Psalm 71–72

Psalm 71

¹Lord, I have gone to you for safety.

Let me never be put to shame.

²You do what is right. Save me and help me.

Pay attention to me and save me.

³Be my rock of safety

that I can always go to.

Give the command to save me.

You are my rock and my fort.

⁴My God, save me from the power of sinners.

Save me from the hands of those who are mean and evil.

⁵You are the King and the Lord. You have always been my hope.

I have trusted in you ever since I was young.

⁶From the time I was born I have depended on you.

You brought me out of my mother’s body.

I will praise you forever.

⁷To many people I am an example of how much you care.

You are strong. You are my place of safety.

⁸My mouth is filled with praise for you.

All day long I will talk about your glory.

⁹Don’t push me away when I’m old.

Don’t desert me when my strength is gone.

¹⁰My enemies speak against me.

Those who want to kill me get together and make evil plans.

¹¹They say, “God has deserted him.

Go after him and grab him.

No one will save him.”

¹²God, don’t stay so far away from me.

My God, come quickly and help me.

¹³May those who bring charges against me die in shame.

May those who want to harm me

be covered with shame and dishonor.

¹⁴But I will always have hope.

I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵I will say that what you have done is right.

All day long I will talk about how you have saved your people.

It is more than I can understand.

¹⁶Lord and King, I will come and announce your mighty acts.

I will announce that you alone do what is right.

¹⁷God, ever since I was young you have taught me about what you have done.

To this very day I tell about your wonderful acts.

¹⁸God, don’t leave me

even when I’m old and have gray hair.

Let me live to tell my children about your power.

Let me tell all of them about your mighty acts.

¹⁹God, your saving acts reach to the skies.

You have done great things.

God, who is like you?

²⁰You have sent many bitter troubles my way.

But you will give me new life.

Even if I’m almost in the grave,

you will bring me back.

²¹You will honor me more and more.

You will comfort me once again.

²²My God, I will use the harp to praise you

because you are always faithful.

Holy One of Israel,

I will use the lyre to sing praise to you.

²³My lips will shout with joy

when I sing praise to you.

You have saved me.

²⁴All day long my tongue will say

that you have done what is right.

Those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame.

They have not been honored.

Psalm 72

A psalm of Solomon.

¹God, give the king the ability to judge fairly.

He is your royal son. Help him to do what is right.

²Then he will rule your people in the right way.

He will be fair to those among your people who are hurting.

³The mountains and the hills will produce rich crops,

because the people will do what is right.

⁴The king will stand up for those who are hurting.

He will save the children of those who are in need.

He will crush those who beat others down.

⁵He will rule as long as the sun shines

and the moon gives its light.

He will rule for all time to come.

⁶He will be like rain falling on the fields.

He will be like showers watering the earth.

⁷Godly people will do well as long as he rules.

They will have more than they need as long as the moon lasts.

⁸He will rule from ocean to ocean.

His kingdom will reach from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

⁹The desert tribes will bow down to him.

His enemies will lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of places far away

will bring him gifts.

The kings of Sheba and Seba

will give him presents.

¹¹All kings will bow down to him.

All nations will serve him.

¹²People who are in need will cry out, and he will save them.

He will save those who are hurting.

They don’t have anyone else who can help them.

¹³He will take pity on those who are weak and in need.

He will save them from death.

¹⁴He will save them from people who beat others down.

He will save them from people who do mean things to them.

Their lives are very special to him.

¹⁵May he live a long time!

May gold from Sheba be given to him.

May people always pray for him.

May they ask the Lord to bless him all day long.

¹⁶Let there be plenty of grain everywhere in the land.

May it sway in the wind on the tops of the hills.

Let crops grow well, like those in Lebanon.

Let them grow like the grass of the field.

¹⁷May the king’s name be remembered forever.

May his fame last as long as the sun shines.

All nations will be blessed because of him.

They will call him blessed.

¹⁸Give praise to the Lord God, the God of Israel.

Only he can do wonderful things.

¹⁹Give praise to his glorious name forever.

May his glory fill the whole earth.

Amen and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, end here.