[Image: Introduction to the Psalms]
PSALMS 72-73
Give the King Your Justice
Of Solomon.
[1] Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
[2] May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
[3] Let the mountains bear prosperity 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 you while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
[6] May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
[7] In his days may the righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
[8] May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth!
[9] May desert tribes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
[10] May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts!
[11] May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!
[12] For he delivers the 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 precious is their blood in his sight.
[15] Long may he live;
may gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for 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 blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field!
[17] May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!
[18] Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
[19] Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!
[20] The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
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.
[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 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. (ESV)
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