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Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of Asaph.

1  Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.
2  But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
3  For I was envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4  For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
5  They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6  Therefore pride is their necklace;
    violence covers them as a garment.
7  Their eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
8  They scoff and speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
9  They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
10  Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find no fault in them. ^{1 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them}
11  And they say, “How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12  Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they increase in riches.
13  All in vain have I kept my heart clean
    and washed my hands in innocence.
14  For all the day long I have been stricken
    and rebuked every morning.
15  If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

16  But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17  until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their end.

18  Truly you set them in slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
19  How they are destroyed in a moment,
    swept away utterly by terrors!
20  Like a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21  When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
22  I was brutish and ignorant;
    I was like a beast toward you.

23  Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.
24  You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25  Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26  My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength ^{2 73:26 Hebrew rock} of my heart and my portion forever.

27  For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28  But for me it is good to be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my refuge,
    that I may tell of all your works.

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil ^{3 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. ^{4 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 ^{5 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 ^{6 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!

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 ^{7 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.

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 ^{8 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.

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, ^{9 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.” ^{10 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. ^{11 77:19 Hebrew unknown}
20  You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.