Psalm 62-68

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

Psalm 62

To the Chief Musician; according to Jeduthun [Ethan, the noted musician, founder of an official musical family]. A Psalm of David.

¹ For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.

² He only is my Rock and my Salvation, my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be greatly moved.

³ How long will you set upon a man that you may slay him, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?

⁴ They only consult to cast him down from his height [to dishonor him]; they delight in lies. They bless with their mouths, but they curse inwardly. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁵ My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.

⁶ He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved.

⁷ With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God!

⁸ Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us (a fortress and a high tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁹ Men of low degree [in the social scale] are emptiness (futility, a breath) and men of high degree [in the same scale] are a lie and a delusion. In the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.

¹⁰ Trust not in and rely confidently not on extortion and oppression, and do not vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

¹¹ God has spoken once, twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.

¹² Also to You, O Lord, belong mercy and loving-kindness, for You render to every man according to his work.^(A)

Psalm 63

A Psalm of David; when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

¹ O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is.

² So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory.

³ Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.

⁴ So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁵ My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips

⁶ When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.

⁷ For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.

⁸ My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.

⁹ But those who seek and demand my life to ruin and destroy it shall [themselves be destroyed and] go into the lower parts of the earth [into the underworld of the dead].

¹⁰ They shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a prey for foxes and jackals.

¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him [that is, who binds himself by God’s authority, acknowledging His supremacy, and devoting himself to His glory and service alone; every such one] shall glory, for the mouths of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

Psalm 64

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; guard and preserve my life from the terror of the enemy.

² Hide me from the secret counsel and conspiracy of the ungodly, from the scheming of evildoers,

³ Who whet their tongues like a sword, who aim venomous words like arrows,

⁴ Who shoot from ambush at the blameless man; suddenly do they shoot at him, without self-reproach or fear.

⁵ They encourage themselves in an evil purpose, they talk of laying snares secretly; they say, Who will discover us?

⁶ They think out acts of injustice and say, We have accomplished a well-devised thing! For the inward thought of each one [is unsearchable] and his heart is deep.

⁷ But God will shoot an unexpected arrow at them; and suddenly shall they be wounded.

⁸ And they will be made to stumble, their own tongues turning against them; all who gaze upon them will shake their heads and flee away.

⁹ And all men shall [reverently] fear and be in awe; and they will declare the work of God, for they will wisely consider and acknowledge that it is His doing.

¹⁰ The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be glad in the Lord and shall trust and take refuge in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory and offer praise.

Psalm 65

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A song.

¹ To You belongs silence (the submissive wonder of reverence which bursts forth into praise) and praise is due and fitting to You, O God, in Zion; and to You shall the vow be performed.

² O You Who hear prayer, to You shall all flesh come.

³ Iniquities and much varied guilt prevail against me; [yet] as for our transgressions, You forgive and purge them away [make atonement for them and cover them out of Your sight]!

⁴ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You choose and cause to come near, that he may dwell in Your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.

⁵ By fearful and glorious things [that terrify the wicked but make the godly sing praises] do You answer us in righteousness (rightness and justice), O God of our salvation, You Who are the confidence and hope of all the ends of the earth and of those far off on the seas;

⁶ Who by [Your] might have founded the mountains, being girded with power,

⁷ Who still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples,

⁸ So that those who dwell in earth’s farthest parts are afraid of [nature’s] signs of Your presence. You make the places where morning and evening have birth to shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and saturate it with water; You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide them with grain when You have so prepared the earth.

¹⁰ You water the field’s furrows abundantly, You settle the ridges of it; You make the soil soft with showers, blessing the sprouting of its vegetation.

¹¹ You crown the year with Your bounty and goodness, and the tracks of Your [chariot wheels] drip with fatness.

¹² The [luxuriant] pastures in the uncultivated country drip [with moisture], and the hills gird themselves with joy.

¹³ The meadows are clothed with flocks, the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy and sing together.

Psalm 66

To the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm.

¹ Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth;

² Sing forth the honor and glory of His name; make His praise glorious!

³ Say to God, How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall Your enemies submit themselves to You [with feigned and reluctant obedience].

⁴ All the earth shall bow down to You and sing [praises] to You; they shall praise Your name in song. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁵ Come and see the works of God; see how [to save His people He smites their foes; He is] terrible in His doings toward the children of men.

⁶ He turned the sea into dry land, they crossed through the river on foot; there did we rejoice in Him.

⁷ He rules by His might forever, His eyes observe and keep watch over the nations; let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁸ Bless our God, O peoples, give Him grateful thanks and make the voice of His praise be heard,

⁹ Who put and kept us among the living, and has not allowed our feet to slip.

¹⁰ For You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified.

¹¹ You brought us into the net (the prison fortress, the dungeon); You laid a heavy burden upon our loins.

¹² You caused men to ride over our heads [when we were prostrate]; we went through fire and through water, but You brought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air].

¹³ I will come into Your house with burnt offerings [of entire consecration]; I will pay You my vows,

¹⁴ Which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in distress.

¹⁵ I will offer to You burnt offerings of fat lambs, with rams consumed in sweet-smelling smoke; I will offer bullocks and he-goats. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

¹⁶ Come and hear, all you who reverently and worshipfully fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me!

¹⁷ I cried aloud to Him; He was extolled and high praise was under my tongue.

¹⁸ If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me;^(B)

¹⁹ But certainly God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰ Blessed be God, Who has not rejected my prayer nor removed His mercy and loving-kindness from being [as it always is] with me.

Psalm 67

To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.

¹ God be merciful and gracious to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon us and among us—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—

² That Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power (Your deliverances and Your salvation) among all nations.

³ Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You.

⁴ O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples fairly and guide, lead, or drive the nations upon earth. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁵ Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You!

⁶ The earth has yielded its harvest [in evidence of God’s approval]; God, even our own God, will bless us.

⁷ God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall reverently fear Him.

Psalm 68

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A song.

¹ God is [already] beginning to arise, and His enemies to scatter; let them also who hate Him flee before Him!

² As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before the presence of God.

³ But let the [uncompromisingly] righteous be glad; let them be in high spirits and glory before God, yes, let them [jubilantly] rejoice!

⁴ Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him Who rides through the deserts—His name is the Lord—be in high spirits and glory before Him!

⁵ A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation.

⁶ God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

⁷ O God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—

⁸ The earth trembled, the heavens also poured down [rain] at the presence of God; yonder Sinai quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

⁹ You, O God, did send a plentiful rain; You did restore and confirm Your heritage when it languished and was weary.

¹⁰ Your flock found a dwelling place in it; You, O God, in Your goodness did provide for the poor and needy.

¹¹ The Lord gives the word [of power]; the women who bear and publish [the news] are a great host.

¹² The kings of the enemies’ armies, they flee, they flee! She who tarries at home divides the spoil [left behind].

¹³ Though you [the slackers] may lie among the sheepfolds [in slothful ease, yet for Israel] the wings of a dove are covered with silver, its pinions excessively green with gold [are trophies taken from the enemy].

¹⁴ When the Almighty scattered kings in [the land], it was as when it snows on Zalmon [a wooded hill near Shechem].

¹⁵ Is Mount Bashan the high mountain of summits, Mount Bashan [east of the Jordan] the mount of God?

¹⁶ Why do you look with grudging and envy, you many-peaked mountains, at the mountain [of the city called Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place? Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.

¹⁷ The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them as He was in Sinai, [so also] in the Holy Place (the sanctuary in Jerusalem).

^18 [a]You have ascended on high. You have led away captive a train of vanquished foes; You have received gifts of men, yes, of the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell there with them.^(C)

¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

²⁰ God is to us a God of deliverances and salvation; and to God the Lord belongs escape from death [setting us free].

²¹ But God will shatter the heads of His enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as goes on still in his trespasses and guilty ways.

²² The Lord said, I will bring back [your enemies] from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the [Red] Sea,

²³ That you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.

²⁴ They see Your goings, O God, even the [solemn processions] of my God, my King, into the sanctuary [in holiness].

²⁵ The singers go in front, the players on instruments last; between them the maidens are playing on tambourines.

²⁶ Bless, give thanks, and gratefully praise God in full congregations, even the Lord, O you who are from [Jacob] the fountain of Israel.

²⁷ There is little Benjamin in the lead [in the procession], the princes of Judah and their company, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸ Your God has commanded your strength [your might in His service and impenetrable hardness to temptation]; O God, display Your might and strengthen what You have wrought for us!

²⁹ [Out of respect] for Your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bring gifts to You.

³⁰ Rebuke the wild beasts dwelling among the reeds [in Egypt], the herd of bulls (the leaders) with the calves of the peoples; trample underfoot those who lust for tribute money; scatter the peoples who delight in war.

³¹ Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out her hands [with the offerings of submission] to God.

³² Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praises to the Lord! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

³³ [Sing praises] to Him Who rides upon the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, He sends forth His voice, His mighty voice.

³⁴ Ascribe power and strength to God; His majesty is over Israel, and His strength and might are in the skies.

³⁵ O God, awe-inspiring, profoundly impressive, and terrible are You out of Your holy places; the God of Israel Himself gives strength and fullness of might to His people. Blessed be God!