Psalm 73–83

BOOK 3

PSALM 73

The Nearness of God Is My Good

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹Surely God is ^agood to Israel,

To those who are ^bpure in heart!

²But as for me, ^amy feet had almost stumbled,

My steps ¹had almost slipped.

³For I was ^aenvious of the boastful,

I saw the ^bpeace of the wicked.

⁴For there are no pains in their death,

And their ¹body is fat.

⁵They are ^anot ¹in trouble as other ²men,

And they are not ^bstricken along with the rest of mankind.

⁶Therefore lofty pride is ^atheir necklace;

The ^bgarment of violence covers them.

⁷Their eye ¹bulges from ^afatness;

The delusions of their heart overflow.

⁸They ^ascoff and ¹wickedly speak of oppression;

They ^bspeak from on high.

⁹They have ^aset their mouth ¹against the heavens,

And their tongue goes through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore ¹his people return here, to his place,

And waters of ^afullness are ²drunk by them.

¹¹They say, “^aHow does God know?

And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

¹²Behold, ^athese are the wicked;

And always ^bat ease, they have increased in wealth.

¹³Surely ^ain vain I have ¹kept my heart pure

And ^bwashed my hands in innocence;

¹⁴For I have been stricken ^aall day long

And ^1breproved every morning.

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

Behold, I would have betrayed the ^ageneration of Your children.

¹⁶When I ^agave thought to know this,

It was trouble in my sight

¹⁷Until I came into the ^1asanctuary of God;

Then I understood their ^bend.

¹⁸Surely You set them in ^aslippery places;

You cause them to fall to ^1bdestruction.

¹⁹How they become ^adesolate in a moment!

They are completely swept away by ^bterrors!

²⁰Like a ^adream when one awakes,

O Lord, when ^baroused, You will ^cdespise their ¹form.

²¹When my ^aheart was embittered

And I was ^bpierced ¹within,

²²Then I was ^asenseless and ignorant;

I was like ¹an ^banimal ²before You.

²³Nevertheless ^aI am continually with You;

You have taken hold of my right hand.

²⁴With Your counsel You will ^alead me,

And afterward ^btake me ¹in glory.

^25aWhom have I in heaven but You?

And ¹besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

²⁶My ^aflesh and my heart fail,

But God is the rock of my heart and my ^bportion forever.

²⁷For, behold, ^athose who are far from You will ^bperish;

You have ¹destroyed everyone who ^2cis unfaithful to You.

²⁸But as for me, ^athe nearness of God is my good;

I have set Lord Yahweh as my ^brefuge,

That I may ^crecount all Your works.

PSALM 74

Yet God Is My King

A ^†Maskil of Asaph.

¹Why, O God? Have You ^arejected us forever?

Why does Your anger ^bsmoke against the ^csheep of Your ¹pasture?

²Remember Your congregation, which You have ^apurchased of old,

Which You have ^bredeemed to be the ^ctribe of Your inheritance;

And this Mount ^dZion, where You have dwelt.

³Lift up Your steps toward the ^aperpetual ruins;

The enemy ^bhas damaged everything within the sanctuary.

⁴Your adversaries have ^aroared in the midst of Your meeting place;

They have set up their ^bown signs ^cfor signs.

⁵Each seems like one who lifts up

¹An ^aaxe against the undergrowth of trees.

⁶And now its ^acarved work altogether

They smash with hatchet and ¹hammers.

⁷They have ^aset Your sanctuary on fire;

By bringing it to the ground, they have ^bdefiled the dwelling place of Your name.

⁸They ^asaid in their heart, “Let us ¹completely ²subdue them.”

They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our ^asigns;

There is ^bno longer any prophet,

Nor is there any among us who knows ^chow long.

¹⁰How long, O God, will the adversary ^areproach?

Will the enemy ^bspurn Your name forever?

¹¹Why ^ado You turn back Your hand, even Your right hand?

From within Your bosom, ^bdestroy them!

¹²Yet God is ^amy King from of old,

Who works deeds of ¹salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You ^adivided the sea by Your strength;

You ^bbroke the heads of the ^csea monsters ¹in the waters.

¹⁴You crushed the heads of ^1aLeviathan;

You gave him as food for the ²creatures ^bof the desert.

¹⁵¹You ^asplit open spring and river;

²You ^bdried up ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;

¹You have ^aestablished the ²light and the sun.

¹⁷¹You have ^acaused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm;

²You have formed ^bsummer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has ^areproached,

And a ^bwickedly foolish people has spurned Your name.

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of Your ^aturtledove to the wild beast;

^bDo not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

²⁰Look to the ^acovenant;

For the ^bdark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.

²¹Let not the ^aoppressed return dishonored;

Let the ^bafflicted and needy praise Your name.

²²Arise, O God, and ^aplead Your own cause;

Remember ¹how the ^bwicked fool reproaches You all day long.

²³Do not forget the voice of Your ^aadversaries,

The ^brumbling of those who rise against You which ascends continually.

PSALM 75

God Judges with Equity

For the choir director. ^†Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph. ^•A Song.

¹We ^agive thanks to You, O God, we give thanks,

For Your name is ^bnear;

Men recount ^cYour wondrous deeds.

²“For I select an ^aappointed time,

It is I who ^bjudge with equity.

³“The ^aearth and all who dwell in it ¹melt;

It is I who have firmly set its ^bpillars. ²Selah.

⁴“I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’

And to the wicked, ‘^aDo not raise up the horn;

⁵Do not raise up your horn on high,

^aNor speak with insolent ¹pride.’”

⁶For one’s rising up does not come from the east, nor from the west,

And not from the ^1adesert;

⁷But ^aGod is the Judge;

He ^bputs down one and raises up another.

⁸For a ^acup is in the hand of Yahweh, and the wine foams;

It is ^bfull of His mixture, and He pours from this;

Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and ^cdrink down its dregs.

⁹But as for me, I will ^adeclare it forever;

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰And all the ^ahorns of the wicked I will cut off,

But ^bthe horns of the righteous will be raised up.

PSALM 76

God’s Name Is Great in Israel

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹God is ^aknown in Judah;

His name is ^bgreat in Israel.

²So His ^1atabernacle is in ^bSalem;

His ^cdwelling place is in Zion.

³There He ^abroke the ¹flaming arrows,

The shield and the sword and the battle. ²Selah.

⁴You are shining,

Majestic from the mountains of prey.

⁵The ^astouthearted were plundered,

¹They sank into sleep;

And none of the ²warriors could use his hands.

⁶At Your ^arebuke, O God of Jacob,

Both ^bchariot rider and horse slumbered into a deep sleep.

⁷But You, You are ^1afearsome;

And ^bwho can stand in Your presence when once ²You are angry?

⁸You made Your cause to be heard from heaven;

The earth ^afeared and was quiet

⁹When God ^aarose to judgment,

To save all the humble of the earth. Selah.

¹⁰For the ^1awrath of man shall praise You;

With a remnant of wrath You will gird Yourself.

^11aMake vows to Yahweh your God and ^bpay them;

Let all who are around Him ^cbring gifts to the Fearsome One.

¹²He will cut off the spirit of princes;

He is ^1afeared by the kings of the earth.

PSALM 77

In My Distress I Sought the Lord

For the choir director. According to ^†Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.

¹My voice rises to God, and I must ^acry aloud;

My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.

²In the ^aday of my distress I sought the Lord;

^bIn the night my ^chand was stretched out ¹without weariness;

My soul ^drefused to be comforted.

³I remember God and I am ^adisturbed;

I ^bmuse and ^cmy spirit faints. ¹Selah.

⁴You have held my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I ^acannot speak.

⁵I give thought to the ^adays of old,

The years of long ago.

⁶I remember my ^amusic in the night;

I ^bam musing with my heart,

And my spirit is searching:

⁷Will the Lord ^areject evermore?

And will He ^bnot be favorable again?

⁸Has His ^alovingkindness ceased forever?

Has His ^1bword ended ²from generation to generation?

⁹Has God ^aforgotten to be gracious,

Or has He in anger shut up His ^bcompassion? Selah.

¹⁰Then I said, “^aIt is my ¹grief,

That the ^bright hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹I shall remember the ^adeeds of Yah;

Surely I will ^bremember Your wonders of old.

¹²I will ^ameditate on all Your work

And muse on Your deeds.

¹³O God, Your way is ^aholy;

^bWhat god is great like God?

¹⁴You are the ^aGod who works wonders;

You have ^bmade known Your strength among the peoples.

¹⁵You have by Your arm ^aredeemed Your people,

The sons of Jacob and ^bJoseph. Selah.

¹⁶The ^awaters saw You, O God;

The waters saw You, they were in anguish;

The deeps also trembled.

¹⁷The ^aclouds poured out water;

The skies ^bgave forth a sound;

Your ^carrows went here and there.

¹⁸The ^asound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;

The ^blightnings lit up the world;

The ^cearth trembled and shook.

¹⁹Your ^away was in the sea

And Your paths in the mighty waters,

But Your footprints were not known.

²⁰You ^aled Your people like a flock

By the hand of ^bMoses and Aaron.

PSALM 78

That the Generation to Come Might Know

A ^†Maskil of Asaph.

^1aGive ear, O my people, to my ¹instruction;

^bIncline your ears to the words of my mouth.

²I will ^aopen my mouth in a parable;

I will pour forth ^bdark sayings of old,

³Which we have heard and known,

And ^aour fathers have recounted to us.

⁴We will ^anot conceal them from their children,

But ^brecount to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,

And His strength and His ^cwondrous deeds that He has done.

⁵For He established a ^atestimony in Jacob

And set a ^blaw in Israel,

Which He ^ccommanded our fathers

That they should ^1dteach them to their children,

^6aThat the generation to come might know, even ^bthe children yet to be born,

That they may arise and ^crecount them to their children,

⁷That they should set their confidence in God

And ^anot forget the deeds of God,

But ^bobserve His commandments,

⁸And ^anot be like their fathers,

A ^bstubborn and rebellious generation,

A generation that ^cdid not ¹prepare its heart

And whose spirit was not ^dfaithful to God.

⁹The sons of Ephraim ¹were ^aarchers equipped with bows,

Yet ^bthey turned back in the day of battle.

¹⁰They ^adid not keep the covenant of God

And refused to ^bwalk in His law;

¹¹So they ^aforgot His acts

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