Psalms 72–74

1God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son.

2He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.

3The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.

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

5They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

6He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.

7In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

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

9Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.

10The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.

12For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.

13He will have pity on the poor and needy. He will save the souls of the needy.

14He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. Their blood will be precious in his sight.

15He will live; and Sheba’s gold will be given to him. Men will pray for him continually. They will bless him all day long.

16Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

17His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.

18Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

19Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.

20This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.

1Surely 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 Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

1God, 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, Yahweh. 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.