Psalm 68–70

A David Psalm

^1–468Up with God!

Down with his enemies!

Adversaries, run for the hills!

Gone like a puff of smoke,

like a blob of wax in the fire—

one look at God and the wicked vanish.

When the righteous see God in action

they’ll laugh, they’ll sing,

they’ll laugh and sing for joy.

Sing hymns to God;

all heaven, sing out;

clear the way for the coming of Cloud-Rider.

Enjoy God,

cheer when you see him!

^5–6Father of orphans,

champion of widows,

is God in his holy house.

God makes homes for the homeless,

leads prisoners to freedom,

but leaves rebels to rot in hell.

^7–10God, when you took the lead with your people,

when you marched out into the wild,

Earth shook, sky broke out in a sweat;

God was on the march.

Even Sinai trembled at the sight of God on the move,

at the sight of Israel’s God.

You pour out rain in buckets, O God;

thorn and cactus become an oasis

For your people to camp in and enjoy.

You set them up in business;

they went from rags to riches.

^11–14The Lord gave the word;

thousands called out the good news:

“Kings of the armies

are on the run, on the run!”

While housewives, safe and sound back home,

divide up the plunder,

the plunder of Canaanite silver and gold.

On that day that Shaddai scattered the kings,

snow fell on Black Mountain.

^15–16You huge mountains, Bashan mountains,

mighty mountains, dragon mountains.

All you mountains not chosen,

sulk now, and feel sorry for yourselves,

For this is the mountain God has chosen to live on;

he’ll rule from this mountain forever.

^17–18The chariots of God, twice ten thousand,

and thousands more besides,

The Lord in the lead, riding down Sinai—

straight to the Holy Place!

You climbed to the High Place, captives in tow,

your arms full of booty from rebels,

And now you sit there in state,

God, sovereign God!

^19–23Blessed be the Lord—

day after day he carries us along.

He’s our Savior, our God, oh yes!

He’s God-for-us, he’s God-who-saves-us.

Lord God knows all

death’s ins and outs.

What’s more, he made heads roll,

split the skulls of the enemy

As he marched out of heaven,

saying, “I tied up the Dragon in knots,

put a muzzle on the Deep Blue Sea.”

You can wade through your enemies’ blood,

and your dogs taste of your enemies from your boots.

^24–31See God on parade

to the sanctuary, my God,

my King on the march!

Singers out front, the band behind,

maidens in the middle with castanets.

The whole choir blesses God.

Like a fountain of praise, Israel blesses God.

Look—little Ben-jamin’s out

front and leading

Princes of Judah in their royal robes,

princes of Zebulon, princes of Naphtali.

Parade your power, O God,

the power, O God, that made us what we are.

Your temple, High God, is Jerusalem;

kings bring gifts to you.

Rebuke that old crocodile, Egypt,

with her herd of wild bulls and calves,

Rapacious in her lust for silver,

crushing peoples, spoiling for a fight.

Let Egyptian traders bring blue cloth

and Cush come running to God, her hands outstretched.

^32–34Sing, O kings of the earth!

Sing praises to the Lord!

There he is: Sky-Rider,

striding the ancient skies.

Listen—he’s calling in thunder,

rumbling, rolling thunder.

Call out “Bravo!” to God,

the High God of Israel.

His splendor and strength

rise huge as thunderheads.

³⁵A terrible beauty, O God,

streams from your sanctuary.

It’s Israel’s strong God! He gives

power and might to his people!

O you, his people—bless God!

A David Psalm

¹69God, God, save me!

I’m in over my head,

²Quicksand under me, swamp water over me;

I’m going down for the third time.

³I’m hoarse from calling for help,

Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.

⁴I’ve got more enemies than hairs on my head;

Sneaks and liars are out to knife me in the back.

What I never stole

Must I now give back?

⁵God, you know every sin I’ve committed;

My life’s a wide-open book before you.

⁶Don’t let those who look to you in hope

Be discouraged by what happens to me,

Dear Lord! God of the armies!

Don’t let those out looking for you

Come to a dead end by following me—

Please, dear God of Israel!

⁷Because of you I look like an idiot,

I walk around ashamed to show my face.

⁸My brothers shun me like a bum off the street;

My family treats me like an unwanted guest.

⁹I love you more than I can say.

Because I’m madly in love with you,

They blame me for everything they dislike about you.

¹⁰When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting,

All it got me was more contempt.

¹¹When I put on a sad face,

They treated me like a clown.

¹²Now drunks and gluttons

Make up drinking songs about me.

¹³And me? I pray.

God, it’s time for a break!

God, answer in love!

Answer with your sure salvation!

¹⁴Rescue me from the swamp,

Don’t let me go under for good,

Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;

This whirlpool is sucking me down.

¹⁵Don’t let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole

Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.

¹⁶Now answer me, God, because you love me;

Let me see your great mercy full-face.

¹⁷Don’t look the other way; your servant can’t take it.

I’m in trouble. Answer right now!

¹⁸Come close, God; get me out of here.

Rescue me from this deathtrap.

¹⁹You know how they kick me around—

Pin on me the donkey’s ears, the dunce’s cap.

²⁰I’m broken by their taunts,

Flat on my face, reduced to a nothing.

I looked in vain for one friendly face. Not one.

I couldn’t find one shoulder to cry on.

²¹They put poison in my soup,

Vinegar in my drink.

²²Let their supper be bait in a trap that snaps shut;

May their best friends be trappers who’ll skin them alive.

²³Make them become blind as bats,

Give them the shakes from morning to night.

²⁴Let them know what you think of them,

Blast them with your red-hot anger.

²⁵Burn down their houses,

Leave them desolate with nobody at home.

²⁶They gossiped about the one you disciplined,

Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.

²⁷Pile on the guilt,

Don’t let them off the hook.

²⁸Strike their names from the list of the living;

No rock-carved honor for them among the righteous.

²⁹I’m hurt and in pain;

Give me space for healing, and mountain air.

³⁰Let me shout God’s name with a praising song,

Let me tell his greatness in a prayer of thanks.

³¹For God, this is better than oxen on the altar,

Far better than blue-ribbon bulls.

³²The poor in spirit see and are glad—

Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!

³³For God listens to the poor,

He doesn’t walk out on the wretched.

³⁴You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth;

Also ocean and all things that swim in it.

³⁵For God is out to help Zion,

Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah.

Guess who will live there—

The proud owners of the land?

³⁶No, the children of his servants will get it,

The lovers of his name will live in it.

A David Prayer

^1–370God! Please hurry to my rescue!

God, come quickly to my side!

Those who are out to get me—

let them fall all over themselves.

Those who relish my downfall—

send them down a blind alley.

Give them a taste of their own medicine,

those gossips off clucking their tongues.

⁴Let those on the hunt for you

sing and celebrate.

Let all who love your saving way

say over and over, “God is mighty!”

⁵But I’ve lost it. I’m wasted.

God—quickly, quickly!

Quick to my side, quick to my rescue!

God, don’t lose a minute.