Psalms 73-77

Psalm 73

¹A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped.

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

⁴For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.

⁵They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.

⁶Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.

⁷Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.

⁸They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.

⁹They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.

¹¹They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

¹²Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.

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

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

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus”, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

¹⁶When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me—

¹⁷until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.

¹⁸Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.

¹⁹How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.

²⁰As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.

²¹For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.

²²I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.

²⁴You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

²⁵Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.

²⁶My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁷For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.

²⁸But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Psalm 74

¹A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

²Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived.

³Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.

⁴Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.

⁵They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.

⁶Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.

⁷They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.

⁸They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.

⁹We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.

¹⁰How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

¹¹Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your chest and consume them!

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

¹³You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

¹⁴You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.

¹⁵You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, LORD. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.

¹⁹Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.

²¹Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.

²³Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

Psalm 75

¹For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm by Asaph. A song. We give thanks to you, God. We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works.

²When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly.

³The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars. Selah.

⁴I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!” I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn.

⁵Don’t lift up your horn on high. Don’t speak with a stiff neck.”

⁶For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.

⁷But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another.

⁸For in the LORD’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.

⁹But I will declare this forever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Psalm 76

¹For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song. In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel.

²His tabernacle is also in Salem. His dwelling place in Zion.

³There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah.

⁴Glorious are you, and excellent, more than mountains of game.

⁵Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands.

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

⁷You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?

⁸You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent,

⁹when God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the earth. Selah.

¹⁰Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained.

¹¹Make vows to the LORD your God, and fulfill them! Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared.

¹²He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.

Psalm 77

¹For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by Asaph. My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for him to listen to me.

²In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.

³I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.

⁴You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can’t speak.

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

⁶I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires:

⁷“Will the Lord reject us forever? Will he be favorable no more?

⁸Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations?

⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?” Selah.

¹⁰Then I thought, “I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

¹¹I will remember the LORD’s deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old.

¹²I will also meditate on all your work, and consider your doings.

¹³Your way, God, is in the sanctuary. What god is great like God?

¹⁴You are the God who does wonders. You have made your strength known among the peoples.

¹⁵You have redeemed your people with your arm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

¹⁶The waters saw you, God. The waters saw you, and they writhed. The depths also convulsed.

¹⁷The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder. Your arrows also flashed around.

¹⁸The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.

¹⁹Your way was through the sea, your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.

²⁰You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.