Psalm 73–83

Psalm 73

Plea for Relief from Oppressors

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹Truly God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.^*

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

my steps had nearly slipped.^*

³For I was envious of the arrogant;

I saw the prosperity of the wicked.^*

⁴For they have no pain;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

⁵They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not plagued like other people.^*

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;

violence covers them like a garment.^*

⁷Their eyes swell out with fatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.^*

⁸They scoff and speak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.^*

⁹They set their mouths against heaven,

and their tongues range over the earth.

¹⁰Therefore the people turn and praise them^u

and find no fault in them.^v

¹¹And they say, “How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”^*

¹²Such are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.^*

¹³All in vain I have kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.^*

¹⁴For all day long I have been plagued

and am punished every morning.^*

¹⁵If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”

I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,^*

¹⁷until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I perceived their end.^*

¹⁸Truly you set them in slippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.^*

¹⁹How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!^*

²⁰They are^w like a dream when one awakes;

on awaking you despise their phantoms.^*

²¹When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

²²I was stupid and ignorant;

I was like a brute beast toward you.^*

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

²⁴You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will receive me with honor.^x*

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.^*

²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength^y of my heart and my portion forever.^*

²⁷Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;

you put an end to those who are false to you.^*

²⁸But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

to tell of all your works.^*

Psalm 74

Plea for Help in Time of National Humiliation

A Maskil of Asaph.

¹O God, why do you cast us off forever?

Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?^*

²Remember your congregation, which you acquired long ago,

which you redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage.

Remember Mount Zion, where you came to dwell.^*

³Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.^*

⁴Your foes have roared within your holy place;

they set up their emblems there.^*

⁵At the upper entrance they hacked

the wooden trellis with axes.^z*

⁶And then, with hatchets and hammers,

they smashed all its carved work.

⁷They set your sanctuary on fire;

they desecrated the dwelling place of your name,

bringing it to the ground.^*

⁸They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.^*

⁹We do not see our emblems;

there is no longer any prophet,

and there is no one among us who knows how long.^*

¹⁰How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?

Is the enemy to revile your name forever?^*

¹¹Why do you hold back your hand;

why do you keep your hand in^a your bosom?^*

¹²Yet God my King is from of old,

working salvation in the earth.^*

¹³You divided the sea by your might;

you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.^*

¹⁴You crushed the heads of Leviathan;

you gave him as food^b for the creatures of the wilderness.

¹⁵You cut openings for springs and torrents;

you dried up ever-flowing streams.^*

¹⁶Yours is the day, yours also the night;

you established the luminaries^c and the sun.^*

¹⁷You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;

you made summer and winter.^*

¹⁸Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,

and an impious people reviles your name.^*

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;

do not forget the life of your poor forever.^*

²⁰Have regard for your^d covenant,

for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.^*

²¹Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;

let the poor and needy praise your name.^*

²²Rise up, O God, plead your cause;

remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.^*

²³Do not forget the clamor of your foes,

the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.^*

Psalm 75

Thanksgiving for God’s Wondrous Deeds

To the leader: Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹We give thanks to you, O God;

we give thanks; your name is near.

People tell of your wondrous deeds.^*

²At the set time that I appoint,

I will judge with equity.

³When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants,

it is I who keep its pillars steady.   Selah

⁴I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,”

and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn;^*

⁵do not lift up your horn on high

or speak with insolent neck.”^*

⁶For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,^*

⁷but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.^*

⁸For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup

with foaming wine, well mixed;

he will pour a draught from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall drain it down to the dregs.^*

⁹But I will rejoice^e forever;

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.^*

¹⁰All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,

but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.^*

Psalm 76

Israel’s God—Judge of All the Earth

To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

¹In Judah God is known;

his name is great in Israel.^*

²His abode has been established in Salem,

his dwelling place in Zion.^*

³There he broke the flashing arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.   Selah^*

⁴Glorious are you, more majestic

than the everlasting mountains.^f

⁵The courageous were stripped of their spoil;

they sank into sleep;

none of the troops

was able to lift a hand.^*

⁶At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both rider and horse lay stunned.

⁷But you indeed are awesome!

Who can stand before you

when your anger is roused?^*

⁸From the heavens you uttered judgment;

the earth feared and was still^*

⁹when God rose up to establish judgment,

to save all the oppressed of the earth.   Selah^*

¹⁰Human wrath serves only to praise you,

when you bind the last bit of your^g wrath around you.^*

¹¹Make vows to the Lord your God and perform them;

let all who are around him bring gifts

to the one who is awesome,^*

¹²who cuts off the spirit of princes,

who inspires fear in the kings of the earth.^*

Psalm 77

God’s Mighty Deeds Recalled

To the leader: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.

¹I cry aloud to God,

aloud to God, that he may hear me.^*

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

in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul refuses to be comforted.^*

³I think of God, and I moan;

I meditate, and my spirit faints.   Selah^*

⁴You keep my eyelids from closing;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

⁵I consider the days of old

and remember the years of long ago.^*

⁶I commune^h with my heart in the night;

I meditate and search my spirit:^i*

⁷“Will the Lord spurn forever

and never again be favorable?^*

⁸Has his steadfast love ceased forever?

Are his promises at an end for all time?^*

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”   Selah^*

¹⁰And I say, “It is my grief

that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”^*

¹¹I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;

I will remember your wonders of old.^*

¹²I will meditate on all your work

and muse on your mighty deeds.

¹³Your way, O God, is holy.

What god is so great as our God?^*

¹⁴You are the God who works wonders;

you have displayed your might among the peoples.

¹⁵With your strong arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.   Selah^*

¹⁶When the waters saw you, O God,

when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

the very deep trembled.^*

¹⁷The clouds poured out water;

the skies thundered;

your arrows flashed on every side.^*

¹⁸The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

your lightnings lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook.^*

¹⁹Your way was through the sea,

your path through the mighty waters,

yet your footprints were unseen.^*

²⁰You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.^*

Psalm 78

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude

A Maskil of Asaph.

¹Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth.^*

²I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,^*

³things that we have heard and known,

that our ancestors have told us.^*

⁴We will not hide them from their children;

we will tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might

and the wonders that he has done.^*

⁵He established a decree in Jacob

and appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach to their children,^*

⁶that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and rise up and tell them to their children,^*

⁷so that they should set their hope in God,

and not forget the works of God,

but keep his commandments;^*

⁸and that they should not be like their ancestors,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.^*

⁹The Ephraimites, armed with^j the bow,

turned back on the day of battle.^*

¹⁰They did not keep God’s covenant

and refused to walk according to his law.^*

¹¹They forgot what he had done

and the miracles that he had shown them.^*

¹²In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels

in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.^*

¹³He divided the sea and let them pass through it

and made the waters stand like a heap.^*

¹⁴In the daytime he led them with a cloud

and all night long with a fiery light.^*

¹⁵He split rocks open in the wilderness

and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.^*

¹⁶He made streams come out…