Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 75
The God of History
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For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[a] A psalm by Asaph. A song.
Opening Praise
1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks.
Your wonderful deeds reveal that your name is near.
God’s Declaration
2 Yes, I choose the appointed time.
I am the one who judges rightly.
3 The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking.
I am the one who holds its pillars firm. Interlude
4 I say to the boasters, “Do not boast,”
and to the wicked, “Do not raise a horn.[b]
5 Do not raise your horns to the heights.
Do not speak insolently with an outstretched neck.”
His People’s Response
6 Indeed, power to promote someone does not come
from the east or from the west or from the wilderness.
7 No, it is God who makes the decision.
He brings down one. He raises up another.
8 Indeed, a cup is in the hand of the Lord.
The wine foams. It is fully mixed.
He pours this out.
Yes, they drain its dregs.
All the wicked of the earth drink.
Closing Praise
9 As for me, I will proclaim this forever.
I will make music for the God of Jacob.
10 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked.
The horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
The Lord Is Judge and Savior
1 A threatening oracle against Nineveh.
The book of the vision of Nahum from Elkosh.
2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God.
The Lord takes vengeance and displays his anger.
The Lord takes vengeance against his adversaries.
He will maintain his rage against his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger, yet great in power.
The Lord will certainly not let the guilty go unpunished.
He marches out in the whirlwind and in the storm.
Storm clouds are like dust stirred up by his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry up.
He makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel are completely withered.
The buds of Lebanon are completely withered.
5 The mountains quake in front of him.
The hills melt away.
The earth in front of him rises up,
the whole world and all who live in it.
6 Who can withstand his anger?
Who can resist his fury?
His rage is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are torn down by him.
7 The Lord is good.
He is a place of safety in the day of distress.
He knows those who seek safety in him,
8 but he will bring this place to a complete end by an overwhelming flood.
He will drive his enemies into darkness.
9 No matter what you plot against the Lord, he will destroy your plot completely. Disaster will not need to strike them twice, 10 because like tangled thorns, like the liquor of drunkards, like fully dried stubble, they will be consumed.
Judgment on the Enemy
11 Someone who plots evil against the Lord has gone out from you, but his wicked plans are worthless. 12 This is what the Lord says. Even though they are at full strength and are numerous, nevertheless they are sure to be cut off, and they will disappear. Even though I have humbled you, I will not humble you any longer. 13 Now I will break their yoke from your neck. I will tear apart the shackles that are on you.
12 Here patient endurance is needed by the saints, who hold on to the commands of God and their faith in Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven say,[a] “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “because they will rest from their labors, for their works follow them.”
The Harvest
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel came out of the temple and cried with a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing your sickle and begin reaping, for the time to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is very ripe.” 16 And the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the temple, which is in heaven. 18 And another angel, who was in charge of the fire, came from the altar and cried with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and harvest the grape clusters from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 Then the angel swung his sickle over the earth, and he harvested the earth’s vine and threw it into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.[b]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.