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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 75

Psalm 75^[a]

God Is Judge of the World

¹For the director.^[b] According to “Do not destroy!” A psalm of Asaph. A song.

²We give thanks^[c] to you, O God,
    we give thanks to you.
For your wondrous deeds
    declare that your name is near.
³^[d]You say, “When I receive the assembly,
    I will judge with equity.
⁴When the earth quakes, with all its inhabitants,
    it is I who will hold its pillars firm.^[e] Selah
⁵^[f]“I say to the arrogant,^[g] ‘Do not boast,’
    and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.
⁶Do not rebel against heaven
    or speak with arrogance against the Rock.’ ”^[h]
⁷^[i]For judgment does not come from east or west,
    nor from the wilderness or the mountains.^[j]
⁸Rather, it is God who judges rightly,
    humbling one and exalting another.^[k]
⁹The Lord holds in his hand a cup
    filled with foaming wine and richly spiced.
When he pours it out,
    all the wicked^[l] of the earth must drink;
    they will drain it down to the dregs.
¹⁰As for me, I will proclaim this forever;
    I will sing praises^[m] to the God of Jacob.
¹¹“I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
    but the horns of the righteous^[n] will be exalted.”

Footnotes

Psalm 75:1 This psalm has parallels to the song of Hannah (see 1 Sam 2:1-10). Freed from the Exile but always dependent on and pestered by those who had taken their place in the land, the People of God give thanks to the Lord. They know that in the end God will make right triumph on earth; the righteous will obtain glory, and the wicked will receive the chastisement they deserve. These oracles proclaim once again the reversal worked by true justice: the proud will be abased, and the humble will be lifted up.
We can pray this psalm with the same sentiments of the psalmist and apply the role of Judge to the risen Christ, to whom the Father has given it. We can proclaim the wondrous deeds of our Savior, who will come to save the righteous and punish the wicked on the last day.
Psalm 75:1 For the director: thought to be a musical or liturgical notation. According to “Do not destroy!”: see note on Ps 57:1. Asaph: see notes on Pss 73–89.
Psalm 75:2 Give thanks: this is given in the form of praise (see Pss 7:18; 28:7; 30:13; 35:18). Wondrous deeds: see note on Ps 9:2. Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 75:3 This is a reassuring word from God, possibly through prophetic words already uttered by the Prophets (e.g., Isaiah in 2 Ki 19:21-34). When I receive the assembly: another possible translation is: “I choose the appointed time.”
Psalm 75:4 God is the Master of the moral order as well as the physical universe, and he keeps them stable (see Pss 93:1f; 96:10; 1 Sam 2:8) or makes them quake (see Ps 18:8; Job 26:11); no cataclysm escapes his will (see Pss 46:3f; 60:4), and he alone establishes the hour of the judgment (see Hab 2:3).
Psalm 75:5 This passage recalls Ps 94:4; 1 Sam 2:3; Job 15:25f. The wicked are fools (see Pss 14:1; 94:7). The horn is the symbol of arrogant and aggressive force (see Pss 89:18; 92:11; Deut 33:17; 1 Ki 22:11); it will be broken (see Jer 48:25; Zec 2:1-4).
Psalm 75:5 The Lord speaks to those who incite chaos and immorality: the arrogant and the wicked who live without God and his laws (see Pss 52:3; 73:3ff).
Psalm 75:6 The wicked even dare to place themselves in direct opposition to God by rebel[ling], i.e., raising their horns against heaven and speaking with arrogance, i.e., with outstretched neck—a common gesture of opposition.
Psalm 75:7 Concerning these first two verses of the response from earth (vv. 7-8), possibly by a Levite, see 1 Sam 2:7; Dan 2:21. The oracles against the nations envisaged such and such a power, in the north (see Zep 2:13), in the south (see Isa 30:6), or in the wilderness (Isa 21:1); other oracles were directed against the mountains of Israel (see Ezek 6:2; 36:1), or the forests of the south (see Ezek 21:2f). Here, the wilderness represents the south, and the mountains (Lebanon) stand for the north (see note on v. 7, below). As in Zec 1:16, the accent is placed on the universality of the divine judgment (see v. 9) on the day of the Lord (see Mt 24:23ff).
Psalm 75:7 For judgment does not come . . . the mountains: another possible translation is: “No one from the east or the west / or from the wilderness can exalt a man.” In other words, search where we may, there is no other arbiter but God; therefore, no earthly honor is anything but provisional. Furthermore, no one can escape God’s judgment (see Ps 139); God will bring down anyone who exalts himself.
Psalm 75:8 Indeed, judgment belongs to God alone, for he is sovereign in judgment and in redemption.
Psalm 75:9 All the wicked will be vanquished by God. The image of the cup full of foaming and dizzying wine is taken from the Prophets (see Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15; 49:12; Lam 4:21; Ezek 23:31; Hab 2:15); it has already appeared in Ps 60:5 (see Job 21:20) and will reappear in Rev 14:10. See also note on Ps 16:5.
Psalm 75:10 It is unclear who is speaking in this verse. It may be the Levite in his own name or as a representative of his people. Sing praises: see note on Ps 7:18. Jacob: i.e., Israel (see Gen 32:28).
Psalm 75:11 This verse appears to be another word from the Lord to go with verses 2-5, above. He indicates that even if godlessness now triumphs and justice is subverted, at the end of time the Messiah will come to judge the nations in fulfillment of the promise about the victory of the righteous.

2 Kings 3:4-20

⁴Mesha, the king of Moab, tended sheep. He had to give the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool from one hundred thousand sheep. ⁵When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

⁶King Joram went out from Samaria and he gathered together all of Israel. ⁷He sent this message to Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you not go out with me to fight against Moab?” He answered, “I will go. My people are your people, and my horses are your horses.” ⁸He said, “By which way should we go up?” He answered, “By way of the Desert of Edom.”

⁹The king of Israel went out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They wandered around for seven days, but there was no water for the army or the animals that followed them. ¹⁰The king of Israel said, “What? Has the Lord called three kings together only to hand them over into the hands of Moab?” ¹¹Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord so that we can inquire of the Lord through him?” A servant of the king of Israel answered, “There is Elisha, the son of Shaphat. He used to pour water onto the hands of Elijah.”^[a] ¹²Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.”

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. ¹³But Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do you and I have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother.” The king of Israel said, “No, the Lord called together these three kings to deliver them into the hands of Moab.” ¹⁴Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, if it were not for the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not even look at you or take notice of you. ¹⁵Now, bring a harpist to me.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶He said, “Thus says the Lord: Fill this valley with ditches. ¹⁷For thus says the Lord: You will see neither wind nor rain, but this valley will fill up with water for you and your animals to drink. ¹⁸This will be easy for the Lord, and he will also hand over the Moabites into your hands. ¹⁹You will overthrow every fortified city and every larger city. You will cut down every good tree, stop up every well, and scatter stones in every good field.”

²⁰In the morning while they were offering a sacrifice, water came flowing from Edom. The land was filled with water.

Ephesians 5:6-20

⁶Let no one deceive you with worthless arguments. These are the very things that bring down the wrath of God on those who are disobedient. ⁷Do not associate with them.

Christians Are Children of Light. ⁸Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, ⁹for light produces all goodness and righteousness and truth. ¹⁰Discern what the Lord finds pleasing. ¹¹Take no part in the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather seek to expose them.

¹²For it is shameful even to speak of what deeds people do in secret. ¹³However, everything that is exposed by the light is made visible, ¹⁴and whatever is made visible is light. Therefore, it is said,^[a]

“Awake, O sleeper!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Therefore, take care to live as intelligent people, and do not be like those who are senseless. ¹⁶Make the most of the present time, for this is a wicked age. ¹⁷Do not be foolish, but recognize what is the will of the Lord. ¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which can lead to debauchery.

Rather, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with one another. Sing and chant to the Lord in your hearts, ²⁰giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 75[a]

God Is Judge of the World

Footnotes

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 75^[a]