Beginning
To the Director: A song. A Psalm.
A Song of Praise
66 Shout praise to God all the earth!
2 Sing praise about the glory of his name.[a]
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your works!
Because of your great strength
your enemies cringe before you.”
4 The whole earth worships you.
They sing praise to you.
They sing praise to your name.
5 Come and see the awesome works of God
on behalf of human beings:
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
Israel[b] crossed the river on foot;
let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules by his power forever,
his eyes watching over the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
8 Bless our God, people,
and let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He gives us life
and does not permit our feet to slip.
10 For you, God, tested us,
to purify us like fine silver.
11 You have led us into a trap[c]
and set burdens on our backs.
12 You caused men to ride over us.[d]
You brought us through fire and water,
but you led us to abundance.
13 I will come to your house with burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you
14 that my lips uttered and that my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat,
along with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams.
I will offer bulls along with goats.
16 Come and listen, all of you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
17 I called aloud to him
and praised him with my tongue.
18 Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not listen to me.
19 Surely God has heard,
and he paid attention to my[e] prayers.
20 Blessed be God, who did not turn away my prayers
nor his gracious love from me.
To the Director of music: Accompanied by stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
A Call to Thanksgiving
67 May God show us favor and bless us;
may he truly show us his favor.[f]
2 Let your ways be known by all the nations of the earth,
along with your deliverance.
3 Let the people thank you, God.
Let all the people thank you.
4 Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy,
because you judge people with fairness
and you govern the people of the earth.
5 Let the people thank you, God;
let all the people thank you.
6 May the earth yield its produce.
May God, our God, bless us.
7 May God truly bless us
so that all the peoples[g] of the earth will fear him.
To the Director of music: A Psalm. A song.
A Song of Praise to God
68 God arises,
and his enemies are scattered.
Those who hate him flee from his presence.[h]
2 As smoke is driven away, so you drive them away.
As wax melts in the presence of fire,
so the wicked die in the presence of God.
3 But the righteous rejoice and exult before God;
they are overwhelmed with joy.
4 Sing to God!
Sing praise to his name!
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds.
The Lord is his name.
Be jubilant in his presence.
5 A father to orphans and an advocate for widows
is God in his holy dwelling place.
6 God causes the lonely to dwell in families.[i]
He leads prisoners into prosperity,
but rebels live on parched land.
7 God, when you led out your people,
when you marched through the desert,
8 the land quaked.
Indeed, the heavens poured down rain
from the presence of God,
this God of Sinai,
from the presence of God,
the God of Israel.
9 God, you poured out abundant rain on your inheritance.
When Israel[j] was weary, you sustained her.
10 Your people live[k] there;
you sustain the needy[l] with your goodness, God.
11 The Lord issues a command.
Numerous are the women who announce the news:
12 “Kings of armies retreat and flee,
while the lady of the house divides the spoil.
13 When you men lie down among the sheepfolds,
you are like[m] the wings of the dove covered with silver,
with its feathers in glittering gold.”
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
there was snow on Mt. Zalmon.
15 The mountain of God is as the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks is Mount Bashan.
16 You mountains of many peaks, why do you watch with envy
the mountain in which God has chosen to dwell?
Indeed, the Lord will live there forever.
17 God’s chariots were many thousands.
The Lord was there with them at Sinai in holiness.
18 You ascended to the heights,
you took captives.
You received gifts among mankind,
even the rebellious,
so the Lord God may live there.[n]
19 Blessed be the Lord who daily carries us.
God is our deliverer.
20 God is for us the God of our deliverance.
The Lord God rescues us from death.
21 God surely strikes the heads of his enemies,
even the hairy heads of those who continue in their guilt.
22 The Lord says, “From Bashan I will bring them,
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
23 that your feet may wade through blood.
The tongues of your dogs will have their portions
from your enemies.”
24 They have observed your processions, God,
the processions of my God,
my king, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers are in front,
the musicians follow,
strumming their stringed instruments
among the maidens who are playing their tambourines.
26 Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord who is the fountain of Israel.
27 Little Benjamin is there, leading them,
and the princes of Judah all together
with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Summon the power of your God,
the power, God, that you have shown us.
29 Because of your Temple in Jerusalem,
kings bring tribute to you.
30 Rebuke the wildlife that lives among the reeds,
the nations that congregate like bulls and cows,
humbling themselves with pieces of silver,
for God[o] scatters the nations that delight in battle.
31 Envoys will come from Egypt.
Let the Ethiopians stretch out their hands to God.
32 You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God!
Sing praises to the Lord,
33 to the one who rides the heavens, the ancient heavens.
Behold! He thunders with a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God, whose glory is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.
35 You are awesome, God, from your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel is the one
who gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
To the Director: To the tune of[p] “The Lilies”. Davidic.
When God Seems Distant
69 Deliver me, God,
because the waters are up to my neck.[q]
2 I am sinking in deep mire,
and there is no solid ground.[r]
I have come into deep water,
and the flood overwhelms me.
3 I am exhausted from calling for help.
My throat is parched.
My eyes are strained from looking for God.
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more than the hairs of my head.
My persecutors are mighty,
and they want to destroy me.
Must I be forced to return what I did not steal?
5 God, you know my sins,
and my guilt is not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who look up to you be ashamed
because of me,
Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.
Let not those who seek you be humiliated
because of me,
God of Israel.
7 I am being mocked because of you.
Dishonor overwhelms me.
8 I am a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 Zeal for your house consumes me,
and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me.
10 I weep and fast,
and I am mocked for it.
11 When I dressed in sackcloth,
I became an object of gossip among them.
12 The prominent people mock me,
composing drinking songs.
Seeking God for Deliverance
13 As for me, Lord, may my prayer to you come at a favorable time.
God, in the abundance of your gracious love,
answer me with your sure deliverance.
14 Rescue me from the mud
and do not let me sink.
Rescue me from those who hate me,
and from the deep waters.
15 Let neither the floodwaters overwhelm me
nor let the deep swallow me up,
nor the mouth of the well close over me.
16 Answer me, Lord, for your gracious love is good;
Turn to me in keeping with your great compassion,
17 and[s] do not ignore your servant,
because I am in distress.
Hurry to answer me!
18 Draw near and redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies.
19 Truly you know my reproach, shame, and disgrace.
All my enemies are known to[t] you.
20 Insults broke my heart.
I despaired and looked for sympathy;
but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put poison in my food,
in my thirst they forced me to drink vinegar.
22 May their dining[u] tables entrap them,
and become a snare for their allies.
23 May their eyes be blinded
and may their bodies tremble continuously.
24 May you pour out your fury on them.
May your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp become desolate
and their tents remain unoccupied.
26 For they persecute those whom you have struck,
and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 May you punish them for their crimes;
may they receive no verdict of innocence[v] from you.
28 May they be erased from the Book of Life,
and their names not be written with the righteous.
29 As for me, I am afflicted and hurting;
may your deliverance, God, establish me on high.
30 Let me praise the name of God with a song
that I may magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 That will please the Lord
more than oxen and bulls with horns and hooves.
32 The afflicted will watch and rejoice.
May you who seek God take courage.
33 For the Lord listens to the needy
and doesn’t despise those in bondage.
34 Let the heavens and earth praise him,
along with the sea and its swarming creatures.[w]
35 For God will deliver Zion
and will rebuild the cities of Judah
so they may live there and possess them.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who cherish his name will live there.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.