A Plea for Divine Retribution

64 For the music director. A psalm of David.a

1 Hear my voice, O God, in my lamenting.

Preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.

2 Hide me from the secret plotsb of evildoers,

from the unrest of those who do iniquity,

3 who sharpen their tongue like a sword.

They bend their bow to shoot their arrows—bitter words,

4 to shoot fromc theird hiding places at the blameless.

Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.

5 They encourage themselves in the evil matter.

They talk of secretly laying snares.

They say, “Who will see them?”

6 ⌊They carefully plot⌋e injustices saying,

“We have perfected ⌊the perfect plot⌋!”f

Both the ⌊inner thought⌋g and heart of a man are deep.

7 But God will shoot them;

with an arrow they will suddenly be wounded.

8h And they who would cause himi to stumble,

their own tongue will be against them.

All who gaze on them will shake.j

9 And thenk all menl will fear,

and will declare the working of God,

and will understand his doing.

10 The righteous will rejoice in Yahweh and take refuge in him,

and all the upright in heart will boast.

Thanksgiving for God’s Provision

65 For the music director. A psalm of David. A song.a

1 Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion,

and to you the vow shall be fulfilled.

2 O you who hear prayer,

to you all flesh will come.

3 Iniquitiesb prevail over me.

As for our transgressions, you will ⌊forgive⌋c them.

4 Blessed is one whom you choose and bring near,

that he may abide in your courts.

We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

your holy temple.

5 By awesome deeds in righteousness you will answer us,

O God of our salvation,

you who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth

and of the far-off seas,

6 who established the mountains by his strength,

the one who is girded with might,

7 who stills the roar of the seas,

the roar of their waves,

and the commotion of the peoples,

8 so thatd the inhabitants of the farthest reaches are in awe of your signs.

You make the dawn and sunset sing for joy.

9 You care fore the landf and water it;

you greatly enrich it.

The stream of God is filled with waters.

You provide their grain,

for so you have established it.

10 You drench its furrows,

penetrating its ridges.

With rains you soften it;

its growth you bless.

11 You crown the year with your ⌊bounty⌋,g

and your wagon paths drip with ⌊richness⌋.h

12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,

and the hills gird themselves with joy.

13 The pasturelands put on flocks,

and the valleys clothe themselves with grain.

They shout in triumph;

they even sing.

Thanksgiving to God for His Works

66 For the music director. A song. A psalm.a

1 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.

2 Sing the glory of his name.

⌊Set forth his glorious praise⌋.b

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your works!

Because of the greatness of your strength,

your enemies will cringe before you.

4 All the earth will bow in worship to you,

and sing praise to you.

They will sing the praise of your name.” Selah

5 Come and ⌊consider⌋c the works of God;

he is awesome in his dealingsd with the children of humankind.

6 He turned the sea into dry ground;

they passed through the river on foot.

There we rejoiced in him.

7 He rules by his might forever;

his eyes keep watch on the nations.

Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.e Selah

8 Bless our God, O peoples,

and cause the sound of his praise to be heard,

9 the one who has kept our soul among the living,

and has not allowed our foot to slip.

10 For you have tested us, O God;

you have tried us as silver is tried.

11 You brought us into the net;

you placed a ⌊heavy burden⌋f on our backs.

12 You let meng ride over our heads.

We went through fire and through water,

but you have brought us out to the place of abundance.h

13 I will come into your housei with burnt offerings.

I will pay to you my vows

14 that my lips uttered,

and my mouth spoke in my distress.

15 Burnt offerings of fat animals I will offer to you,

with the smoke of rams.

I will doj cattle with rams. Selah

16 Come and hear, all you God-fearers, and I will tell

what he has done for me.k

17 I called to him with my mouth,

and he was extolled with my tongue.l

18 If I had considered evil in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened.

19 However, God has listened;

he has attended to the sound of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,

who has not turned aside my prayer,

or his loyal love from me.