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16 Thine is the day, and thine the night;

Thou didst prepare the light and the sun.

17 Thou didst establish all the boundaries of the earth; Thou didst ordain summer and winter.

18 O remember that the enemy hath reviled Jehovah; That an impious people hath blasphemed thy name! 19 Give not up the life of thy turtle-dove;

Forget not for ever thine afflicted people!

20 Have regard to thy covenant!

For all the dark places of the land are full of the abodes of cruelty.

21 O let not the afflicted go away ashamed;

Let the poor and oppressed have cause to praise thy name!

22 Arise, O God! maintain thy cause!

Remember how the impious revileth thee daily!

23 Forget not the clamor of thine adversaries;

The noise of thine enemies, which continually ascendeth!

V. 4. Their own symbols, &c. i. e. their own heathenish representations of religious worship in place of the Jewish.

PSALM LXXV.

Thanksgiving in view of deliverance from enemies. This psalm contains no indication of the time of its composition, except that it resembles those, which were composed in the later ages of the kingdom.

For the leader of the music. To the tune of "Do not destroy." A psalm of Asaph.

1

WE give thanks to thee, O God, we give thanks to thee, and thy name is near us;

Men shall celebrate thy wonderful deeds.

2

"When I see my time,

"Then will I judge with equity;

3 "The earth trembles, and all her inhabitants, "But I uphold her pillars."

4 I say to the proud; Behave not proudly; To the wicked, Lift not up your heads!

5 Lift not up your heads on high,

And speak not with a stiff neck!

6 For promotion cometh neither from the East, nor West, nor South;

7 But it is God, who is judge;

He putteth down one, and setteth up another. 8 For in the hand of God there is a cup;

The wine is foaming and full of spices,

And of it he poureth out;

Even to the dregs shall all the wicked of the earth

drink it.

9 Therefore I will extol him for ever;

10

I will sing praise to the God of Israel.

"I will bring down the power of the wicked, "But the righteous shall lift up their heads."

V. 2. My time, i. e. a proper time. The speaker is God. In V. 4. the poet speaks, and in V. 10. the Supreme Being again.

PSALM LXXVI.

Thanksgiving for victory over powerful enemies. This psalm probably belongs to the same age with the preceding.

For the leader of the music. Upon stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph.

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2 In Jerusalem is his tabernacle,

And his dwelling-place in Zion.

3 There brake he the lightning of the bow,

The shield, the sword, and all the weapons of battle. 4 More glorious and excellent art thou

Than those mountains of robbers! 5 Spoiled are the stout-hearted; They sank into their sleep;

The hands of the mighty were powerless. 6 Before thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,

Fell chariot and horseman into a deep sleep!

7 Thou, thou, O God, art terrible!

Who can stand before thee in thine anger?

8 Thou causedst judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth trembled and was still,

9 When God arose to judgment,

To save all the oppressed of the earth.

10 The wrath of man shall praise thee,

When thou girdest on the whole of thy wrath! 11 Make and perform vows to Jehovah, your God! Let all, who dwell around him, bring gifts to the terrible one!

12 Who casteth down the pride of princes;

Who is terrible to the kings of the earth.

V. 3. Lightning of the bow: A metaphor for swift arrows.-V. 4. Art thou: This address is probably to God; possibly to mount Zion.

PSALM LXXVII.

Prayer in a season of great ublic calamity. Consolation and hope derived from meditation upon former favors of God to the nation. This psalm was probably composed during the captivity, or at least after the separation of the ten tribes.

For the leader of the music of the Jeduthunites. A psalm of Asaph.

1

I CALL upon God; I aloud for help;

cry

I call upon God, that he would hear me !

2 In the day of my trouble I seek Jehovah ;

In the night is my hand stretched forth continually;

My soul refuseth to be comforted.

3 I remember God, and am disquieted ;

I think of him, and my spirit is overwhelmed. 4 Thou keepest mine eyelids from closing; I am distressed, so that I cannot speak!

5 I think of the days of old,

The years of ancient times.

6 I call to remembrance my songs in the night; I meditate in my heart,

And my spirit inquireth.

7 Will the Lord be angry for ever?

Will he be favorable no more?

8 Is his mercy utterly withdrawn for ever;

Doth his promise fail from generation to generation?

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious?

Hath he in anger shut up his compassion?

10 Then I say, This is mine affliction,

A change in the right hand of the Most High.

11 I remember the deeds of Jehovah ;

I think of thy wonders of old.

12 I meditate on all thy works, And talk of thy doings.

13 Thy ways, O God, are holy !

Who so great a god as our God?

14 Thou art a God, who doest wonders;

Thou hast manifested thy power amongst the nations. 15 With thy strong arm thou didst redeem thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph.

16 The waters saw thee, O God!

The waters saw thee, and feared,
And the deep trembled.

17 The clouds poured out water,
The skies sent forth thunder,
And thine arrows flew.

18 Thy thunder roared in the whirlwind;
Thy lightning illumined the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way was through the sea,

And thy path through great waters,
And thy footsteps could not be found.

20 Thou didst lead thy people like a flock,

By the hands of Moses and Aaron.

V. 10. A change, &c. i. e. the hand of God ceases to aid me, and punish my enemies. Or this line may be rendered, A change is in the right hand, i. e. God alone can relieve me from my distress. - V. 17. Arrows, i. e. lightning.

PSALM LXXVIII.

Admonition to keep God's commandments, and to remember his former dealings toward the nation of Israel.

1

A psalm of Asaph.

ATTEND, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

2 I will open my mouth in a poem ;
I will utter sayings of ancient times.

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