Psalms 74–76
A Contemplative Maskil of Asaph.
1 O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
the rod of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed,
this Mount Zion, where You have lived.
3 Move Your footsteps to the perpetual desolations,
to all the harm the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
they set up their miracles for signs.
5 They seem like men who lift up axes
on a thicket of trees.
6 But now they strike down its carved work altogether
with axes and hammers.
7 They have cast fire into Your sanctuary;
they have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
8 They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them together.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
nor is there among us any who knows how long.
10 O God, how long will the adversary scorn?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, Your right hand?
Draw it out of Your bosom and destroy them!
12 For God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the dragons on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
and gave him for food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 You split the fountain and the flood;
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have established all the borders of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has scorned, O Lord,
and that the foolish people have blasphemed Your name.
19 Do not give the life of Your turtledove to a wild animal;
do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
20 Have regard for the covenant;
for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
21 May the oppressed not return ashamed;
may the poor and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
remember how the fool insults You daily.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies,
the tumult of those who rise up against You continually.
Psalm 75
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1 We give thanks to You, O God;
we give thanks, and Your name is near;
Your wondrous works declare it.
2 When I select an appointed time,
I will judge with equity.
3 Though the earth and all its inhabitants are swaying,
I steady its pillars. Selah
4 I said to the boastful, “Do not boast,”
and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn.
5 Do not lift up your horn on high,
or speak with an arrogant neck.”
6 For neither from the east nor west,
nor from the wilderness comes victory.
7 But God is the judge;
He brings one low, and lifts up another.
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
and it is full of mixed, foaming wine,
and He pours from it;
surely all the wicked of the earth will find and drink its dregs.
9 But I will declare forever,
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.
Psalm 76
For the Music Director. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1 In Judah God is known;
in Israel His name is great.
2 In Salem is His abode,
and His dwelling place in Zion.
3 There He broke the fiery arrows of the bow,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
4 You are more glorious and excellent
than the mountains of prey.
5 The strong of heart have been plundered;
they have been put to sleep;
and none of the mighty men
could use their hands.
6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both the chariot and horse lay stunned.
7 You, even You, are to be feared;
and who may stand in Your sight from the moment of Your anger?
8 From the heavens You gave their judgment,
and the earth feared and was silent,
9 when God arose to judgment,
to save all the meek of the earth. Selah
10 Surely the wrath of people shall bring You praise;
the remainder of wrath You shall put on.
11 Make your vows to the Lord your God, and fulfill them;
let all who surround Him
bring tribute to Him who is to be feared.
12 He reduces the spirit of princes,
and is feared among the kings of the earth.
Romans 9:16–33
16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.
19 You will then say to me, “Why does He yet find fault? For who can resist His will?” 20 Rather, O man, who are you to answer back to God? Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does the potter not have power over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He previously prepared for glory, 24 even us, whom He has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed He says in Hosea:
“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
and her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved,’”
26 and,
“In the place where it was said to them,
‘You are not My people,’
there they shall be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the children of Israel be like the sand of the sea,
a remnant shall be saved.
28 For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness,
because the Lord will make a quick work upon the earth.”
29 And as Isaiah previously said:
“Unless the Lord of Hosts
had left us a seed,
we would have become like Sodom,
and been made like Gomorrah.”
30 What shall we say then? The Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith, 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, did not attain the law of righteousness. 32 Why not? Because they did not seek it by faith, but by the works of the law. For they stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:
“Look! I lay in Zion a stumbling stone
and rock of offense,
and whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed.”