Psalm 72

(For Solomon)

O God, endow upon the king your justice
And upon the king’s son your righteousness.
May he judge your people with equity
And be fair to the poor and the oppressed.
May the mountains bring peace to the people,
And the hills bear the fruits of righteousness.

He will bring justice to people who are poor,
He will save the children of the needy,
And break into pieces their oppressors.
May they revere you as long as the sun shines,
And the moon remains — through the generations.

May he fall like the rain on new-mown grass,
A gentle shower that waters the earth.
During his reign the righteous will flourish
And peace abound, till the moon is no more.
May he have dominion from sea to sea,
From the river to the ends of the earth.
May the desert nomads bow before him
And his foes prostrate themselves in the dust.
May the kings of Tarshish and the coastlands
Bring him tribute and the kings of the East,
From Sheba and Seba, offer him gifts.
Indeed, may all the kings bow down before him,
And all the nations of the world serve him.

He will save the needy when they cry out to him,
The afflicted, too, who have no one to help them.
He is compassionate to the weak and the poor,
And will save the lives of the poverty-stricken.
He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
Because their life’s blood is valued, precious in his sight.

Long may he live!  May the gold of Sheba
Be given him.  May the people pray for him
Continually and bless him all the day.
May there be throughout the land a plenitude
Of grain, growing even on the mountain tops,
Fruit trees flourishing, like those of Lebanon,
And city folk thriving like fields of grass.

May his name endure forever
And live on as long as the sun
May all the nations be blest through him
And let all nations call him blest.
Blessed is the god Jehovah,
The god of Israel who alone
Performs wonders and miracles.
Praise his glorious name forever.
And may the entire earth be filled
With his glory.  Amen and Amen.

(Thus concludes the prayer of David, son of Jesse).

Psalm 71

In you, O Jehovah, have I found refuge.
Let me never be put to confusion.
With your justice deliver me, rescue me,
Incline your ear to me and set me free.
May you be my refuge among the rocks,
Where I may always find sanctuary.
Give the command for my deliverance,
For you are to me a rock and a fortress.

Save me, my god, from the power of the wicked, From the cruel clutches of ruthless oppressors.
You’ve been my hope since childhood, O Master Jehovah.
Even before my birth I have relied on you;
It is you who delivered me from my mother’s womb,
And so my praise of you will be continuous.
I have become a source of wonder to many,
Because you are my indestructible refuge.
I voice your praise and proclaim your glory all the day.

Do not cast me aside when I grow old;
Do not abandon me when my health declines.
For my enemies conspire against me,
And together they lay in wait to kill me.
They claim, “God has forsaken him, so let’s go
And take him, for there is none to save him.”

O God, be not removed from me.
Come quickly to help me, my god.
Let those who seek to harm my body
Be brought to disgrace and destruction;
Let them be covered with scorn and shame,
Those who wish evil upon me.

As for me, I keep on hoping
And I will praise you more and more.
My voice will recount your righteousness
And your acts of salvation all day,
Though all of them I cannot know.

I will come and proclaim your mighty deeds,
O Master Jehovah, and make mention
Of the righteousness that is yours alone.
O God, from my youth you have instructed me,
And since then I have made known your wonders.
So, even when I be old and gray, O God,
Do not forsake me till I can demonstrate
Your power to the next generation,
Your might to everyone that is to come.
Your justice, O God, extends to the heights.
Because you have performed acts of such greatness
Who indeed can be compared to you, O God?

Hardships, many and severe, have you shown me,
But, once more, you will return to revive me 
And raise me up from the depths of the earth.
You will restore to me greater honors
And give me comfort from every side.

I will praise you with music of the harp,
Because of your faithfulness, O my god;
I will sing your accolades, accompanied
By the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

My lips shout out with joy to praise you,
For you have achieved my salvation.
My tongue tells of your justice all day,
For confounded and put to shame
Are those who sought my destruction.

Psalm 70

Hasten to deliver me, O God,
Come quickly to save me, Jehovah.
Let those who seek to take my life
Be put to shame and bewildered;
Let those who delight in my ruin
Be put to retreat and disgraced.
Let those who declare, “Aha! Aha!”
Be turned back because of their disgrace.

May all who seek you be filled with joy
And be delighted because of you.
May all who love your salvation
Shout “God is great” again and again.

But I am poor and destitute.
So come to me quickly, O God.
You are my help and deliverer.
Do not delay, O Jehovah!

Psalm 69

Save me, O God, for the waters of the flood
Have risen to my neck, and I have sunk
Into the mud on which there is no footing.
In deep water, the deluge overwhelms me.
I am exhausted and my throat is sore
From shouts; my eyesight fails waiting for my god.

More than the number of the hairs on my head
Are those who hate me without any cause.
Mighty, they seek to destroy me with lies:
What I did not steal, they demand I restore.

O God, you know my foolishness;
My sins are not hidden from you.
Let not those who put their faith in you
Be ashamed on account of me, 
O Lord Jehovah, god of armies,
Let not those seek you be disgraced
Because of me, God of Israel.
For your sake I have borne reproach
And shame is written on my face.
I am a stranger to my brothers,
An alien to my mother’s sons.
For I am consumed with devotion
To your temple and the words of those
Who insult you fall upon me.
When I weep and chasten my body
With fasting, it brings scorn upon me.
And when I garb myself in sackcloth,
I am an object of ridicule.
Those who sit at the city gate
Find me a topic of gossip,
While drunkards sing songs about me.

But as for me, at the propitious time,
I make my prayer to you, O Jehovah;
In your bounteous, faithful love, O God,
Answer me with your certain salvation.
Save me from the mud, do not let me sink,
Spare me from my enemies, those who hate me,
And deliver me from the deep waters.
Do not let the flood waters engulf me,
The depths swallow me, the pit devour me.
Answer me, O Jehovah, in the goodness
Of your loving kindness; look upon me
In accord with your many acts of mercy.

Hide not from your servant,
For I am in dire distress.
Please answer me quickly!
Come near and rescue me;
Save me from my enemies!

You know how I’m reproached, shamed, and dishonored;
All my adversaries are known to you.
Insults have broken my heart; I’m despondent.
I search for sympathy, but there is none;
I look for one to comfort me, but in vain.
Instead, they give me gall to eat as food,
And when I’m thirsty, vinegar to drink.

May the table set before them be a snare
May it be their retribution, a trap.
Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
And may their bodies continually shake.
Pour out your indignation upon them.
Let the fierceness of your rage take hold of them.
Let their encampment become desolate
And let there be none to dwell in their tents.
They persecute those whom you have struck down
And recount the pain of those you have wounded.
For crime after crime, let them be punished.
Let them not receive your vindication.
May they be erased from the Book of Life;
Let them not be counted among the righteous.

But I am sore afflicted and suffering.
Let your salvation, O God, raise me on high.
I will extol the name of God in song
And I will exalt him with thanksgiving.
This will please Jehovah more than cattle,
Or a young bullock with its horns and hooves.
The humble will see this and be gladdened
And those who seek the help of God will take heart,
For Jehovah hears the pleas of the needy
And does not despise his people in bondage.

Praise him, heaven and earth, and the sea
And all the creatures that swim in it,
For God will deliver Zion
And rebuild the cities of Judah,
So that the people may dwell there
And possess it as a legacy.
The descendants of his servants
Will claim it as an inheritance
And those who love his name will live there.

Psalm 68

Let God rise up and scatter his enemies;
Let those who hate him flee from his presence.
Disperse them as wind blows away the smoke.
As the melting of wax before a fire,
The wicked perish in the presence of God.

But the righteous are gladdened and rejoice
Before God.  Let them celebrate with joy!
Sing out to God; sing praises to his name.
Extol the one who rides upon the clouds.
His name is Jehovah.  Exult before him.

A fatherless to the fatherless,
And a protector of widows,
Is God in his holy dwelling.

God makes a home for those who are lonely;
He frees prisoners and makes them prosper,
But the defiant live in a sun-baked land.

When you were at the head of your people
And marched with them through the desert, O God,
The earth quaked and the heavens poured down rain,
Before God, (the god that made Sinai tremble),
Before the presence of Israel’s god.
You sent down rain in abundance, O God,
To refresh your worn-out inheritance.
You settled our people on it, O God,
And your bounty provided for the poor.
It is Jehovah who proclaims the message 
And the ones who spread it is a multitude.
The marshals of armies take flight and flee,
While the women at home divide the spoils.
Even those who live amid the sheep pens
Are as doves whose wings are sheathed in silver
And whose pinions are of glittering gold.

When the Almighty did scatter the kings,
It was like the snow blowing off Mount Zalmon.
The mount of God is the mount of Bashan;
The mount of peaks is the mount of Bashan.
Why do you, O mount of peaks, gaze with envy,
At the mount where God has chosen to dwell,
Where Jehovah will reside forever?

The chariots of God are numberless,
Thousands upon thousands, and among them
Is Jehovah, from his sanctum in Sinai.
When you ascended the holy mountain
You led slaves whom you’d freed from captivity.
You accepted offerings from your people,
Even from those who had been rebellious,
So Jehovah their god might dwell among them.

Praise be to Jehovah, who, day by day,
Bears our burdens and is our savior god,
For our god is the god of salvation:
Master Jehovah deliveries us from death.

Surely God will surely crush the skulls of his enemies,
Even the hairy scalps of those who persist in sin.
Jehovah declared, “I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the ocean.
And you will dip your feet in your enemy’s blood.
(The tongues of your dogs will lick their share of the blood).

They have witnessed your procession, O God,
That of my god, my king, into the sanctuary.
In the fore are the singers, and then the musicians,
And, with them, young women playing their tambourines.

In the congregation bless God, Jehovah,
Who is the fountainhead of Israel.
Leading them is Benjamin, the youngest,
And among the throng, the princes of Judah.
The princes of Zebulun and Naphtali.
Muster your might, O God, show us the strength,
O God, that you have long used on our behalf.
Because of your temple in Jerusalem,
The kings of the earth will bring you tribute.

Rebuke the wild beasts that dwell in the reeds,
The herd of bulls that lead the people like calves,
Humbled, may they bring silver as tribute.
Disperse the nations that take pleasure in war.
Mighty princes will come out of Egypt;
Cush will reach out in submission to God.

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,
Sing praises to Master Jehovah,
He who rides across the heavens,
As he has done from ancient times,
Thundering with a mighty voice.
Recognize the power of God,
His mastery over Israel,
His strength showing itself in the clouds.

God inspires awe from his sanctuary.
To his people the god of Israel
Entrusts power and strength.  Thanks be to God!

Psalm 67

May God be gracious and bless us
And may his face shine upon us,
So those on earth may know his ways
And all the nations find salvation.

Let the people praise you, O God.
Indeed, let all the peoples praise you!

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
Because you rule the people with justice
And give guidance to the nations of the earth.

Let the people praise you, O God.
Indeed, let all the peoples praise you!

The land yields its harvest,
And God, our god, blesses us!
God shall indeed bless us
And all the world will fear him.

Psalm 66

May all the world shout out in joy to God.
Sing his glorious name with glorious praise.
Exclaim to God, “How awesome are your deeds.
Your enemies, because of your great power,
Cower in your presence and submit to you.
All the earth worships you and sings your praises;
They shall shout out glorious songs in your name."

Come and behold the wondrous works of God,
His awe-inspiring deeds done for mankind.
He turned the sea to dry land so they might pass
Through the flood on foot — We rejoiced in him then.
By his great power he rules forever
And keeps an eye on the nations of the world.
Let not the rebellious rise up against him!

Let all the people bless our God;
Let the sound of his praise be heard.
He has kept us among the living
And has seen our feet do not slip,
For you, God, has put us to the test
And has refined us like silver.
You had lured us into bondage
And laid heavy burdens on our backs.
You allowed men to rule over us.
You brought us through the fire and flood —
But led us to a land of plenty.

I come to your temple with burnt offerings
So that I might fulfill the vows I made to you,
Vows my lips spoke when I was in distress.
And so I offer fattened animals
As burnt offerings, the aroma of rams,
Bullocks and billy goats as sacrifices.

Come and hear, all who revere God.
I will tell what he has done for me.
From my mouth I cried to him for help.
And his praises were on my tongue.
If I cherished iniquity
And harbored evil in my heart,
Jehovah would not have listened,
But certainly God has heard me
And heeded the voice of my prayer.

Praise to God!  He did not reject my prayer
Nor withdraw his merciful love from me.