Psalm 72–73

A Prayer for the Prosperity of God’s Anointed King

72Of Solomon.^a

¹O God, give your judgments to the king,

and your righteousness to the king’s son.

²May he judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

³Let the mountains yield prosperity^b for the people,

and the hills in righteousness.

⁴May he provide justice for the poor of the people,

save the children of the needy,

and crush the oppressor.

⁵May he live long^c while the sun endures^d

as long as the moon^e for all generations.^f

⁶May he descend like rain on mown grass,

like showers watering the earth.

⁷May what is right blossom in his days

and an abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸And may he rule from sea up to sea,

and from the River^g to the edges of the land.

⁹Let the desert dwellers bow down before him,

and his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute.

Let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts,

¹¹and let all kings bow down to him.

Let all nations serve him.

¹²Indeed he will deliver the needy who is crying for help,

and the afflicted who has no helper.

¹³He will take pity on the helpless and needy,

and the lives of the needy he will save.

¹⁴From oppression and from violence

he will redeem their lives,

and their blood will be precious in his eyes.

¹⁵So may he live, and may gold from Sheba be given to him,

and may prayers be offered for him continually.

May blessings be invoked for him all day long.^h

¹⁶May there be an abundance of grain in the land

even on the top of the mountains.

May his cropⁱ sway like the trees of Lebanon,

and may those from the city blossom like the grass of the earth.

¹⁷May his name endure forever.

May his name increase as long as the sun shines,^j

and let them be blessed in him.

Let all nations call him blessed.

¹⁸Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel,

who alone does wonderful things.

¹⁹And blessed be his glorious name forever,

and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed.

The Wicked and the Righteous Contrasted

73A song of Asaph.^a

¹Surely God is good to Israel,

to those pure of heart.

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

My steps had nearly slipped,

³because I envied the boastful

when I saw the well-being^b of the wicked.

⁴For there are no pains up to their death,

and their bodies are healthy.^c

⁵They do not have ordinary trouble,^d

and they are not plagued as other people.^e

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;

an outfit of violence covers them.

⁷Their eye bulges from fat.^f

Imaginings overflow their heart.

⁸They mock and speak maliciously of oppression;

they speak as though from on high.

⁹They set their mouth against the heavens,

and their tongue roams the earth.

¹⁰Therefore his people turn there,^g

and abundant waters are slurped up by them.

¹¹And they say, “How does God know?”

and, “Does the Most High have knowledge?”

¹²See, these are the wicked,

and they increase wealth, ever carefree.

¹³Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure,

and washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴And I have been plagued all day

and rebuked every morning.^h

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

behold, I would have acted treacherously

against your children’s generation.

¹⁶When I thought about how to understand this,

it was troubling in my eyes

¹⁷until I went into the sanctuary of God.

Then I understood their fate.

¹⁸Surely you set them on slippery places.

You cause them to fall onto ruin.ⁱ

¹⁹How they become a desolation in a moment!

They come to a complete end by terrors.

²⁰Like a dream upon awakening,

when you wake up, O Lord,

you will despise their fleeting form.^j

²¹When my heart was embittered

and I felt stabbed in my kidneys,

²²then I was brutish and ignorant.

With you I was like the beasts.

²³But I am continually with you;

you have hold of my right hand.

²⁴You will guide me with your advice,

and afterward you will take me into honor.^k

²⁵Whom do I have in the heavens except you?

And with you I have no other desire on earth.

²⁶My flesh and heart failed,

but God is the strength^l of my heart and my reward forever.

²⁷For indeed, those distancing themselves from you will be ruined.

You destroy each who abandons you for harlotry.

²⁸But as for me, the approach to God is for my good.

I have set the Lord Yahweh as my refuge,

in order to tell all your works.