Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of (A)Asaph.

73 Truly God is good to (B)Israel,
    to those who are (C)pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
(D)For I was (E)envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the (F)prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not (G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is (H)their necklace;
    violence covers them as (I)a garment.
Their (J)eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and (K)speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find (L)no fault in them.[a]
11 And they say, (M)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they (N)increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I (O)kept my heart clean
    and (P)washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been (Q)stricken
    and (R)rebuked (S)every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed (T)the generation of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me (U)a wearisome task,
17 until I went into (V)the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their (W)end.

18 Truly you set them in (X)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed (Y)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by (Z)terrors!
20 Like (AA)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when (AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was (AC)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like (AD)a beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you (AE)hold my right hand.
24 You (AF)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will (AG)receive me to glory.
25 (AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 (AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is (AJ)the strength[b] of my heart and my (AK)portion (AL)forever.

27 For behold, those who are (AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is (AN)unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to (AO)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my (AP)refuge,
    that I may (AQ)tell of all your works.

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil[c] of (AR)Asaph.

74 O God, why do you (AS)cast us off forever?
    Why does your anger (AT)smoke against (AU)the sheep of your pasture?
(AV)Remember your congregation, which you have (AW)purchased of old,
    which you have (AX)redeemed to be (AY)the tribe of your heritage!
    Remember Mount Zion, (AZ)where you have dwelt.
Direct your steps to (BA)the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

Your foes have (BB)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    (BC)they set up their (BD)own signs for (BE)signs.
They were like those who swing (BF)axes
    in a forest of trees.[d]
And all its (BG)carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
They (BH)set your sanctuary on fire;
    they (BI)profaned (BJ)the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
They (BK)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our (BL)signs;
    (BM)there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, (BN)is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why (BO)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment[e] and destroy them!

12 Yet (BP)God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You (BQ)divided the sea by your might;
    you (BR)broke the heads of (BS)the sea monsters[f] on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of (BT)Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You (BU)split open springs and brooks;
    you (BV)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established (BW)the heavenly lights and the sun.
17 You have (BX)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made (BY)summer and winter.

18 (BZ)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
    and (CA)a foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of your (CB)dove to the wild beasts;
    (CC)do not forget the life of your poor forever.

20 Have regard for (CD)the covenant,
    for (CE)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not (CF)the downtrodden (CG)turn back in shame;
    let (CH)the poor and needy praise your name.

22 Arise, O God, (CI)defend your cause;
    (CJ)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
    (CK)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to (CL)Do Not Destroy. (CM)A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

75 We give thanks to you, O God;
    we give thanks, for your name is (CN)near.
We[g] recount your wondrous deeds.

“At (CO)the set time that I appoint
    I will judge (CP)with equity.
When the earth (CQ)totters, and all its inhabitants,
    it is I who keep steady its (CR)pillars. Selah
I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
    and to the wicked, (CS)‘Do not lift up your horn;
do not lift up your horn on high,
    or speak with haughty neck.’”

For not from the east or from the west
    and not from the wilderness comes (CT)lifting up,
but it is (CU)God who executes judgment,
    (CV)putting down one and lifting up another.
(CW)For in the hand of the Lord there is (CX)a cup
    with foaming wine, (CY)well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall (CZ)drain it down to the dregs.

But I will declare it forever;
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 (DA)All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
    (DB)but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with (DC)stringed instruments. A Psalm of (DD)Asaph. A Song.

76 In Judah God is (DE)known;
    his name is great in Israel.
His (DF)abode has been established in (DG)Salem,
    his (DH)dwelling place in Zion.
There he (DI)broke the flashing arrows,
    the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

Glorious are you, more majestic
    (DJ)than the mountains full of (DK)prey.
(DL)The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
    (DM)they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
    were unable to use their hands.
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
    both (DN)rider and horse lay stunned.

(DO)But you, you are to be feared!
    Who can (DP)stand before you
    when once your anger is roused?
From the heavens you uttered judgment;
    (DQ)the earth feared and was still,
when God (DR)arose to establish judgment,
    to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

10 Surely (DS)the wrath of man shall praise you;
    the remnant[h] of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11 (DT)Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
    let all around him (DU)bring gifts
    to him who (DV)is to be feared,
12 who (DW)cuts off the spirit of princes,
    who (DX)is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them
  2. Psalm 73:26 Hebrew rock
  3. Psalm 74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
  4. Psalm 74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  5. Psalm 74:11 Hebrew from your bosom
  6. Psalm 74:13 Or the great sea creatures
  7. Psalm 75:1 Hebrew They
  8. Psalm 76:10 Or extremity

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