Psalm 71-73

New American Standard Bible

Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.

71 ^(A)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be put to shame.
²^(B)In Your righteousness rescue me and save me;
^(C)Extend Your ear to me and help me.
³^(D)Be to me a rock of ^(E)dwelling to which I may continually come;
You have given the ^(F)commandment to save me,
For You are ^(G)my rock and my fortress.
⁴^(H)Save me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
From the ^[a]grasp of the wrongdoer and the ruthless,
⁵For You are my ^(I)hope;
Lord ^[b]God, You are my ^(J)confidence from my youth.
⁶I have ^(K)leaned on you since my birth;
You are He who ^(L)took me from my mother’s womb;
My ^(M)praise is continually ^[c]of You.

⁷I have become a ^(N)marvel to many,
For You are ^(O)my strong refuge.
⁸My ^(P)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with ^(Q)Your glory all day long.
⁹Do not cast me away at the ^(R)time of my old age;
Do not abandon me when my strength fails.
¹⁰For my enemies have spoken ^[d]against me;
And those who ^(S)watch for my ^[e]life ^(T)have consulted together,
¹¹Saying, “^(U)God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is ^(V)no one to save him.”

¹²God, ^(W)do not be far from me;
My God, ^(X)hurry to my aid!
¹³May those who are enemies of my soul be ^(Y)put to shame and consumed;
May they be ^(Z)covered with disgrace and dishonor, who ^(AA)seek ^[f]to injure me.
¹⁴But as for me, I will ^(AB)wait continually,
And will ^[g]^(AC)praise You yet more and more.
¹⁵My ^(AD)mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of ^(AE)Your salvation all day long;
For I ^(AF)do not know the art of writing.
¹⁶I will come ^(AG)with the mighty deeds of the Lord ^[h]God;
I will ^(AH)make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

¹⁷God, You ^(AI)have taught me from my youth,
And I still ^(AJ)declare Your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸And even when I am ^(AK)old and gray, God, do not abandon me,
Until I ^(AL)declare Your ^[i]strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
¹⁹^[j]For Your ^(AM)righteousness, God, reaches to the ^[k]heavens,
You who have ^(AN)done great things;
God, ^(AO)who is like You?
²⁰You who have ^(AP)shown ^[l]me many troubles and distresses
Will ^(AQ)revive ^[m]me again,
And will bring ^[n]me up again ^(AR)from the depths of the earth.
²¹May You increase my ^(AS)greatness
And turn to ^(AT)comfort me.

²²I will also praise You with ^[o]^(AU)a harp,
And Your ^[p]truth, my God;
I will sing praises to You with the ^(AV)lyre,
^(AW)Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips will ^(AX)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my ^(AY)soul, which You have redeemed.
²⁴My ^(AZ)tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are ^(BA)put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek ^[q]my harm.

The Reign of the Righteous King.

A Psalm of Solomon.

72 Give the king ^(BB)Your judgments, God,
And ^(BC)Your righteousness to the king’s son.
²^[r]May ^[s]he ^(BD)judge Your people with righteousness
And ^[t]^(BE)Your afflicted with justice.
³^[u]May the mountains bring ^[v]^(BF)peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
⁴^[w]May he ^(BG)vindicate the ^[x]afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy,
And crush the oppressor.

⁵^[y]May they fear You ^(BH)while the sun shines,
And ^[z]as long as the moon shines, throughout all generations.
⁶^[aa]May he come down ^(BI)like rain upon the mown grass,
Like ^(BJ)showers that water the earth.
⁷^[ab]May the ^(BK)righteous flourish in his days,
As well as an ^(BL)abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸May he also rule ^(BM)from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
⁹^[ac]May ^(BN)the nomads of the desert ^(BO)bow before him,
And his enemies ^(BP)lick the dust.
¹⁰^[ad]May the kings of ^(BQ)Tarshish and of the ^[ae]^(BR)islands bring gifts;
May the kings of ^(BS)Sheba and ^(BT)Seba ^(BU)offer tributes.
¹¹^[af]And may all ^(BV)kings bow down before him,
All ^(BW)nations serve him.

¹²For he will ^(BX)save the needy when he cries for help,
The ^[ag]afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
¹³He will have ^(BY)compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the ^[ah]lives of the needy.
¹⁴He will ^[ai]^(BZ)rescue their ^[aj]life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be ^(CA)precious in his sight;
¹⁵So may he live, and may the ^(CB)gold of Sheba be given to him;
And ^[ak]they are to pray for him continually;
^[al]They are to bless him all day long.

¹⁶May there be abundance of grain on the earth on top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like the cedars of ^(CC)Lebanon;
And may those from the city flourish like the ^(CD)vegetation of the earth.
¹⁷May his ^(CE)name endure forever;
May his name produce descendants ^[am]^(CF)as long as the sun shines;
And may people ^(CG)wish blessings on themselves by him;
^(CH)May all nations call him blessed.

¹⁸^(CI)Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone ^(CJ)works wonders.
¹⁹And blessed be His ^(CK)glorious name forever;
And may the whole ^(CL)earth be filled with His glory.
^(CM)Amen and Amen.

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

BOOK 3

The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.

A Psalm of Asaph.

73 God certainly is ^(CN)good to Israel,
To those who are ^(CO)pure in heart!
²But as for me, ^(CP)my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps ^[an]had almost slipped.
³For I was ^(CQ)envious of the ^[ao]arrogant
As I saw the ^(CR)prosperity of the wicked.
⁴For there are no pains in their death,
And their belly is fat.
⁵They are ^(CS)not ^[ap]in trouble like other people,
Nor are they ^(CT)tormented together with the rest of mankind.
⁶Therefore arrogance is ^(CU)their necklace;
The ^(CV)garment of violence covers them.
⁷Their eye ^[aq]bulges from ^(CW)fatness;
The imaginations of their heart overflow.
⁸They ^(CX)mock and ^[ar]wickedly speak of oppression;
They ^(CY)speak from on high.
⁹They have ^(CZ)set their mouth ^[as]against the heavens,
And their tongue ^[at]parades through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore ^[au]his people return here,
And ^(DA)abundant waters are drunk by them.
¹¹They say, “^(DB)How does God know?
And is there knowledge ^[av]with the Most High?”
¹²Behold, ^(DC)these are the wicked;
And always ^(DD)at ease, they have increased in wealth.
¹³Surely ^(DE)in vain I have ^[aw]kept my heart pure
And ^(DF)washed my hands in innocence;
¹⁴For I have been stricken ^(DG)all day long,
And ^[ax]^(DH)punished every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak this way,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the ^(DI)generation of Your children.
¹⁶When I ^(DJ)thought of understanding this,
It was ^[ay]troublesome in my sight
¹⁷Until I entered the ^[az]^(DK)sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their ^(DL)end.
¹⁸You indeed put them on ^(DM)slippery ground;
You dropped them into ^[ba]^(DN)ruin.
¹⁹How they are ^[bb]^(DO)destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by ^(DP)sudden terrors!
²⁰Like a ^(DQ)dream when one awakes,
Lord, when ^(DR)stirred, You will ^(DS)despise their image.

²¹When my ^(DT)heart was embittered
And I was ^(DU)pierced ^[bc]within,
²²Then I was ^(DV)stupid and ignorant;
I was like an ^(DW)animal ^[bd]before You.
²³Nevertheless ^(DX)I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
²⁴You will ^(DY)guide me with Your plan,
And afterward ^(DZ)receive me ^[be]to glory.

²⁵^(EA)Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
²⁶My ^(EB)flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the ^[bf]strength of my heart and my ^(EC)portion forever.
²⁷For, behold, ^(ED)those who are far from You will ^(EE)perish;
You have destroyed all those who ^[bg]^(EF)are unfaithful to You.
²⁸But as for me, ^(EG)the nearness of God is good for me;
I have made the Lord ^[bh]God my ^(EH)refuge,
So that I may ^(EI)tell of all Your works.

Footnotes

Psalm 71:4 Lit palm
Psalm 71:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Psalm 71:6 Lit in
Psalm 71:10 Lit with reference to
Psalm 71:10 Lit soul
Psalm 71:13 Lit my injury
Psalm 71:14 Lit add upon all Your praise
Psalm 71:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Psalm 71:18 Lit arm
Psalm 71:19 Or And
Psalm 71:19 Lit height
Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us
Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us
Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us
Psalm 71:22 Lit an instrument of a harp
Psalm 71:22 Or faithfulness
Psalm 71:24 Or to injure me
Psalm 72:2 Or He will judge
Psalm 72:2 Many of the pronouns in this Psalm may be rendered He since the typical reference is to the Messiah
Psalm 72:2 Or Your humble
Psalm 72:3 Or The mountains will bring
Psalm 72:3 Or prosperity
Psalm 72:4 Or He will vindicate
Psalm 72:4 Or humble
Psalm 72:5 Or They will fear
Psalm 72:5 Lit before the moon
Psalm 72:6 Or He will come down
Psalm 72:7 Or The righteous will flourish
Psalm 72:9 Or The nomads...will bow
Psalm 72:10 Or The kings...will bring
Psalm 72:10 Or coastlands
Psalm 72:11 Or All kings will bow down
Psalm 72:12 Or humble
Psalm 72:13 Lit souls
Psalm 72:14 Lit redeem
Psalm 72:14 Lit soul
Psalm 72:15 Lit he is to
Psalm 72:15 Lit He is to
Psalm 72:17 Lit before the sun
Psalm 73:2 Lit were caused to slip
Psalm 73:3 Or boasters
Psalm 73:5 Lit in the trouble of people
Psalm 73:7 Lit goes forth
Psalm 73:8 Or they speak in wickedness; From on high they speak of oppression
Psalm 73:9 Or in
Psalm 73:9 Lit walks
Psalm 73:10 Or His
Psalm 73:11 Lit in
Psalm 73:13 Or cleansed my heart
Psalm 73:14 Lit my punishment
Psalm 73:16 Lit labor, trouble
Psalm 73:17 Lit sanctuaries
Psalm 73:18 Or deception
Psalm 73:19 Lit become a desolation
Psalm 73:21 Lit in my kidneys
Psalm 73:22 Lit with You
Psalm 73:24 Or with honor
Psalm 73:26 Lit rock
Psalm 73:27 Lit go to a whoring from
Psalm 73:28 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord