Psalm 73–83

Book Three: Psalms 73–89

Psalm 73

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹Truly God is good to Israel,

To such as are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;

My steps had nearly ^bslipped.

^3cFor I was envious of the boastful,

When I saw the prosperity of the ^dwicked.

⁴For there are no ¹pangs in their death,

But their strength is firm.

^5eThey are not in trouble as other men,

Nor are they plagued like other men.

⁶Therefore pride serves as their necklace;

Violence covers them ^flike a garment.

^7gTheir ²eyes bulge with abundance;

They have more than heart could wish.

^8hThey scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;

They ⁱspeak ³loftily.

⁹They set their mouth ^jagainst the heavens,

And their tongue walks through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore his people return here,

^kAnd waters of a full cup are drained by them.

¹¹And they say, ^l“How does God know?

And is there knowledge in the Most High?”

¹²Behold, these are the ungodly,

Who are always at ease;

They increase in riches.

¹³Surely I have ⁴cleansed my heart in ^mvain,

And washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴For all day long I have been plagued,

And chastened every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.

¹⁶When I thought how to understand this,

It was ⁵too painful for me—

¹⁷Until I went into the sanctuary of God;

Then I understood their ⁿend.

¹⁸Surely ^oYou set them in slippery places;

You cast them down to destruction.

¹⁹Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!

They are utterly consumed with terrors.

²⁰As a dream when one awakes,

So, Lord, when You awake,

You shall despise their image.

²¹Thus my heart was grieved,

And I was ⁶vexed in my mind.

^22pI was so foolish and ignorant;

I was like a beast before You.

²³Nevertheless I am continually with You;

You hold me by my right hand.

^24qYou will guide me with Your counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

^25rWhom have I in heaven but You?

And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.

^26sMy flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the ⁷strength of my heart and my ^tportion forever.

²⁷For indeed, ^uthose who are far from You shall perish;

You have destroyed all those who ⁸desert You for harlotry.

²⁸But it is good for me to ^vdraw near to God;

I have put my trust in the Lord God,

That I may ^wdeclare all Your works.

Psalm 74

A Contemplation of Asaph.

¹O God, why have You cast us off forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

²Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—

This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.

³Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.

The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.

^4aYour enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;

^bThey set up their banners for signs.

⁵They seem like men who lift up

Axes among the thick trees.

⁶And now they break down its carved work, all at once,

With axes and hammers.

⁷They have set fire to Your sanctuary;

They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.

^8cThey said in their hearts,

“Let us ²destroy them altogether.”

They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs;

^dThere is no longer any prophet;

Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

¹⁰O God, how long will the adversary ³reproach?

Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?

^11eWhy do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?

Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.

¹²For ^fGod is my King from of old,

Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

^13gYou divided the sea by Your strength;

You broke the heads of the ⁴sea serpents in the waters.

¹⁴You broke the heads of ⁵Leviathan in pieces,

And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

^15hYou broke open the fountain and the flood;

ⁱYou dried up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is Yours, the night also is ^jYours;

^kYou have prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have ^lset all the borders of the earth;

^mYou have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord,

And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.

¹⁹Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!

Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

²⁰ⁿHave respect to the covenant;

For the ⁶dark places of the earth are full of the ⁷haunts of ⁸cruelty.

²¹Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!

Let the poor and needy praise Your name.

²²Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;

Remember how the foolish man ⁹reproaches You daily.

²³Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;

The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.

Psalm 75

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” a Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!

For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.

²“When I choose the ²proper time,

I will judge uprightly.

³The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved;

I set up its pillars firmly.

Selah

⁴“I said to the boastful, ‘Do not deal boastfully,’

And to the wicked, ^b‘Do not ³lift up the horn.

⁵Do not lift up your horn on high;

Do not speak with ⁴a stiff neck.’ ”

⁶For exaltation comes neither from the east

Nor from the west nor from the south.

⁷But ^cGod is the Judge:

^dHe puts down one,

And exalts another.

⁸For ^ein the hand of the Lord there is a cup,

And the wine is red;

It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;

Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth

Drain and drink down.

⁹But I will declare forever,

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰“All ^fthe ⁵horns of the wicked I will also cut off,

But ^gthe horns of the righteous shall be ^hexalted.”

Psalm 76

To the Chief Musician. On Stringed Instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹In ^aJudah God is known; His name is great in Israel.

²In ²Salem also is His tabernacle,

And His dwelling place in Zion.

³There He broke the arrows of the bow,

The shield and sword of battle.

Selah

⁴You are more glorious and excellent

^bThan the mountains of prey.

^5cThe stouthearted were plundered;

^dThey ³have sunk into their sleep;

And none of the mighty men have found the use of their hands.

^6eAt Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.

⁷You, Yourself, are to be feared;

And ^fwho may stand in Your presence

When once You are angry?

^8gYou caused judgment to be heard from heaven;

^hThe earth feared and was still,

⁹When God ⁱarose to judgment,

To deliver all the oppressed of the earth.

Selah

^10jSurely the wrath of man shall praise You;

With the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself.

^11kMake vows to the Lord your God, and pay them;

^lLet all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared.

¹²He shall cut off the spirit of princes;

^mHe is awesome to the kings of the earth.

Psalm 77

To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

¹I cried out to God with my voice—To God with my voice;

And He gave ear to me.

²In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;

My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;

My soul refused to be comforted.

³I remembered God, and was troubled;

I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.

Selah

⁴You hold my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

⁵I have considered the days of old,

The years of ancient times.

⁶I call to remembrance my song in the night;

I meditate within my heart,

And my spirit ¹makes diligent search.

⁷Will the Lord cast off forever?

And will He be favorable no more?

⁸Has His mercy ceased forever?

Has His ^bpromise failed ²forevermore?

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?

Selah

¹⁰And I said, “This is my ³anguish;

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

¹¹I will remember the works of the Lord;

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

¹²I will also meditate on all Your work,

And talk of Your deeds.

¹³Your way, O God, is in ⁴the ^csanctuary;

Who is so great a God as our God?

¹⁴You are the God who does wonders;

You have declared Your strength among the peoples.

¹⁵You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,

The sons of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah

¹⁶The waters saw You, O God;

The waters saw You, they were ^dafraid;

The depths also trembled.

¹⁷The clouds poured out water;

The skies sent out a sound;

Your arrows also flashed about.

¹⁸The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;

The lightnings lit up the world;

The earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹Your way was in the sea,

Your path in the great waters,

And Your footsteps were not known.

²⁰You led Your people like a flock

By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 78

A Contemplation Of Asaph.

¹Give ear, O my people, to my law;

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth in a ^bparable;

I will utter ²dark sayings of old,

³Which we have heard and known,

And our fathers have told us.

^4cWe will not hide them from their children,

^dTelling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,

And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.

⁵For ^eHe established a testimony in Jacob,

And appointed a law in Israel,

Which He commanded our fathers,

That ^fthey should make them known to their children;

^6gThat the generation to come might know them,

The children who would be born,

That they may arise and declare them to their children,

⁷That they may set their hope in God,

And not forget the works of God,

But keep His commandments;

⁸And ^hmay not be like their fathers,

ⁱA stubborn and rebellious generation,

A generation ^jthat did not ³set its heart aright,

And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The children of Ephraim, being armed and ⁴carrying bows,

Turned back in the day of battle.

^10kThey did not keep the covenant of God;

They refused to walk in His law,

¹¹And ^lforgot His works

And His wonders that He had shown them.

^12mMarvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,

In the land of Egypt, ⁿin the field of Zoan.

^13oHe divided the sea and caused them to pass through;

And ^pHe made the waters stand up like a heap.

^14qIn the daytime also He led them with the cloud,

And all the night with a light of fire.

^15rHe split the rocks in the wilderness,

And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

¹⁶He also brought ^sstreams out of the rock,

And caused waters to run down like rivers.

¹⁷But they sinned even more against Him

By ^trebelling…