Chapter 74

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil ^{1 74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term} of Asaph.

1  O God, why do you cast us off forever?
    Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
2  Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,
    which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!
    Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
3  Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
    the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

4  Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    they set up their own signs for signs.
5  They were like those who swing axes
    in a forest of trees. ^{2 74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain}
6  And all its carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7  They set your sanctuary on fire;
    they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
8  They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9  We do not see our signs;
    there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
10  How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11  Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment ^{3 74:11 Hebrew from your bosom} and destroy them!

12  Yet God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13  You divided the sea by your might;
    you broke the heads of the sea monsters ^{4 74:13 Or the great sea creatures} on the waters.
14  You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15  You split open springs and brooks;
    you dried up ever-flowing streams.
16  Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
17  You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made summer and winter.

18  Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
    and a foolish people reviles your name.
19  Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
    do not forget the life of your poor forever.

20  Have regard for the covenant,
    for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21  Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
    let the poor and needy praise your name.

22  Arise, O God, defend your cause;
    remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23  Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
    the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

Chapter 75

God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1  We give thanks to you, O God;
    we give thanks, for your name is near.
We ^{5 75:1 Hebrew They} recount your wondrous deeds.

2  “At the set time that I appoint
    I will judge with equity.
3  When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
    it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah
4  I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
    and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
5  do not lift up your horn on high,
    or speak with haughty neck.’”

6  For not from the east or from the west
    and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
7  but it is God who executes judgment,
    putting down one and lifting up another.
8  For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup
    with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall drain it down to the dregs.

9  But I will declare it forever;
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10  All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
    but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Chapter 76

Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1  In Judah God is known;
    his name is great in Israel.
2  His abode has been established in Salem,
    his dwelling place in Zion.
3  There he broke the flashing arrows,
    the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

4  Glorious are you, more majestic
    than the mountains full of prey.
5  The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
    they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
    were unable to use their hands.
6  At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
    both rider and horse lay stunned.

7  But you, you are to be feared!
    Who can stand before you
    when once your anger is roused?
8  From the heavens you uttered judgment;
    the earth feared and was still,
9  when God arose to establish judgment,
    to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

10  Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
    the remnant ^{6 76:10 Or extremity} of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11  Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them;
    let all around him bring gifts
    to him who is to be feared,
12  who cuts off the spirit of princes,
    who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

Chapter 77

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

1  I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2  In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
3  When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4  You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5  I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
6  I said, ^{7 77:6 Hebrew lacks I said} “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7  “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8  Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9  Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10  Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” ^{8 77:10 Or This is my grief: that the right hand of the Most High has changed}

11  I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12  I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13  Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
14  You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
15  You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16  When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
17  The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
18  The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
19  Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen. ^{9 77:19 Hebrew unknown}
20  You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Chapter 78

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil ^{10 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term} of Asaph.

1  Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2  I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3  things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
4  We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.

5  He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
6  that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7      so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
8  and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9  The Ephraimites, armed with ^{11 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting} the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
10  They did not keep God's covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
11  They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.
12  In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13  He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
    and made the waters stand like a heap.
14  In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
    and all the night with a fiery light.
15  He split rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16  He made streams come out of the rock
    and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17  Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18  They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
19  They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20  He struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
    or provide meat for his people?”

21  Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob;
    his anger rose against Israel,
22  because they did not believe in God
    and did not trust his saving power.
23  Yet he commanded the skies above
    and opened the doors of heaven,
24  and he rained down on them manna to eat
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
25  Man ate of the bread of the angels;
    he sent them food in abundance.
26  He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
    and by his power he led out the south wind;
27  he rained meat on them like dust,
    winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28  he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
    all around their dwellings.
29  And they ate and were well filled,
    for he gave them what they craved.
30  But before they had satisfied their craving,
    while the food was still in their mouths,
31  the anger of God rose against them,
    and he killed the strongest of them
    and laid low the young men of Israel.

32  In spite of all this, they still sinned;
    despite his wonders, they did not believe.
33  So he made their days vanish like ^{12 78:33 Hebrew in} a breath, ^{13 78:33 Or vapor}
    and their years in terror.
34  When he killed them, they sought him;
    they repented and sought God earnestly.
35  They remembered that God was their rock,
    the Most High God their redeemer.
36  But they flattered him with their mouths;
    they lied to him with their tongues.
37  Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
38  Yet he, being compassionate,
    atoned for their iniquity
    and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
    and did not stir up all his wrath.
39  He remembered that they were but flesh,
    a wind that passes and comes not again.
40  How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
    and grieved him in the desert!
41  They tested God again and again
    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42  They did not remember his power ^{14 78:42 Hebrew hand}
    or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43  when he performed his signs in Egypt
    and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
44  He turned their rivers to blood,
    so that they could not drink of their streams.
45  He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
    and frogs, which destroyed them.
46  He gave their crops to the destroying locust
    and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47  He destroyed their vines with hail
    and their sycamores with frost.
48  He gave over their cattle to the hail
    and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49  He let loose on them his burning anger,
    wrath, indignation, and distress,
    a company of destroying angels.
50  He made a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death,
    but gave their lives over to the plague.
51  He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
    the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52  Then he led out his people like sheep
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53  He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54  And he brought them to his holy land,
    to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55  He drove out nations before them;
    he apportioned them for a possession
    and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56  Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
    and did not keep his testimonies,
57  but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
    they twisted like a deceitful bow.
58  For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
    they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59  When God heard, he was full of wrath,
    and he utterly rejected Israel.
60  He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
    the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61  and delivered his power to captivity,
    his glory to the hand of the foe.
62  He gave his people over to the sword
    and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63  Fire devoured their young men,
    and their young women had no marriage song.
64  Their priests fell by the sword,
    and their widows made no lamentation.
65  Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
    like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66  And he put his adversaries to rout;
    he put them to everlasting shame.

67  He rejected the tent of Joseph;
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68  but he chose the tribe of Judah,
    Mount Zion, which he loves.
69  He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
    like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70  He chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
71  from following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his inheritance.
72  With upright heart he shepherded them
    and guided them with his skillful hand.