Psalms 72-74

Psalm 72

¹Of Solomon. Give the king your authority, O God, and your righteousness to the king's son.

²May he be a judge of your people in righteousness, and make true decisions for the poor.

³May the mountains give peace to the people, and the hills righteousness.

⁴May he be a judge of the poor among the people, may he give salvation to the children of those who are in need; by him let the violent be crushed.

⁵May his life go on as long as the sun and moon, through all generations.

⁶May he come down like rain on the cut grass; like showers watering the earth.

⁷In his days may the upright do well, living in peace as long as there is a moon in heaven.

⁸Let his kingdom be from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹Let those who are against him go down before him; and let his haters be low in the dust.

¹⁰Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands come back with offerings; let the kings of Sheba and Seba give of their stores.

¹¹Yes, let all kings go down before him; let all nations be his servants.

¹²For he will be a saviour to the poor in answer to his cry; and to him who is in need, without a helper.

¹³He will have pity on the poor, and be the saviour of those who are in need.

¹⁴He will keep their souls free from evil designs and violent attacks; and their blood will be of value in his eyes.

¹⁵May he have long life, and may gold from Sheba be given to him: may prayers be made for him at all times; may blessings be on him every day.

¹⁶May there be wide-stretching fields of grain in the land, shaking on the top of the mountains, full of fruit like Lebanon: may its stems be unnumbered like the grass of the earth.

¹⁷May his name go on for ever, as long as the sun: may men be blessing themselves by him; may all nations be blessing his name.

¹⁸Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, the only doer of wonders.

¹⁹Praise to the glory of his noble name for ever; let all the earth be full of his glory. So be it, So be it.

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

Psalm 73

¹A Psalm. Of Asaph. Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are clean in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost gone from under me; I was near to slipping;

³Because of my envy of the men of pride, when I saw the well-being of the wrongdoers.

⁴For they have no pain; their bodies are fat and strong.

⁵They are not in trouble as others are; they have no part in the unhappy fate of men.

⁶For this reason pride is round them like a chain; they are clothed with violent behaviour as with a robe.

⁷Their eyes are bursting with fat; they have more than their heart's desire.

⁸Their thoughts are deep with evil designs; their talk from their seats of power is of cruel acts.

⁹Their mouth goes up to heaven; their tongues go walking through the earth.

¹⁰For this reason they are full of bread; and water is ever flowing for them.

¹¹And they say, How will the Lord see this? is there knowledge in the Most High?

¹²Truly, such are the sinners; they do well at all times, and their wealth is increased.

¹³As for me, I have made my heart clean to no purpose, washing my hands in righteousness;

¹⁴For I have been troubled all the day; every morning have I undergone punishment.

¹⁵If I would make clear what it is like, I would say, You are false to the generation of your children.

¹⁶When my thoughts were turned to see the reason of this, it was a weariness in my eyes;

¹⁷Till I went into God's holy place, and saw the end of the evil-doers.

¹⁸You put their feet where there was danger of slipping, so that they go down into destruction.

¹⁹How suddenly are they wasted! fears are the cause of their destruction.

²⁰As a dream when one is awake, they are ended; they are like an image gone out of mind when sleep is over.

²¹My heart was made bitter, and I was pained by the bite of grief:

²²As for me, I was foolish, and without knowledge; I was like a beast before you.

²³But still I am ever with you; you have taken me by my right hand.

²⁴Your wisdom will be my guide, and later you will put me in a place of honour.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but you? and having you I have no desire for anything on earth.

²⁶My flesh and my heart are wasting away: but God is the Rock of my heart and my eternal heritage.

²⁷For those who are far away from you will come to destruction: you will put an end to all those who have not kept faith with you.

²⁸But it is good for me to come near to God: I have put my faith in the Lord God, so that I may make clear all his works.

Psalm 74

¹Maschil. Of Asaph. Of God, why have you put us away from you for ever? why is the fire of your wrath smoking against the sheep who are your care?

²Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place.

³Go up and see the unending destruction; all the evil which your haters have done in the holy place;

⁴Sending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.

⁵They are cutting down, like a man whose blade is lifted up against the thick trees.

⁶Your doors are broken down with hammers and iron blades.

⁷They have put on fire your holy place; they have made the place of your name unclean, pulling it down to the earth.

⁸They have said in their hearts, Let us put an end to them all together; they have given over to the fire all God's places of worship in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs: there is no longer any prophet, or anyone among us to say how long.

¹⁰O God, how long will those who are against us say cruel things? will the hater go on looking down on your name for ever?

¹¹Why are you keeping back your hand, and covering your right hand in your robe?

¹²For from the past God is my King, working salvation in the earth.

¹³The sea was parted in two by your strength; the heads of the great sea-beasts were broken.

¹⁴The heads of the great snake were crushed by you; you gave them as food to the fishes of the sea.

¹⁵You made valleys for fountains and springs; you made the ever-flowing rivers dry.

¹⁶The day is yours and the night is yours: you made the light and the sun.

¹⁷By you all the limits of the earth were fixed; you have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Keep this in mind, O Lord, that your haters have said cruel things, and that your name has been looked down on by a people of evil behaviour.

¹⁹O give not the soul of your dove to the hawk; let not the life of the poor go out of your memory for ever.

²⁰Keep in mind your undertaking; for the dark places of the earth are full of pride and cruel acts.

²¹O let not the crushed be turned back in shame; let the low man and the poor give praise to your name.

²²Up! O God, be the judge of your cause; keep in mind the bitter things which the man of evil behaviour says against you every day.

²³Keep in mind the voice of your haters; the outcry of those who come against you goes up every day.