Psalm 72–73

PSALM 72

A Psalm of Solomon.

¹Give the king thy justice, O God,

and thy righteousness to the royal son!

²May he judge thy people with righteousness,

and thy poor with justice!

³Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness!

⁴May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the needy,

and crush the oppressor!

⁵May he live while the sun endures,

and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!

⁶May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,

like showers that water the earth!

⁷In his days may righteousness flourish,

and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

⁸May he have dominion from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth!

⁹May his foes bow down before him,

and his enemies lick the dust!

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles

render him tribute,

may the kings of Sheba and Seba

bring gifts!

¹¹May all kings fall down before him,

all nations serve him!

¹²For he delivers the needy when he calls,

the poor and him who has no helper.

¹³He has pity on the weak and the needy,

and saves the lives of the needy.

¹⁴From oppression and violence he redeems their life;

and precious is their blood in his sight.

¹⁵Long may he live,

may gold of Sheba be given to him!

May prayer be made for him continually,

and blessings invoked for him all the day!

¹⁶May there be abundance of grain in the land;

on the tops of the mountains may it wave;

may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may men blossom forth from the cities

like the grass of the field!

¹⁷May his name endure for ever,

his fame continue as long as the sun!

May men bless themselves by him,

all nations call him blessed!

¹⁸Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

who alone does wondrous things.

¹⁹Blessed be his glorious name for ever;

may his glory fill the whole earth! Amen and Amen!

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

THE PSALMS: BOOK 3

PSALM 73

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹Truly God is good to the upright,

to those who are pure in heart.

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

my steps had well nigh slipped.

³For I was envious of the arrogant,

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pangs;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

⁵They are not in trouble as other men are;

they are not stricken like other men.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;

violence covers them as 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 the heavens,

and their tongue struts through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore the people turn and praise them;

and find no fault in them.

¹¹And they say, “How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

¹²Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

¹³All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴For all the day long I have been stricken,

and chastened every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have been untrue to the generation of thy 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 thou dost set them in slippery places;

thou dost make them fall to ruin.

¹⁹How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!

²⁰They are 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 beast toward thee.

²³Nevertheless I am continually with thee;

thou dost hold my right hand.

²⁴Thou dost guide me with thy counsel,

and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee.

²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

²⁷For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish;

thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.

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

I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,

that I may tell of all thy works.