Psalm 76:1–150:6

¹In the land of Judah, God is known.

His name is great in Israel.

²His tent is in Jerusalem.

The place where he lives is on Mount Zion.

³There he broke the deadly arrows of his enemies.

He broke their shields and swords.

He broke their weapons of war. Selah

⁴God, you shine like a very bright light.

You are more majestic than mountains full of wild animals.

⁵Brave soldiers have been robbed of everything they had.

Now they lie there, sleeping in death.

Not one of them can even lift his hands.

⁶God of Jacob, at your command

both horse and chariot lie still.

⁷People should have respect for you alone.

Who can stand in front of you when you are angry?

⁸From heaven you handed down your sentence.

The land was afraid and became quiet.

⁹God, that happened when you rose up to judge.

It happened when you came to save all of your suffering people in the land. Selah

¹⁰Your anger against sinners brings you praise.

Those who live through your anger gather to worship you.

¹¹Make promises to the Lord your God and keep them.

Let all of the neighboring nations

bring gifts to the One who should be respected.

¹²He breaks the proud spirit of rulers.

The kings of the earth have respect for him.

Psalm 77

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.

¹I cried out to God for help.

I cried out to God to hear me.

²When I was in trouble, I looked to the Lord.

During the night I lifted up my hands in prayer.

But I refused to be comforted.

³God, I remembered you, and I groaned.

I thought about you, and I became weak. Selah

⁴You kept me from going to sleep.

I was so troubled I couldn’t speak.

⁵I thought about days gone by.

I thought about the years of long ago.

⁶I remembered how I used to sing praise to you in the night.

I thought about it, and here is what I asked myself.

⁷“Will the Lord turn away from us forever?

Won’t he ever show us his kindness again?

⁸Has his faithful love disappeared forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

⁹Has God forgotten to show us his favor?

Has he held back his tender love because he was angry?” Selah

¹⁰Then I thought, “Here is what I will make my appeal to.

For many years the Most High God showed how powerful his right hand is.”

¹¹Lord, I will remember what you did.

Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

¹²I will spend time thinking about everything you have done.

I will consider all of your mighty acts.

¹³God, everything you do is holy.

What god is so great as our God?

¹⁴You are the God who does miracles.

You show your power among the nations.

¹⁵With your mighty arm you set your people free.

You set the children of Jacob and Joseph free. Selah

¹⁶God, the water of the Red Sea saw you.

It saw you and boiled up.

The deepest waters were stirred up.

¹⁷The clouds poured down rain.

The skies rumbled with thunder.

Lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.

¹⁸Your thunder was heard in the windstorm.

Your lightning lit up the world.

The earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹Your path led through the Red Sea.

You walked through the mighty waters.

But your footprints were not seen.

²⁰You led your people like a flock.

You led them by the hands of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 78

A maskil of Asaph.

¹My people, listen to my teaching.

Pay attention to what I say.

²I will open my mouth and tell stories.

I will speak about things that were hidden.

They happened a long time ago.

³We have heard about them and we know them.

Our people who lived before us have told us about them.

⁴We won’t hide them from our children.

We will tell them to those who live after us.

We will tell them about what the Lord has done that is worthy of praise.

We will talk about his power and the wonderful things he has done.

⁵He gave laws to the people of Jacob.

He gave Israel their law.

He commanded our people who lived before us

to teach his laws to their children.

⁶Then those born later would know his laws.

Even their children yet to come would know them.

And they in turn would tell their children.

⁷Then they would put their trust in God.

They would not forget what he had done.

They would obey his commands.

⁸They would not be like their people who lived before them.

Those people were stubborn. They refused to obey God.

Their hearts were not true to him.

Their spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹The soldiers of Ephraim were armed with bows.

But they ran away on the day of battle.

¹⁰They didn’t keep the covenant God had made with them.

They refused to live by his law.

¹¹They forgot what he had done.

They didn’t remember the wonders he had shown them.

¹²He did miracles right in front of our people who lived long ago.

At that time they were living in the land of Egypt, in the area of Zoan.

¹³God parted the Red Sea and led them through it.

He made the water stand up like a wall.

¹⁴He guided them with the cloud during the day.

He led them with the light of a fire all night long.

¹⁵He broke the rocks open in the desert.

He gave them as much water as there is in the oceans.

¹⁶He brought streams out of a rocky cliff.

He made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin against him.

In the desert they refused to obey the Most High God.

¹⁸They were stubborn and put God to the test.

They ordered him to give them the food they longed for.

¹⁹They spoke against God. They said,

“Can God put food on a table in the desert?

²⁰When he struck the rock, streams of water poured out.

Huge amounts of water flowed down.

But can he also give us food?

Can he supply meat for his people?”

²¹When the Lord heard what they said, he was very angry.

His anger broke out like fire against the people of Jacob.

He became very angry with Israel.

²²That was because they didn’t believe in God.

They didn’t trust in his power to save them.

²³But he gave a command to the skies above.

He opened the doors of the heavens.

²⁴He rained down manna for the people to eat.

He gave them the grain of heaven.

²⁵Mere men ate the bread of angels.

He sent them all of the food they could eat.

²⁶He made the east wind blow from the heavens.

By his power he caused the south wind to blow.

²⁷He rained meat down on them like dust.

He sent them birds like sand on the seashore.

²⁸He made the birds come down inside their camp.

The birds fell all around their tents.

²⁹People ate until they had more than enough.

He gave them what they had longed for.

³⁰But even before they had finished eating, God acted.

He did it while the food was still in their mouths.

³¹His anger rose up against them.

He put to death the strongest among them.

He struck down Israel’s young men.

³²But even after all that, they kept on sinning.

Even after they had seen the miracles he did, they still didn’t believe.

³³So he brought their days to an end like a puff of smoke.

He ended their years with terror.

³⁴Every time God killed some of them, the others would look to him.

They gladly turned back to him again.

³⁵They remembered that God was their Rock.

They remembered that God Most High had set them free.

³⁶But they didn’t mean it when they praised him.

They lied to him when they spoke.

³⁷Their hearts were not true to him.

They weren’t faithful to the covenant he had made with them.

³⁸But he was full of tender love.

He forgave their sins

and didn’t destroy his people.

Time after time he held back his anger.

He didn’t let all of his burning anger blaze out.

³⁹He remembered that they were only human.

He remembered they were only a breath of air

that drifts by and doesn’t return.

⁴⁰How often they refused to obey him in the desert!

How often they caused him sorrow in that dry and empty land!

⁴¹Again and again they put God to the test.

They made the Holy One of Israel sad and angry.

⁴²They didn’t remember his power.

They forgot the day he set them free

from those who had beaten them down.

⁴³They forgot how he had shown them his miraculous signs in Egypt.

They forgot his miracles in the area of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned the rivers of Egypt into blood.

The people of Egypt couldn’t drink water from their streams.

⁴⁵He sent large numbers of flies that bit them.

He sent frogs that destroyed their land.

⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshoppers.

He gave their food to the locusts.

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail.

He destroyed their fig trees with sleet.

⁴⁸He killed their cattle with hail.

Their livestock were struck by lightning.

⁴⁹He brought great trouble on Egypt by pouring out his blazing anger.

In his hot anger he sent destroying angels against them.

⁵⁰God prepared a path for his anger.

He didn’t spare their lives.

He gave them over to the plague.

⁵¹He killed the oldest son of each family in Egypt.

He struck down the oldest son in every house in the land of Ham.

⁵²But he brought his people out like a flock.

He led them like sheep through the desert.

⁵³He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid.

But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies.

⁵⁴He brought his people to the border of his holy land.

He led them to the central hill country he had taken by his power.

⁵⁵He drove the nations out to make room for his people.

He gave to each family a piece of land to pass on to their children.

He settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶But they put God to the test.

They refused to obey the Most High God.

They didn’t keep his laws.

⁵⁷Like their people who lived before them,

they turned away from him and were not faithful.

They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight.

They couldn’t be trusted.

⁵⁸They made God angry by going to their high places.

They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.

⁵⁹When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry.

He turned away from them completely.

⁶⁰He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh.

He left the tent he had set up among his people.

⁶¹He allowed the ark to be captured.

Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested.

⁶²He let his people be killed with swords.

He was very angry with them.

⁶³Fire destroyed their young men.

Their young women had no one to get married to.

⁶⁴Their priests were killed with swords.

Their widows weren’t able to cry.

⁶⁵Then the…