ago, whom you brought out of slavery to be your own tribe.

Remember Mount Zion, where once you lived.

³Walk over these total ruins;

our enemies have destroyed everything in the Temple.

⁴Your enemies have shouted in triumph in your Temple;

they have placed their flags there as signs of victory.

⁵They looked like woodmen

cutting down trees

with their axes.ⁱ

⁶They smashed all the wooden panels with their axes and sledgehammers.

⁷They wrecked your Temple and set it on fire;

they desecrated the place where you are worshipped.

⁸They wanted to crush us completely;

they burnt down every holy place in the land.

⁹All our sacred symbols are gone;

there are no prophets left,

and no one knows how long this will last.

¹⁰How long, O God, will our enemies laugh at you?

Will they insult your name for ever?

¹¹Why have you refused to help us?

Why do you keep your hands behind you?^j

¹²But you have been our king from the beginning, O God;

you have saved us many times.

^13*With your mighty strength you divided the sea

and smashed the heads of the sea monsters;

^14*you crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan^k

and fed his body to desert animals.^l

¹⁵You made springs and fountains flow;

you dried up large rivers.

¹⁶You created the day and the night;

you set the sun and the moon in their places;

¹⁷you set the limits of the earth;

you made summer and winter.

¹⁸But remember, O Lord, that your enemies laugh at you,

that they are godless and despise you.

¹⁹Don’t abandon your helpless people to their cruel enemies;

don’t forget your persecuted people!

²⁰Remember the covenant you made with us.

There is violence in every dark corner of the land.

²¹Don’t let the oppressed be put to shame;

let those poor and needy people praise you.

²²Rouse yourself, God, and defend your cause!

Remember that godless people laugh at you all day long.

²³Don’t forget the angry shouts of your enemies,

the continuous noise made by your foes.

God the Judge^m

75 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks to you!

We proclaim how great you are

and tell ofⁿ the wonderful things you have done.

²“I have set a time for judgement,” says God,

“and I will judge with fairness.

³Though every living creature tremble

and the earth itself be shaken,

I will keep its foundations firm.

⁴I tell the wicked not to be arrogant;

⁵I tell them to stop their boasting.”

⁶Judgement does not come from the east or from the west,

from the north or from the south;^o

⁷it is God who is the judge,

condemning some and acquitting others.

⁸The Lord holds a cup in his hand,

filled with the strong wine of his anger.

He pours it out, and all the wicked drink it;

they drink it down to the last drop.

⁹But I will never stop speaking of the God of Jacob

or singing praises to him.

¹⁰He will break the power of the wicked,

but the power of the righteous will be increased.

God the Victor^p

76 God is known in Judah;

his name is honoured in Israel.

²He has his home in Jerusalem;

he lives on Mount Zion.

³There he broke the arrows of the enemy,

their shields and swords, yes, all their weapons.

⁴How glorious you are, O God!

How majestic, as you return from the mountains

where you defeated your foes.

⁵Their brave soldiers have been stripped of all they had

and now are sleeping the sleep of death;

all their strength and skill was useless.

⁶When you threatened them, O God of Jacob,

the horses and their riders fell dead.

⁷But you, Lord, are feared by all.

No one can stand in your presence when you are angry.

⁸You made your judgement known from heaven;

the world was afraid and kept silent,

⁹when you rose up to pronounce judgement,

to save all the oppressed on earth.

¹⁰Human anger only results in more praise for you;

those who survive the wars will keep your festivals.^q

¹¹Give the Lord your God what you promised him;

bring gifts to him, all you nearby nations.

God makes everyone fear him;

¹²he humbles proud princes

and terrifies great kings.

Comfort in Time of Distress^r

77 I cry aloud to God;

I cry aloud, and he hears me.

²In times of trouble I pray to the Lord;

all night long I lift my hands in prayer,

but I cannot find comfort.

³When I think of God, I sigh;

when I meditate, I feel discouraged.

⁴He keeps me awake all night;

I am so worried that I cannot speak.

⁵I think of days gone by

and remember years of long ago.

⁶I spend the night in deep thought;^s

I meditate, and this is what I ask myself:

⁷“Will the Lord always reject us?

Will he never again be pleased with us?

⁸Has he stopped loving us?

Does his promise no longer stand?

⁹Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has anger taken the place of his compassion?”

¹⁰Then I said, “What hurts me most is this—

that God is no longer powerful.”^t

¹¹I will remember your great deeds, Lord;

I will recall the wonders you did in the past.

¹²I will think about all that you have done;

I will meditate on all your mighty acts.

¹³Everything you do, O God, is holy.

No god is as great as you.

¹⁴You are the God who works miracles;

you showed your might among the nations.

¹⁵By your power you saved your people,

the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph.

¹⁶When the waters saw you, O God, they were afraid,

and the depths of the sea trembled.

¹⁷The clouds poured down rain;

thunder crashed from the sky,

and lightning flashed in all directions.

¹⁸The crash of your thunder rolled out,

and flashes of lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹You walked through the waves;

you crossed the deep sea,

but your footprints could not be seen.

²⁰You led your people like a shepherd,

with Moses and Aaron in charge.

God and His People^u

78 Listen, my people, to my teaching,

and pay attention to what I say.

^2*I am going to use wise sayings

and explain mysteries from the past,

³things we have heard and known,

things that our ancestors told us.

⁴We will not keep them from our children;

we will tell the next generation

about the Lord’s power and his great deeds

and the wonderful things he has done.

⁵He gave laws to the people of Israel

and commandments to the descendants of Jacob.

He instructed our ancestors

to teach his laws to their children,

⁶so that the next generation might learn them

and in turn should tell their children.

⁷In this way they also would put their trust in God

and not forget what he has done,

but always obey his commandments.

⁸They would not be like their ancestors,

a rebellious and disobedient people,

whose trust in God was never firm

and who did not remain faithful to him.

⁹The Ephraimites, armed with bows and arrows,

ran away on the day of battle.

¹⁰They did not keep their covenant with God;

they refused to obey his law.

¹¹They forgot what he had done,

the miracles they had seen him perform.

^12*While their ancestors watched, God performed miracles

in the plain of Zoan in the land of Egypt.

^13*He divided the sea and took them through it;

he made the waters stand like walls.

^14*By day he led them with a cloud

and all night long with the light of a fire.

^15*He split rocks open in the desert

and gave them water from the depths.

^16*He caused a stream to come out of the rock

and made water flow like a river.

¹⁷But they continued to sin against God,

and in the desert they rebelled against the Most High.

^18*They deliberately put God to the test

by demanding the food they wanted.

^19*They spoke against God and said,

“Can God supply food in the desert?

^20*It is true that he struck the rock,

and water flowed out in a torrent;

but can he also provide us with bread

and give his people meat?”

^21*And so the Lord was angry when he heard them;

he attacked his people with fire,

and his anger against them grew,

^22*because they had no faith in him

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