Psalm 50
God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of †Asaph.
1 aThe Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth bfrom the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, athe perfection of beauty,
God bhas shone forth.
3 May our God acome and not keep silence;
bFire devours before Him,
And it is very ctempestuous around Him.
4 He asummons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My agodly ones to Me,
Those who have made a bcovenant with Me by csacrifice.”
6 And the aheavens declare His righteousness,
For bGod Himself is judge.
1Selah.
7 “aHear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify 1against you;
I am God, byour God.
8 “I do anot reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 “I shall take no ayoung bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10 “For aevery beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 “I know every abird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is 1Mine.
12 “If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the aworld is Mine, and 1all it contains.
13 “Shall I eat the flesh of 1abulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 “Offer to God aa sacrifice of thanksgiving
And bpay your vows to the Most High;
15 aCall upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall brescue you, and you will chonor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of My statutes
And to take aMy covenant in your mouth?
17 “For you ahate discipline,
And you bcast My words behind you.
18 “When you see a thief, you 1aare pleased with him,
And 2you bassociate with adulterers.
19 “You 1alet your mouth loose in evil
And your btongue frames deceit.
20 “You sit and aspeak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 “These things you have done and aI kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will breprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who aforget God,
Or I will btear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.
23 “He who aoffers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who 1borders his way aright
I shall cshow the salvation of God.”
Psalm 73–83
PSALM 73
The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Surely God is agood to Israel,
To those who are bpure in heart!
2 But as for me, amy feet came close to stumbling,
My steps 1had almost slipped.
3 For I was aenvious of the 1arrogant
As I saw the bprosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their 1body is fat.
5 They are anot 1in trouble as other 2men,
Nor are they bplagued 3like mankind.
6 Therefore pride is atheir necklace;
The bgarment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye 1bulges from afatness;
The imaginations of their heart 2run riot.
8 They amock and 1wickedly speak of oppression;
They bspeak from on high.
9 They have aset their mouth 1against the heavens,
And their tongue 2parades through the earth.
10 Therefore 1his people return to this place,
And waters of aabundance are 2drunk by them.
11 They say, “aHow does God know?
And is there knowledge 1with the Most High?”
12 Behold, athese are the wicked;
And always bat ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely ain vain I have 1kept my heart pure
And bwashed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken aall day long
And 1bchastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the ageneration of Your children.
16 When I apondered to understand this,
It was 1troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the 1asanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their bend.
18 Surely You set them in aslippery places;
You cast them down to 1bdestruction.
19 How they are 1adestroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by bsudden terrors!
20 Like a adream when one awakes,
O Lord, when baroused, You will cdespise their 1form.
21 When my aheart was embittered
22 Then I was asenseless and ignorant;
I was like 1a bbeast 2before You.
23 Nevertheless aI am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will aguide me,
And afterward breceive me 1to glory.
25 aWhom have I in heaven but You?
And 1besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My aflesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the 1strength of my heart and my bportion forever.
27 For, behold, athose who are far from You will bperish;
You have 1destroyed all those who 2care unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, athe nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord 1God my brefuge,
That I may ctell of all Your works.
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A †Maskil of Asaph.
1 O God, why have You arejected us forever?
Why does Your anger bsmoke against the csheep of Your 1pasture?
2 Remember 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.
3 1Turn Your footsteps toward the aperpetual ruins;
The enemy bhas damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have aroared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their bown 1standards cfor signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
His 1aaxe in a 2forest of trees.
6 And now 1all its acarved work
They smash with hatchet and 2hammers.
7 They have 1aburned Your sanctuary 2to the ground;
They have bdefiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They asaid in their heart, “Let us 1completely 2subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our asigns;
There is bno longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows chow long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary arevile,
And the enemy bspurn Your name forever?
11 Why ado You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, bdestroy them!
12 Yet God is amy king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 1You adivided the sea by Your strength;
1You bbroke the heads of the csea monsters 2in the waters.
14 1You crushed the heads of 2aLeviathan;
1You gave him as food for the 3creatures bof the wilderness.
15 1You abroke open springs and torrents;
1You bdried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
1You have aprepared the 2light and the sun.
17 1You have aestablished all the boundaries of the earth;
1You have 2made bsummer and winter.
18 Remember this, 1O Lord, that the enemy has areviled,
And a bfoolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your aturtledove to the wild beast;
bDo not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the acovenant;
For the bdark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the aoppressed return dishonored;
Let the bafflicted and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, and aplead Your own cause;
Remember 1how the bfoolish man reproaches You all day long.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your aadversaries,
The buproar of those who rise against You which ascends continually.
God Abases the Proud, but Exalts the Righteous.
For the choir director; set to †Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song.
1 We agive thanks to You, O God, we give thanks,
For Your …