Psalms 72-74

Psalm 72

¹A Psalm of Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.

²He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

³The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness.

⁴He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

⁵They shall fear thee while the sun endureth, and so long as the moon, throughout all generations.

⁶He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

⁷In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.

⁸He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River unto the ends of the earth.

⁹They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

¹²For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; and the poor, that hath no helper.

¹³He shall have pity on the poor and needy, and the souls of the needy he shall save.

¹⁴He shall redeem their soul from oppression and violence; and precious shall their blood be in his sight:

¹⁵And they shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: and men shall pray for him continually; they shall bless him all the day long.

¹⁶There shall be abundance of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

¹⁷His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him happy.

¹⁸Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things:

¹⁹And blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

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.