Psalm 70-72

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Help against Persecutors.

For the music director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.

70 ^(A)God, hurry to save me;
Lord, hurry to help me!
²^(B)May those who seek my ^[a]life
Be put to shame and humiliated;
May those who delight ^[b]in my harm
Be turned back and dishonored.
³^(C)May those who say, “Aha, aha!” be ^[c]turned back
Because of their shame.

⁴May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And may those who love Your salvation say continually,
“May God be exalted!”
⁵But ^(D)I am afflicted and needy;
^(E)Hurry to me, God!
You are my help and my savior;
Lord, do not delay.

Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.

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

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

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

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

²²I will also praise You with ^[r]^(AZ)a harp,
And Your ^[s]truth, my God;
I will sing praises to You with the ^(BA)lyre,
^(BB)Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips will ^(BC)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my ^(BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
²⁴My ^(BE)tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are ^(BF)put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek ^[t]my harm.

The Reign of the Righteous King.

A Psalm of Solomon.

72 Give the king ^(BG)Your judgments, God,
And ^(BH)Your righteousness to the king’s son.
²^[u]May ^[v]he ^(BI)judge Your people with righteousness
And ^[w]^(BJ)Your afflicted with justice.
³^[x]May the mountains bring ^[y]^(BK)peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
⁴^[z]May he ^(BL)vindicate the ^[aa]afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy,
And crush the oppressor.

⁵^[ab]May they fear You ^(BM)while the sun shines,
And ^[ac]as long as the moon shines, throughout all generations.
⁶^[ad]May he come down ^(BN)like rain upon the mown grass,
Like ^(BO)showers that water the earth.
⁷^[ae]May the ^(BP)righteous flourish in his days,
As well as an ^(BQ)abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸May he also rule ^(BR)from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
⁹^[af]May ^(BS)the nomads of the desert ^(BT)bow before him,
And his enemies ^(BU)lick the dust.
¹⁰^[ag]May the kings of ^(BV)Tarshish and of the ^[ah]^(BW)islands bring gifts;
May the kings of ^(BX)Sheba and ^(BY)Seba ^(BZ)offer tributes.
¹¹^[ai]And may all ^(CA)kings bow down before him,
All ^(CB)nations serve him.

¹²For he will ^(CC)save the needy when he cries for help,
The ^[aj]afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
¹³He will have ^(CD)compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the ^[ak]lives of the needy.
¹⁴He will ^[al]^(CE)rescue their ^[am]life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be ^(CF)precious in his sight;
¹⁵So may he live, and may the ^(CG)gold of Sheba be given to him;
And ^[an]they are to pray for him continually;
^[ao]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 ^(CH)Lebanon;
And may those from the city flourish like the ^(CI)vegetation of the earth.
¹⁷May his ^(CJ)name endure forever;
May his name produce descendants ^[ap]^(CK)as long as the sun shines;
And may people ^(CL)wish blessings on themselves by him;
^(CM)May all nations call him blessed.

¹⁸^(CN)Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone ^(CO)works wonders.
¹⁹And blessed be His ^(CP)glorious name forever;
And may the whole ^(CQ)earth be filled with His glory.
^(CR)Amen and Amen.

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

Footnotes

Psalm 70:2 Or soul
Psalm 70:2 Or to injure me
Psalm 70:3 Some mss appalled
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