Day 177 of 364

^72:1By Solomon. God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son. ^72:2He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. ^72:3The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness. ^72:4He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces. ^72:5They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. ^72:6He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. ^72:7In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. ^72:8He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. ^72:9Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust. ^72:10The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. ^72:11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. ^72:12For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper. ^72:13He will have pity on the poor and needy. He will save the souls of the needy. ^72:14He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. Their blood will be precious in his sight. ^72:15He will live; and Sheba’s gold will be given to him. Men will pray for him continually. They will bless him all day long. ^72:16Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field. ^72:17His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed. ^72:18Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. ^72:19Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen. ^72:20This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse. ^73:1A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. ^73:2But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped. ^73:3For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ^73:4For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm. ^73:5They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men. ^73:6Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment. ^73:7Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit. ^73:8They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression. ^73:9They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth. ^73:10Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance. ^73:11They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” ^73:12Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches. ^73:13Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence, ^73:14For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning. ^73:15If I had said, “I will speak thus”, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. ^73:16When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me— ^73:17until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end. ^73:18Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. ^73:19How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors. ^73:20As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies. ^73:21For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart. ^73:22I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you. ^73:23Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand. ^73:24You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. ^73:25Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you. ^73:26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. ^73:27For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you. ^73:28But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. ^74:1A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? ^74:2Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived. ^74:3Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. ^74:4Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs. ^74:5They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees. ^74:6Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers. ^74:7They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name. ^74:8They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped. ^74:9We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long. ^74:10How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? ^74:11Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your chest and consume them! ^74:12Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth. ^74:13You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. ^74:14You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures. ^74:15You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers. ^74:16The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun. ^74:17You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter. ^74:18Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, LORD. Foolish people have blasphemed your name. ^74:19Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever. ^74:20Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth. ^74:21Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name. ^74:22Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. ^74:23Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually. ^75:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm by Asaph. A song. We give thanks to you, God. We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works. ^75:2When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly. ^75:3The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars. Selah. ^75:4I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!” I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn. ^75:5Don’t lift up your horn on high. Don’t speak with a stiff neck.” ^75:6For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, comes exaltation. ^75:7But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another. ^75:8For in the LORD’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs. ^75:9But I will declare this forever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. ^75:10I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up. ^76:1For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song. In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel. ^76:2His tabernacle is also in Salem. His dwelling place in Zion. ^76:3There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah. ^76:4Glorious are you, and excellent, more than mountains of game. ^76:5Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands. ^76:6At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. ^76:7You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry? ^76:8You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent, ^76:9when God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the earth. Selah. ^76:10Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained. ^76:11Make vows to the LORD your God, and fulfill them! Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared. ^76:12He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.