25 Whom do I have in heaven?
There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart fails,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish.
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.
28 But 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.
Psalm 74
A contemplation by Asaph.
1 God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember 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.
3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins,
all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly.
They have set up their standards as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes,
cutting through a thicket of trees.
6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.
7 They have burned your sanctuary to the ground.
They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
8 They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.”
They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.
9 We see no miraculous signs.
There is no longer any prophet,
neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?
Take it from your chest and consume them!
12 Yet God is my King of old,
working salvation throughout the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your strength.
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces.
You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
15 You opened up spring and stream.
You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is yours, the night is also yours.
You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth.
You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, LORD.
Foolish people have blasphemed your name.
19 Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts.
Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Honor your covenant,
for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.
21 Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed.
Let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God! Plead your own cause.
Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.
23 Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries.
The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.
Psalm 75
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm by Asaph. A song.
1 We give thanks to you, God.
We give thanks, for your Name is near.
Men tell about your wondrous works.
2 When I choose the appointed time,
I will judge blamelessly.
3 The earth and all its inhabitants quake.
I firmly hold its pillars.
Selah.
4 I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!”
I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn.
5 Don’t lift up your horn on high.
Don’t speak with a stiff neck.”
6 For neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.
7 But God is the judge.
He puts down one, and lifts up another.
8 For 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.
9 But I will declare this forever:
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
Psalm 76
For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song.
1 In Judah, God is known.
His name is great in Israel.
2 His tabernacle is also in Salem.
His dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow,
the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war.
Selah.
4 Glorious are you, and excellent,
more than mountains of game.
5 Valiant men lie plundered,
they have slept their last sleep.
None of the men of war can lift their hands.
6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
7 You, even you, are to be feared.
Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
8 You pronounced judgment from heaven.
The earth feared, and was silent,
9 when God arose to judgment,
to save all the afflicted ones of the earth.
Selah.
10 Surely the wrath of man praises you.
The survivors of your wrath are restrained.
11 Make vows to the LORD your God, and fulfill them!
Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared.
12 He will cut off the spirit of princes.
He is feared by the kings of the earth.
Psalm 77
For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by Asaph.
1 My cry goes to God!
Indeed, I cry to God for help,
and for him to listen to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired.
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remember God, and I groan.
I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed.
Selah.
4 You hold my eyelids open.
I am so troubled that I can’t speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
the years of ancient times.
6 I remember my song in the night.
I consider in my own heart;
my spirit diligently inquires:
7 “Will the Lord reject us forever?
Will he be favorable no more?
8 Has his loving kindness vanished forever?
Does his promise fail for generations?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?”
Selah.
10 Then I thought, “I will appeal to this:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the LORD’s deeds;
for I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all your work,
and consider your doings.
13 Your way, God, is in the sanctuary.
What god is great like God?
14 You are the God who does wonders.
You have made your strength known among the peoples.
15 You have redeemed your people with your arm,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah.
16 The waters saw you, God.
The waters saw you, and they writhed.
The depths also convulsed.
17 The clouds poured out water.
The skies resounded with thunder.
Your arrows also flashed around.
18 The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind.
The lightnings lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
your paths through the great waters.
Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led your people like a flock,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 78
A contemplation by Asaph.
1 Hear my teaching, my people.
Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable.
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 which we have heard and known,
and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
5 For he established a covenant in Jacob,
and appointed a teaching in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers,
that they should make them known to their children;
6 that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born;
who should arise and tell their children,
7 that they might set their hope in God,
and not forget God’s deeds,
but keep his commandments,
8 and might not be as their fathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal,
whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
turned back in the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep God’s covenant,
and refused to walk by his Torah.
11 They forgot his doings,
his wondrous deeds that he had shown them.
12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers,
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through.
He made the waters stand as a heap.
14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud,
and all night with a light of fire.
15 He split rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock,
and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 Yet they still went on to sin against him,
to rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tempted God in their heart
by asking food according to their desire.
19 Yes, they spoke against God.
They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,
and streams overflowed.
Can he give bread also?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore the LORD heard, and was angry.
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
anger also went up against Israel,
22 because they didn’t believe in God,
and didn’t trust in his salvation [yeshuat].
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained down manna on them to eat,
and gave them food from the sky.
25 Man ate the bread of angels.
He sent them food to the full.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky.
By his power he guided the south wind.
27 He also rained meat on them as the dust,
winged birds as the sand of the seas.
28 He let them fall in the middle of their camp,
around their habitations.
29 So they ate, and were well filled.
He gave them their own desire.
30 They didn’t turn from their cravings.
Their food was yet in their mouths,
31 when the anger of God went up against them,
killed some of their strongest,
and struck down the young men of Israel.
32 For all this they still sinned,
and
