Psalm 71–72

PSALM 71

Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.

^1aIn You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;

Let me never be ashamed.

^2aIn Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

^bIncline Your ear to me and save me.

^3aBe to me a rock of ^bhabitation to which I may continually come;

You have given ^ccommandment to save me,

For You are ^dmy ¹rock and my fortress.

^4aRescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,

Out of the ¹grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,

⁵For You are my ^ahope;

O Lord ¹God, You are my ^bconfidence from my youth.

⁶¹By You I have been ^asustained from my birth;

You are He who ^btook me from my mother’s womb;

My ^cpraise is continually ²of You.

⁷I have become a ^amarvel to many,

For You are ^bmy strong refuge.

⁸My ^amouth is filled with Your praise

And with ^bYour glory all day long.

⁹Do not cast me off in the ^atime of old age;

Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

¹⁰For my enemies have spoken ¹against me;

And those who ^awatch for my ²life ^bhave consulted together,

¹¹Saying, “^aGod has forsaken him;

Pursue and seize him, for there is ^bno one to deliver.”

¹²O God, ^ado not be far from me;

O my God, ^bhasten to my help!

¹³Let those who are adversaries of my soul be ^aashamed and consumed;

Let them be ^bcovered with reproach and dishonor, who ^cseek ¹to injure me.

¹⁴But as for me, I will ^ahope continually,

And will ^1bpraise You yet more and more.

¹⁵My ^amouth shall tell of Your righteousness

And of ^bYour salvation all day long;

For I ^cdo not know the ¹sum of them.

¹⁶I will come ^awith the mighty deeds of the Lord ¹God;

I will ^bmake mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

¹⁷O God, You ^ahave taught me from my youth,

And I still ^bdeclare Your wondrous deeds.

¹⁸And even when I am ^aold and gray, O God, do not forsake me,

Until I ^bdeclare Your ¹strength to this generation,

Your power to all who are to come.

¹⁹¹For Your ^arighteousness, O God, reaches to the ²heavens,

You who have ^bdone great things;

O God, ^cwho is like You?

²⁰You who have ^ashown ¹me many troubles and distresses

Will ^brevive me again,

And will bring me up again ^cfrom the depths of the earth.

²¹May You increase my ^agreatness

And turn to ^bcomfort me.

²²I will also praise You with ^1aa harp,

Even Your ²truth, O my God;

To You I will sing praises with the ^blyre,

O ^cHoly One of Israel.

²³My lips will ^ashout for joy when I sing praises to You;

And my ^bsoul, which You have redeemed.

²⁴My ^atongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;

For they are ^bashamed, for they are humiliated who seek ¹my hurt.

PSALM 72

The Reign of the Righteous King.

A Psalm of Solomon.

¹Give the king ^aYour judgments, O God,

And ^bYour righteousness to the king’s son.

²¹May ²he ^ajudge Your people with righteousness

And ^3bYour afflicted with justice.

³¹Let the mountains bring ^2apeace to the people,

And the hills, in righteousness.

⁴¹May he ^avindicate the ²afflicted of the people,

Save the children of the needy

And crush the oppressor.

⁵¹Let them fear You ^awhile the sun endures,

And ²as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

⁶¹May he come down ^alike rain upon the mown grass,

Like ^bshowers that water the earth.

⁷In his days ¹may the ^arighteous flourish,

And ^babundance of peace till the moon is no more.

⁸May he also rule ^afrom sea to sea

And from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹¹Let ^athe nomads of the desert ^bbow before him,

And his enemies ^click the dust.

¹⁰¹Let the kings of ^aTarshish and of the ^2bislands bring presents;

The kings of ^cSheba and ^dSeba ^eoffer ³gifts.

¹¹¹And let all ^akings bow down before him,

All ^bnations serve him.

¹²For he will ^adeliver the needy when he cries for help,

The ¹afflicted also, and him who has no helper.

¹³He will have ^acompassion on the poor and needy,

And the ¹lives of the needy he will save.

¹⁴He will ^1arescue their ²life from oppression and violence,

And their blood will be ^bprecious in his sight;

¹⁵So may he live, and may the ^agold of Sheba be given to him;

And let ¹them pray for him continually;

Let them bless him all day long.

¹⁶May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains;

Its fruit will wave like the cedars of ^aLebanon;

And may those from the city flourish like ^bvegetation of the earth.

¹⁷May his ^aname endure forever;

May his name ¹increase ^2bas long as the sun shines;

And let men ^cbless themselves by him;

^dLet all nations call him blessed.

^18aBlessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,

Who alone ^bworks wonders.

¹⁹And blessed be His ^aglorious name forever;

And may the whole ^bearth be filled with His glory.

^cAmen, and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.