Psalms 73-77

Psalm 73

¹A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, even to such as are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

³For I was envious at the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

⁵They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

⁶Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; violence covereth them as a garment.

⁷Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

⁸They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression: they speak loftily.

⁹They have set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out by them.

¹¹And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?

¹²Behold, these are the wicked; and, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.

¹³Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, and washed my hands in innocency;

¹⁴For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, I will speak thus; behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.

¹⁶When I thought how I might know this, it was too painful for me;

¹⁷Until I went into the sanctuary of God, and considered their latter end.

¹⁸Surely thou settest them in slippery places: thou castest them down to destruction.

¹⁹How are they become a desolation in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.

²⁰As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

²¹For my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins:

²²So brutish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee.

²³Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand.

²⁴Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

²⁶My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

²⁷For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

²⁸But it is good for me to draw near unto God: I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works.

Psalm 74

¹Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

²Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance; and mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

³Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.

⁴Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly; they have set up their ensigns for signs.

⁵They seemed as men that lifted up axes upon a thicket of trees.

⁶And now all the carved work thereof together they break down with hatchet and hammers.

⁷They have set thy sanctuary on fire; they have profaned the dwelling place of thy name even to the ground.

⁸They said in their heart, Let us make havoc of them altogether: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

⁹We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet; neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

¹⁰How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

¹¹Why drawest thou back thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom and consume them.

¹²Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

¹⁴Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, thou gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

¹⁵Thou didst cleave fountain and flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

¹⁹O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast: forget not the life of thy poor for ever.

²⁰Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.

²¹O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

²²Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day.

²³Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee ascendeth continually.

Psalm 75

¹For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song. We give thanks unto thee, O God; we give thanks, for thy name is near: men tell of thy wondrous works.

²When I shall find the set time, I will judge uprightly.

³The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I have set up the pillars of it. Selah

⁴I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:

⁵Lift not up your horn on high; speak not with a stiff neck.

⁶For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, cometh lifting up.

⁷But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and lifteth up another.

⁸For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine foameth; it is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same: surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

⁹But I will declare for ever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Psalm 76

¹For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song. In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.

²In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.

³There he brake the arrows of the bow; the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah

⁴Glorious art thou and excellent, from the mountains of prey.

⁵The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep; and none of the men of might have found their hands.

⁶At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

⁷Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?

⁸Thou didst cause sentence to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,

⁹When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah

¹⁰Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the residue of wrath shalt thou gird upon thee.

¹¹Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.

¹²He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.

Psalm 77

¹For the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I will cry unto God with my voice; even unto God with my voice, and he wilt give ear unto me.

²In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; my soul refused to be comforted.

³I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah

⁴Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

⁵I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

⁶I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart; and my spirit made diligent search.

⁷Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?

⁸Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

⁹Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah

¹⁰And I said, This is my infirmity; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.

¹¹I will make mention of the deeds of the LORD; for I will remember thy wonders of old.

¹²I will meditate also upon all thy work, and muse on thy doings.

¹³Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is a great god like unto God?

¹⁴Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.

¹⁵Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶The waters saw thee, O God; the waters saw thee, they were afraid: the depths also trembled.

¹⁷The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.

¹⁸The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹Thy way was in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters, and thy footsteps were not known.

²⁰Thou leddest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.