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; 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 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. 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 public 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 cry aloud for help; 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; 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, 17 The clouds poured out water, 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, 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. A psalm of Asaph. 1 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. 3 What we have heard, and learned, And our fathers have told us, 4 We will not hide from their children; 5 Showing to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, His might, and the wonders he hath wrought. For he appointed statutes in Jacob, Which he commanded our fathers To make known to their children; 6 So that the generation to come might know them ; The children, which should be born, and rise up, Who should declare them to their children; 7 That they might place their trust in God, And not forget his deeds, But keep his commandments; 8 And might not be, like their forefathers, A generation, whose heart was not fixed upon God, 9 The children of Ephraim were like armed bowmen, Who turn their backs in the day of battle. 10 They kept not the covenant of God, And refused to walk in his law; 11 And forgot his mighty deeds, And the wonders he had shown them. 12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; Yea, he made the waters to stand as a heap. 14 By day he led them by a cloud, And all the night by a light of fire. |