Psalm 66-69

The Voice

[pause]^[a]

⁵ Come and witness the True God’s endless works.
    His miraculous deeds done on behalf of humanity inspire fear.
⁶ He transformed the sea into dry land;
    our people passed through the river on foot!
Rejoice in Him; celebrate what He did there!
⁷ By His great might, He rules forever;
    His eyes watch over all the nations,
    so no one should go up against Him.

[pause]

⁸ Everyone, bless our True God!
    Let praise-filled voices be heard near and far—at home and on foreign soil!
⁹ Praise the One who gives us life and keeps us safe,
    who does not allow us to stumble in the darkness.
¹⁰ For You have put us to the test, O God;
    You have refined us as silver is refined.
¹¹ You trapped us with a snare;
    You have laid upon our backs a heavy burden.
¹² You allowed us to be conquered and let our enemies run over us.
    We journeyed through dangers, through fire and flood,
But You led us finally to a safe place, a land rich and abundant.

¹³ I will come into Your temple with burnt offerings;
    I will fulfill my promises to You—
¹⁴ The oaths that parted my lips
    and were promises my mouth freely made when I was suffering and in anguish.
¹⁵ I will bring You my sacrifices—plump beasts
    and the sweet smoke of consecrated rams—
I will also offer You bulls and goats.

[pause]

¹⁶ Come and listen, everyone who reveres the True God,
    and I will tell you what He has done for me.
¹⁷ I cried out to Him with my mouth,
    and I praised Him with my tongue.
¹⁸ If I entertain evil in my heart,
    the Lord will not hear me.
¹⁹ But surely God has heard me;
    He has paid attention to the urgency of my request.

²⁰ May the True God be blessed,
    for He did not turn away from my prayer
    nor did He hold back His loyal love from me.

¹ May God pour His grace and blessings into us
    and turn His face to shine His light on us.

[pause]^[b]

² So all those on earth will learn to follow Your way
    and see Your saving power come to redeem all nations.
³ May all people live to praise You, Our True God;
    may all come to praise You.

⁴ May all nations celebrate together, singing joy-filled songs of praise to You
    because You judge the people fairly
    and give guidance to all the nations of the earth.

[pause]

⁵ May the people praise You with their whole hearts, O God;
    may every man, woman, and child on the earth praise You.

⁶ The land has supplied a bountiful harvest,
    and the True God, our God, has poured out His blessings to us all.
⁷ God is the source of our blessings;
    may every corner of the earth respect and revere Him.

¹ May the True God rise up and show Himself;
    may those who are united against Him be dispersed,
    while the people who hate Him run away at the sight of Him.
² As smoke disappears when it is blown by the wind,
    may You blow away Your enemies forever.
As wax melts in the presence of fire,
    may the wicked heart melt away in God’s presence.
³ But may those who are righteous rejoice
    in the presence of the True God—so may they be glad and rejoice.
    Yes, let them celebrate with joy!

⁴ Sing songs of praise to the name that belongs to the True God!
    Let your voices ring out in songs of praise to Him, the One who rides through the deserted places.
His name is the Eternal;
    celebrate in His glorious presence.

⁵ The True God who inhabits sacred space
    is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.
⁶ He makes a home for those who are alone.
    He frees the prisoners and leads them to prosper.
Yet those who rebel against Him live in the barren land without His blessings and prosperity.

⁷ O True God, when You led Your enslaved people from Egypt,
    when You journeyed with us through the wilderness,

[pause]^[c]

⁸ The whole world trembled! The sky poured down rain
    at the power of Your presence; even Mount Sinai trembled in Your presence,
    the presence of the True God, the God of Israel.
⁹ You sent a heavy downpour to soak the ground, O True God.
    You refreshed the land—the land Your people would inherit—when it was parched and dry.
¹⁰ Your covenant people made their homes in the land,
    and because You are so good, You provided for those crushed by poverty, O True God.

¹¹ The Lord gives the word;
    there are very many women ready to tell the good news:
¹² “Kings who lead the armies are on the run!
    They are on the run!
And the woman who stays at home is ready, too,
    ready to enjoy the treasures that they’ve left behind!”
¹³ When they lay down among the campfires and open the saddlebags, imagine what they’ll find—
    a beautiful dove, its wings covered with silver,
    its feathers a shimmering gold.

¹⁴ When the Almighty scattered the kings from that place,
    it was snowing in Zalmon.

¹⁵ O Mount Bashan, you mighty mountain of the True God;
    mountain of many peaks, O Mount Bashan.
¹⁶ Why are you so jealous, O mountain of many peaks,
    when you look at the mountain the True God has chosen as His dwelling place?
    The Eternal will surely abide on Mount Zion forever.

¹⁷ The chariots of God are innumerable;
    there are thousands upon thousands of them.
The Lord is in their midst, just as He was at Mount Sinai.
    He has come into the holy place.
¹⁸ When You ascended the sacred mountain,
    with Your prisoners in tow, Your captives in chains,
    You sat in triumph receiving gifts from men,
Even from those who rebel against You, so that You, the Eternal God, might take up residence there.
¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord
    who carries our heavy loads every day,
    the True God who is our salvation.

[pause]

²⁰ We know our God is the God who delivers us,
    and the Eternal, the Lord, is the One who saves us from the grip of death.

²¹ The True God will certainly shatter the skulls of those who oppose Him;
    He’ll smash the hairy head of the man who continues on his sinful ways.
²² The Lord said,
    “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the deepest parts of the sea,
²³ So that you may plant your feet in their blood
    and your dogs may lick up their portion of the foe.”
²⁴ The solemn march in Your honor, O True God, has come into view;
    the march that celebrates my God, my King, has come into the sanctuary.
²⁵ The singers went first, and the musicians came last
    between rows of girls who played tambourines.
²⁶ Come, let us gather to bless the True God
    and to praise the Eternal, He who is the fountain of Israel, the source of our life!
²⁷ Look! There are the rulers of Benjamin, the youngest in the lead.
    A great crowd follows
The princes of Judah,
    the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸ [Your God is the One who has given you strength];^[d]
    show Your power, O True God, as You have done for us.
²⁹ Because of Your magnificent temple in Jerusalem,
    many kings will line up to bring You gifts.
³⁰ Reprimand the beasts in the tall grass,
    the herds of bulls that are with the people’s calves,
Trampling over the pieces of silver.
    He has driven out the people who love to be at war.
³¹ Ambassadors will come from Egypt;
    the people of Ethiopia^[e] will reach out their hands to the one True God.

³² Let all the kingdoms of the earth sing to the True God.
    Sing songs of praise to the Lord.

[pause]

³³ To Him who rides high up beyond the heavens, which have been since ancient times,
    watch and listen. His voice speaks, and it is powerful and strong.
³⁴ Attribute power to the one True God;
    His royal splendor is evident over Israel,
    and His power courses through the clouds.
³⁵ O True God, You are awesome from the holy place where You dwell.
    The True God of Israel Himself
    grants strength and power to His people.

Blessed be our God!

¹ Reach down for me, True God; deliver me.
    The waters have risen to my neck; I am going down!
² My feet are swallowed in this murky bog;
    I am sinking—there is no sturdy ground.
I am in the deep;
    the floods are crashing in!
³ I am weary of howling;
    my throat is scratched dry.
I still look for my God
    even though my eyes fail.

⁴ My enemies despise me without any cause;
    they outnumber the hairs on my head.
They torment me with their power;
    they have absolutely no reason to hate me.
Now I am set to pay for crimes
    I have never committed!
⁵ O True God, my foolish ways are plain before You;
    my mistakes—no, nothing can be hidden from You.

⁶ Don’t let Your hopeful followers face disgrace because of me,
    O Lord, Eternal One, Commander of heaven’s armies;
Don’t let Your seekers be shamed on account of me,
    O True God of Israel.
⁷ I have been mocked when I stood up for You;
    I cower, shamefaced.
⁸ You know my brothers and sisters?
    They now reject me—they act as if I never existed.
    I’m like a stranger to my own family.

⁹ And here’s why: I am consumed with You, completely devoted to protecting Your house;
    when they insult You, they insult me.
¹⁰ When I mourn and discipline my soul by fasting,
    they deride me.
¹¹ And when I put on sackcloth,
    they mock me.
¹² Those who sit at the gate gossip about me;
    I am shamed by the slurred songs of drunkards.

¹³ But, Eternal One, I just pray the time is right
    that You would hear me. And, True God,
    because You are enduring love, that You would answer.
In Your faithfulness, please, save me.
¹⁴ Pluck me from this murky bog;
    don’t let it pull me down!
Pull me from this rising water;
    take me away from my enemies to dry land.
¹⁵ Don’t let the flood take me under
    or let me, Your servant, be swallowed into the deep
    or let the yawning pit seal me in!

¹⁶ O Eternal One, hear me. Answer me. For Your enduring love is good comfort;
    in Your great mercy, turn toward me.
¹⁷ Yes, shine Your face upon me, Your servant;
    put an end to my anguish—don’t wait another minute.
¹⁸ Come near; rescue me!
    Set me free from my enemies.

¹⁹ You know all my opponents;
    You see them, see the way they treat me—
    humiliating me with insults, trying to disgrace me.
²⁰ All this ridicule has broken my heart,
    killed my spirit.
I searched for sympathy, and I came up empty.
    I looked for supporters, but there was no one.
²¹ Even more, they gave me poison for my food
    and offered me only sour vinegar to drink.

²² Let them be ambushed at the dinner table,
    caught in a trap when they least expect it.
²³ Cloud their vision so they cannot see;
    make their bodies shake, their knees knock in terror.
²⁴ Pour out Your fiery wrath upon them!
    Make a clean sweep; engulf them with Your flaming fury.
²⁵ May their camps be bleak
    with not one left in any tent.
²⁶ Because they have persecuted the one You have struck,
    add insult to those whom You have wounded.
²⁷ Compound their sins; don’t let them off the hook!
    Keep them from entering into Your mercy.
²⁸ Blot out their names from Your book of life
    so they will not be recorded alongside those who are upright before You.
²⁹ I am living in pain; I’m suffering,
    so save me, True God, and keep me safe in troubled times!

³⁰ The name of the True God will be my song,
    an uplifting tune of praise and thanksgiving!
³¹ My praise will please the Eternal more than if I were to sacrifice an ox
    or the finest bull. (Horns, hooves, and all!)
³² Those who humbly serve will see and rejoice!
    All you seekers-after-God will revive your souls!
³³ The Eternal listens to the prayers of the poor
    and has regard for His people held in bondage.

³⁴ All God’s creation: join together in His praise! All heaven, all earth,
    all seas, all creatures of the ocean deep!
³⁵ The True God will save Zion
    and rebuild the cities of Judah
So that His servants may own it and live there once again.
³⁶ Their children and children’s children shall have it as their inheritance,
    and those who love His name will live in it.