Categories
Psalms

Psalms 70

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.

1 Hasten, O God, to save me;

come quickly,Lord, to help me.

2 May those who want to take my life

be put to shame and confusion;

may all who desire my ruin

be turned back in disgrace.

3 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

turn back because of their shame.

4 But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who long for your saving help always say,

“TheLordis great!”

5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;

come quickly to me, O God.

You are my help and my deliverer;

Lord, do not delay.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/70-9d4eb00cfd25b584ff2c3df3b54f3fa7.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 71

1 In you,Lord, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;

turn your ear to me and save me.

3 Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

5 For you have been my hope, SovereignLord,

my confidence since my youth.

6 From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you.

7 I have become a sign to many;

you are my strong refuge.

8 My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendor all day long.

9 Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

10 For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

11 They say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,

for no one will rescue him.”

12 Do not be far from me, my God;

come quickly, God, to help me.

13 May my accusers perish in shame;

may those who want to harm me

be covered with scorn and disgrace.

14 As for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,

of your saving acts all day long—

though I know not how to relate them all.

16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, SovereignLord;

I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.

17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

18 Even when I am old and gray,

do not forsake me, my God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your mighty acts to all who are to come.

19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,

you who have done great things.

Who is like you, God?

20 Though you have made me see troubles,

many and bitter,

you will restore my life again;

from the depths of the earth

you will again bring me up.

21 You will increase my honor

and comfort me once more.

22 I will praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, my God;

I will sing praise to you with the lyre,

Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you—

I whom you have delivered.

24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts

all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me

have been put to shame and confusion.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/71-98fbd475c4eff6385f1a2e986b62e796.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 72

Of Solomon.

1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,

the royal son with your righteousness.

2 May he judge your people in righteousness,

your afflicted ones with justice.

3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,

the hills the fruit of righteousness.

4 May he defend the afflicted among the people

and save the children of the needy;

may he crush the oppressor.

5 May he endureas long as the sun,

as long as the moon, through all generations.

6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,

like showers watering the earth.

7 In his days may the righteous flourish

and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

8 May he rule from sea to sea

and from the Riverto the ends of the earth.

9 May the desert tribes bow before him

and his enemies lick the dust.

10 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores

bring tribute to him.

May the kings of Sheba and Seba

present him gifts.

11 May all kings bow down to him

and all nations serve him.

12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,

the afflicted who have no one to help.

13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy

and save the needy from death.

14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,

for precious is their blood in his sight.

15 Long may he live!

May gold from Sheba be given him.

May people ever pray for him

and bless him all day long.

16 May grain abound throughout the land;

on the tops of the hills may it sway.

May the crops flourish like Lebanon

and thrivelike the grass of the field.

17 May his name endure forever;

may it continue as long as the sun.

Then all nations will be blessed through him,

and they will call him blessed.

18 Praise be to theLordGod, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvelous deeds.

19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and Amen.

20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/72-cd45395883720ffcbca8f7cbe06845a1.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 73

A psalm of Asaph.

1 Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;

I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles;

their bodies are healthy and strong.

5 They are free from common human burdens;

they are not plagued by human ills.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;

they clothe themselves with violence.

7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;

their evil imaginations have no limits.

8 They scoff, and speak with malice;

with arrogance they threaten oppression.

9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,

and their tongues take possession of the earth.

10 Therefore their people turn to them

and drink up waters in abundance.

11 They say, “How would God know?

Does the Most High know anything?”

12 This is what the wicked are like—

always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure

and have washed my hands in innocence.

14 All day long I have been afflicted,

and every morning brings new punishments.

15 If I had spoken out like that,

I would have betrayed your children.

16 When I tried to understand all this,

it troubled me deeply

17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

19 How suddenly are they destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors!

20 They are like a dream when one awakes;

when you arise, Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved

and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

27 Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the SovereignLordmy refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/73-4cf4535569209ed2034892dda98f8a07.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 74

A

maskil

of Asaph.

1 O God, why have you rejected us forever?

Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago,

the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—

Mount Zion, where you dwelt.

3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,

all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;

they set up their standards as signs.

5 They behaved like men wielding axes

to cut through a thicket of trees.

6 They smashed all the carved paneling

with their axes and hatchets.

7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;

they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.

8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”

They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

9 We are given no signs from God;

no prophets are left,

and none of us knows how long this will be.

10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?

Will the foe revile your name forever?

11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

12 But God is my King from long ago;

he brings salvation on the earth.

13 It was you who split open the sea by your power;

you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.

14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan

and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.

15 It was you who opened up springs and streams;

you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

16 The day is yours, and yours also the night;

you established the sun and moon.

17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;

you made both summer and winter.

18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you,Lord,

how foolish people have reviled your name.

19 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;

do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.

20 Have regard for your covenant,

because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;

may the poor and needy praise your name.

22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;

remember how fools mock you all day long.

23 Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,

the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/74-bb450c80a5e0b168610e02b0b2a43ce5.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 75

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph. A song.

1 We praise you, God,

we praise you, for your Name is near;

people tell of your wonderful deeds.

2 You say, “I choose the appointed time;

it is I who judge with equity.

3 When the earth and all its people quake,

it is I who hold its pillars firm.

4 To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’

and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.

5 Do not lift your horns against heaven;

do not speak so defiantly.’ ”

6 No one from the east or the west

or from the desert can exalt themselves.

7 It is God who judges:

He brings one down, he exalts another.

8 In the hand of theLordis a cup

full of foaming wine mixed with spices;

he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth

drink it down to its very dregs.

9 As for me, I will declare this forever;

I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,

10 who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,

but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/75-ae3972c9246157a6153dfd9693432892.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 76

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.

1 God is renowned in Judah;

in Israel his name is great.

2 His tent is in Salem,

his dwelling place in Zion.

3 There he broke the flashing arrows,

the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.

4 You are radiant with light,

more majestic than mountains rich with game.

5 The valiant lie plundered,

they sleep their last sleep;

not one of the warriors

can lift his hands.

6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,

both horse and chariot lie still.

7 It is you alone who are to be feared.

Who can stand before you when you are angry?

8 From heaven you pronounced judgment,

and the land feared and was quiet—

9 when you, God, rose up to judge,

to save all the afflicted of the land.

10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,

and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

11 Make vows to theLordyour God and fulfill them;

let all the neighboring lands

bring gifts to the One to be feared.

12 He breaks the spirit of rulers;

he is feared by the kings of the earth.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/76-a866ed29cb71ee3cc8ffe35177e29d37.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 77

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

1 I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

at night I stretched out untiring hands,

and I would not be comforted.

3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned;

I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.

4 You kept my eyes from closing;

I was too troubled to speak.

5 I thought about the former days,

the years of long ago;

6 I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

7 “Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again?

8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

11 I will remember the deeds of theLord;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12 I will consider all your works

and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

13 Your ways, God, are holy.

What god is as great as our God?

14 You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

16 The waters saw you, God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

17 The clouds poured down water,

the heavens resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

19 Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

20 You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/77-9c7fd5ed32a07e06619ff252e27236b2.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 78

A

maskil

of Asaph.

1 My people, hear my teaching;

listen to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth with a parable;

I will utter hidden things, things from of old—

3 things we have heard and known,

things our ancestors have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their descendants;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of theLord,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

5 He decreed statutes for Jacob

and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach their children,

6 so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,

and they in turn would tell their children.

7 Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget his deeds

but would keep his commands.

8 They would not be like their ancestors—

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

whose hearts were not loyal to God,

whose spirits were not faithful to him.

9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,

turned back on the day of battle;

10 they did not keep God’s covenant

and refused to live by his law.

11 They forgot what he had done,

the wonders he had shown them.

12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors

in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea and led them through;

he made the water stand up like a wall.

14 He guided them with the cloud by day

and with light from the fire all night.

15 He split the rocks in the wilderness

and gave them water as abundant as the seas;

16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag

and made water flow down like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin against him,

rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.

18 They willfully put God to the test

by demanding the food they craved.

19 They spoke against God;

they said, “Can God really

spread a table in the wilderness?

20 True, he struck the rock,

and water gushed out,

streams flowed abundantly,

but can he also give us bread?

Can he supply meat for his people?”

21 When theLordheard them, he was furious;

his fire broke out against Jacob,

and his wrath rose against Israel,

22 for they did not believe in God

or trust in his deliverance.

23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above

and opened the doors of the heavens;

24 he rained down manna for the people to eat,

he gave them the grain of heaven.

25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;

he sent them all the food they could eat.

26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens

and by his power made the south wind blow.

27 He rained meat down on them like dust,

birds like sand on the seashore.

28 He made them come down inside their camp,

all around their tents.

29 They ate till they were gorged—

he had given them what they craved.

30 But before they turned from what they craved,

even while the food was still in their mouths,

31 God’s anger rose against them;

he put to death the sturdiest among them,

cutting down the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;

in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.

33 So he ended their days in futility

and their years in terror.

34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;

they eagerly turned to him again.

35 They remembered that God was their Rock,

that God Most High was their Redeemer.

36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,

lying to him with their tongues;

37 their hearts were not loyal to him,

they were not faithful to his covenant.

38 Yet he was merciful;

he forgave their iniquities

and did not destroy them.

Time after time he restrained his anger

and did not stir up his full wrath.

39 He remembered that they were but flesh,

a passing breeze that does not return.

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness

and grieved him in the wasteland!

41 Again and again they put God to the test;

they vexed the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not remember his power—

the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,

43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt,

his wonders in the region of Zoan.

44 He turned their river into blood;

they could not drink from their streams.

45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,

and frogs that devastated them.

46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,

their produce to the locust.

47 He destroyed their vines with hail

and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,

their livestock to bolts of lightning.

49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,

his wrath, indignation and hostility—

a band of destroying angels.

50 He prepared a path for his anger;

he did not spare them from death

but gave them over to the plague.

51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,

the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.

52 But he brought his people out like a flock;

he led them like sheep through the wilderness.

53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;

but the sea engulfed their enemies.

54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,

to the hill country his right hand had taken.

55 He drove out nations before them

and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;

he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

56 But they put God to the test

and rebelled against the Most High;

they did not keep his statutes.

57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,

as unreliable as a faulty bow.

58 They angered him with their high places;

they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

59 When God heard them, he was furious;

he rejected Israel completely.

60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,

the tent he had set up among humans.

61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity,

his splendor into the hands of the enemy.

62 He gave his people over to the sword;

he was furious with his inheritance.

63 Fire consumed their young men,

and their young women had no wedding songs;

64 their priests were put to the sword,

and their widows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.

66 He beat back his enemies;

he put them to everlasting shame.

67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;

68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion, which he loved.

69 He built his sanctuary like the heights,

like the earth that he established forever.

70 He chose David his servant

and took him from the sheep pens;

71 from tending the sheep he brought him

to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,

of Israel his inheritance.

72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;

with skillful hands he led them.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/78-046cf68f6983abd742e914535e7417f1.mp3?version_id=111—

Categories
Psalms

Psalms 79

A psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;

they have defiled your holy temple,

they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants

as food for the birds of the sky,

the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

3 They have poured out blood like water

all around Jerusalem,

and there is no one to bury the dead.

4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,

of scorn and derision to those around us.

5 How long,Lord? Will you be angry forever?

How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

6 Pour out your wrath on the nations

that do not acknowledge you,

on the kingdoms

that do not call on your name;

7 for they have devoured Jacob

and devastated his homeland.

8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;

may your mercy come quickly to meet us,

for we are in desperate need.

9 Help us, God our Savior,

for the glory of your name;

deliver us and forgive our sins

for your name’s sake.

10 Why should the nations say,

“Where is their God?”

Before our eyes, make known among the nations

that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;

with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.

12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times

the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.

13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will praise you forever;

from generation to generation

we will proclaim your praise.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/PSA/79-2c0e65380697e07e95485a002967f297.mp3?version_id=111—