God Shall Scatter His Enemies
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
68 eGod shall arise, his enemies shall be fscattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2 As gsmoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
has wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But ithe righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
4 Sing to God, jsing praises to his name;
klift up a song to him who lrides through mthe deserts;
his name is nthe Lord;
exult before him!
5 oFather of the fatherless and pprotector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God qsettles the solitary in a home;
he rleads out the prisoners to prosperity,
7 O God, when you uwent out before your people,
vwhen you marched through wthe wilderness, Selah
8 xthe earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God,1 the God of Israel.
9 yRain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
10 your flock2 found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you zprovided for the needy.
11 The Lord gives athe word;
bthe women who announce the news are a great host:
12 c“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home ddivide the spoil—
13 though you men lie among ethe sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
14 When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on fZalmon.
15 O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked3 mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God gdesired for his abode,
yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17 hThe chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18 iYou ascended on high,
jleading a host of captives in your train
and kreceiving gifts among men,
even among lthe rebellious, mthat the Lord God may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord,
who daily nbears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
oand to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
21 pBut God will strike the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring them back qfrom Bashan,
rI will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 that you may sstrike your feet in their blood,
that tthe tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
24 Your procession is4 seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
25 uthe singers in front, vthe musicians last,
between them wvirgins playing tambourines:
26 x“Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you5 who are of yIsrael’s fountain!”
27 There is zBenjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of aZebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 bSummon your power, O God,6
the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings shall cbear gifts to you.
30 Rebuke dthe beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of ebulls with the calves of the peoples.
fTrample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.7
31 Nobles shall come from gEgypt;
32 jO kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 to him kwho rides in lthe heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he msends out his voice, his mighty voice.
34 nAscribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose opower is in pthe skies.
35 qAwesome is God from his8 rsanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives spower and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!
Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to tLilies. Of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For uthe waters have come up to my neck.1
2 I sink in deep vmire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood wsweeps over me.
3 xI am weary with my crying out;
ymy throat is parched.
zMy eyes grow dim
with awaiting for my God.
4 bMore in number than the hairs of my head
are cthose who hate me dwithout cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
ethose who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you fbe put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become ha stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For izeal for your house has consumed me,
and jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled2 my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made ksackcloth my clothing,
I became la byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who msit in the gate,
and the drunkards make nsongs about me.
13 But as for me, my oprayer is to you, O Lord.
At pan acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in qthe mire;
rlet me be delivered from my enemies
and from sthe deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your vsteadfast love is good;
according to your abundant wmercy, xturn to me.
17 yHide not your face from your servant,
zfor I am in distress; amake haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my breproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 bReproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in cdespair.
I dlooked for epity, but there was none,
and for fcomforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me gpoison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me hsour wine to drink.
22 iLet their own jtable before them become a snare;
kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.3
23 lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
mand make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 nMay their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they opersecute him whom pyou have struck down,
and they recount the pain of qthose you have wounded.
27 rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.4
28 Let them be sblotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be tenrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, uset me on high!
30 I will vpraise the name of God with a song;
I will wmagnify him with xthanksgiving.
31 This will yplease the Lord more than an ox
or a bull zwith horns and hoofs.
32 When athe humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, alet your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 Let cheaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For dGod will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
O Lord, Do Not Delay
To the choirmaster. Of David, ffor the memorial offering.
70 gMake haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
2 Let them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
3 Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, “Aha, Aha!”
4 May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But I am poor and needy;
hhasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!
Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
71 iIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a rock of jrefuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have kgiven the command to save me,
for you are my lrock and my fortress.
4 mRescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my nhope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned ofrom before my birth;
you are he who ptook me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.
7 I have been as qa portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My rmouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
9 sDo not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who twatch for my life uconsult together
11 and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, be not vfar from me;
O my God, wmake haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be xput to shame and consumed;
ywith scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who zseek my hurt.
14 But I will ahope continually
and will bpraise you yet more and more.
15 My cmouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for dtheir number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to eold age and gray hairs,
O God, fdo not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 Your grighteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done hgreat things,
O God, iwho is like you?
20 You who have jmade me see many troubles and calamities
will krevive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
22 I will also praise you with lthe harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O mHoly One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have nredeemed.
24 And my otongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been pput to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
Give the King Your Justice
Of qSolomon.
72 Give the king your rjustice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
2 May he sjudge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
3 Let the mountains bear tprosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
5 May they fear you1 while uthe sun endures,
and as long as the moon, vthroughout all generations!
6 May he be like wrain that falls on xthe mown grass,
like yshowers that water the earth!
7 In his days may zthe righteous flourish,
and apeace abound, till the moon be no more!
8 May he have dominion from bsea to sea,
and from bthe River2 to the cends of the earth!
9 May desert tribes dbow down before him,
and his enemies elick the dust!
10 May the kings of fTarshish and of gthe coastlands
render him htribute;
may the kings of iSheba and jSeba
bring gifts!
11 May all kings kfall down before him,
all nations serve him!
12 For he delivers lthe needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and mprecious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live;
may ngold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made ofor him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people pblossom in the cities
like the qgrass of the field!
17 rMay his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
sMay people be blessed in him,
tall nations call him blessed!
18 uBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does vwondrous things.
19 Blessed be his wglorious name forever;
may xthe whole earth be filled with his glory!
yAmen and Amen!
