Psalm 76:title–150:6

God, the Powerful Judge

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

¹God is known in Judah;

His name is great in Israel. ^y

²His tent is in Salem, ^z

His dwelling place in Zion. ^a

³There He shatters the bow’s flaming arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. ^bSelah

⁴You are resplendent and majestic

coming down from the mountains of prey. ^c

⁵The brave-hearted have been plundered;

they have slipped into their final sleep.

None of the warriors was able to lift a hand. ^d

⁶At Your rebuke, God of Jacob,

both chariot and horse lay still. ^e

⁷And You—You are to be feared. ^f

When You are angry,

who can stand before You? ^g

⁸From heaven You pronounced judgment.

The earth feared and grew quiet ^h

⁹when God rose up to judge

and to save all the lowly of the earth. ⁱSelah

¹⁰Even human wrath will praise You;

You will clothe Yourself

with their remaining wrath. ^jk

¹¹Make and keep your vows

to the Lord your God; ^l

let all who are around Him bring tribute

to the awe-inspiring One. ^mn

¹²He humbles the spirit of leaders;

He is feared by the kings of the earth. ^o

Psalm 77

Confidence in a Time of Crisis

For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. ^pA psalm.

¹I cry aloud to God,

aloud to God, and He will hear me. ^q

²I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.

My hands were continually lifted up

all night long;

I refused to be comforted. ^r

³I think of God; I groan;

I meditate; my spirit becomes weak. ^sSelah

⁴You have kept me from closing my eyes;

I am troubled and cannot speak. ^t

⁵I consider days of old,

years long past. ^u

⁶At night I remember my music;

I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders. ^v

⁷“Will the Lord reject forever

and never again show favor? ^w

⁸Has His faithful love ceased forever?

Is His promise at an end for all generations? ^x

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has He in anger withheld His compassion?” ^ySelah

¹⁰So I say, “I am grieved ^z

that the right hand of the Most High has changed.” ^a

¹¹I will remember the Lord’s works;

yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders. ^b

¹²I will reflect on all You have done

and meditate on Your actions. ^c

¹³God, Your way is holy.

What god is great like God? ^d

¹⁴You are the God who works wonders;

You revealed Your strength among the peoples. ^e

¹⁵With power You redeemed Your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. ^fSelah

¹⁶The waters saw You, God.

The waters saw You; they trembled.

Even the depths shook. ^g

¹⁷The clouds poured down water.

The storm clouds thundered;

Your arrows flashed back and forth. ^h

¹⁸The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;

lightning lit up the world. ⁱ

The earth shook and quaked. ^j

¹⁹Your way went through the sea

and Your path through the great waters,

but Your footprints were unseen. ^k

²⁰You led Your people like a flock ^l

by the hand of Moses and Aaron. ^m

Psalm 78

Lessons from Israel’s Past

A Maskil of Asaph. ⁿ

¹My people, hear my instruction;

listen to what I say. ^o

²I will declare wise sayings;

I will speak mysteries from the past ^p—

³things we have heard and known

and that our fathers have passed down to us. ^q

⁴We must not hide them from their children,

but must tell a future generation

the praises of the Lord,

His might, and the wonderful works

He has performed. ^r

⁵He established a testimony in Jacob

and set up a law in Israel,

which He commanded our fathers

to teach to their children ^s

⁶so that a future generation—

children yet to be born—might know.

They were to rise and tell their children ^t

⁷so that they might put their confidence in God

and not forget God’s works,

but keep His commands. ^u

⁸Then they would not be like their fathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not loyal

and whose spirit was not faithful to God. ^v

⁹The Ephraimite archers turned back

on the day of battle. ^w

¹⁰They did not keep God’s covenant

and refused to live by His law. ^x

¹¹They forgot what He had done,

the wonderful works He had shown them. ^y

¹²He worked wonders in the sight of their fathers

in the land of Egypt, the region of Zoan. ^z

¹³He split the sea and brought them across;

the water stood firm like a wall. ^a

¹⁴He led them with a cloud by day

and with a fiery light throughout the night. ^b

¹⁵He split rocks in the wilderness

and gave them drink as abundant as the depths. ^c

¹⁶He brought streams out of the stone

and made water flow down like rivers. ^d

¹⁷But they continued to sin against Him,

rebelling in the desert against the Most High. ^e

¹⁸They deliberately ^ftested God,

demanding the food they craved. ^g

¹⁹They spoke against God, saying,

“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?

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

torrents overflowed. ^h

But can He also provide bread

or furnish meat for His people?” ⁱ

²¹Therefore, the Lord heard and became furious;

then fire broke out against Jacob,

and anger flared up against Israel ^j

²²because they did not believe God

or rely on His salvation. ^k

²³He gave a command to the clouds above

and opened the doors of heaven. ^l

²⁴He rained manna for them to eat;

He gave them grain from heaven. ^m

²⁵People ⁿate the bread of angels. ^o

He sent them an abundant supply of food. ^p

²⁶He made the east wind blow in the skies

and drove the south wind by His might. ^q

²⁷He rained meat on them like dust,

and winged birds like the sand of the seas.

²⁸He made them fall in His camp,

all around His tent. ^rst

²⁹They ate and were completely satisfied,

for He gave them what they craved. ^u

³⁰Before they had satisfied their desire,

while the food was still in their mouths,

³¹God’s anger flared up against them,

and He killed some of their best men.

He struck down Israel’s choice young men. ^v

³²Despite all this, they kept sinning

and did not believe His wonderful works. ^w

³³He made their days end in futility,

their years in sudden disaster. ^x

³⁴When He killed some of them,

the rest began to seek Him;

they repented and searched for God. ^y

³⁵They remembered that God was their rock,

the Most High God, their Redeemer. ^z

³⁶But they deceived Him with their mouths,

they lied to Him with their tongues, ^a

³⁷their hearts were insincere toward Him,

and they were unfaithful to His covenant. ^b

³⁸Yet He was compassionate;

He atoned for ^ctheir guilt

and did not destroy them.

He often turned His anger aside

and did not unleash ^dall His wrath. ^e

³⁹He remembered that they were only flesh,

a wind that passes and does not return. ^f

⁴⁰How often they rebelled against Him

in the wilderness

and grieved Him in the desert.

⁴¹They constantly tested God ^g

and provoked the Holy One of Israel. ^h

⁴²They did not remember His power shown

on the day He redeemed them from the foe, ⁱ

⁴³when He performed His miraculous signs in Egypt

and His wonders in the region of Zoan. ^j

⁴⁴He turned their rivers into blood,

and they could not drink from their streams. ^k

⁴⁵He sent among them swarms of flies, ^l

which fed on them,

and frogs, which devastated them. ^m

⁴⁶He gave their crops to the caterpillar

and the fruit of their labor to the locust. ⁿ

⁴⁷He killed their vines with hail

and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.

⁴⁸He handed over their livestock to hail

and their cattle to lightning bolts. ^o

⁴⁹He sent His burning anger against them:

fury, indignation, and calamity—

a band of deadly messengers. ^pq

⁵⁰He cleared a path for His anger.

He did not spare them from death

but delivered their lives to the plague. ^r

⁵¹He struck all the firstborn ^sin Egypt,

the first progeny of the tents of Ham. ^tu

⁵²He led His people out like sheep

and guided them like a flock in the wilderness. ^v

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

but the sea covered their enemies. ^w

⁵⁴He brought them to His holy land,

to the mountain His right hand acquired. ^x

⁵⁵He drove out nations before them. ^y

He apportioned their inheritance by lot

and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. ^z

⁵⁶But they rebelliously tested the Most High God,

for they did not keep His decrees. ^a

⁵⁷They treacherously turned away like their fathers;

they became warped like a faulty bow. ^b

⁵⁸They enraged Him with their high places

and provoked His jealousy with their carved images. ^c

⁵⁹God heard and became furious;

He completely rejected Israel. ^d

⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,

the tent where He resided among men. ^ef

⁶¹He gave up His strength ^gto captivity

and His splendor to the hand of a foe. ^h

⁶²He surrendered His people to the sword

because He was enraged with His heritage. ⁱ

⁶³Fire consumed His chosen young men,

and His young women had no wedding songs. ^jk

⁶⁴His priests fell by the sword,

but the ^lwidows could not lament. ^mn

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,

like a warrior from the effects of wine. ^o

⁶⁶He beat back His foes;

He gave them lasting shame. ^p

⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Joseph

and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.

⁶⁸He chose instead the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion, which He loved. ^q

⁶⁹He built His sanctuary like the heights, ^r

like the earth that He established forever. ^s

⁷⁰He chose David His servant

and took him from the sheepfolds; ^t

⁷¹He brought him from tending ewes

to be shepherd over His people Jacob—

over Israel, His inheritance. ^u

⁷²He shepherded them with a pure heart

and guided them with his skillful hands. ^v

Psalm 79

Faith amid Confusion

A psalm of Asaph. ^w

¹God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,

desecrated Your holy temple,

and turned Jerusalem into ruins. ^x

²They gave the corpses of Your servants

to the birds of the sky for food,

the flesh of Your godly ones

to the beasts of the earth. ^y

³They poured out their blood

like water all around Jerusalem,

and there was no one to bury them. ^z

⁴We have become an object of reproach

to our neighbors,

a source of mockery and ridicule

to those around us. ^a

⁵How long, Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?

Will Your jealousy keep burning like fire? ^b

⁶Pour out Your wrath on the nations

that don’t acknowledge You,

on the kingdoms that don’t call on Your name, ^c

⁷for they have devoured Jacob

and devastated his homeland. ^d

⁸Do not hold past sins ^eagainst us;

let Your compassion come to…