Psalm 70

To the director.* One of David’s songs to help people remember.

¹God, save me! God, hurry and help me! ²People are trying to kill me. Disappoint them! Humiliate them! People want to do bad things to me. I hope they fall and feel the shame. ³People made fun of me. I hope they get what they deserve and feel the shame. ⁴I hope that the people who worship you will be very, very happy. I hope that the people who want your help will always be able to praise you. ⁵I am a poor, helpless man. God, hurry! Come and save me! God, only you can rescue me. Don’t be too late!

director Or, “performer.”

Psalm 71

¹Lord, I trust you, so I will never be disappointed. ²In your goodness, you will save me. You will rescue me. Listen to me. Save me. ³Be my fortress,* the home I can run to for safety. You are my Rock,* my place of safety. So give the command to save me. ⁴My God, save me from wicked people. Save me from cruel, evil people. ⁵My Master, you are my hope. I have trusted you since I was a young boy. ⁶I depended on you even before I was born. I relied on you even in my mother’s body. I have always prayed to you. ⁷You are my source of strength. So I have been an example to other people. ⁸I am always singing about the wonderful things you do. ⁹Don’t throw me away just because I am old. Don’t leave me as I lose my strength. ¹⁰My enemies have made plans against me. Those people really did meet together, and they made plans to kill me. ¹¹My enemies said, “Go get him! God left him. And no person will help him.” ¹²God, don’t leave me! God, hurry! Come save me! ¹³Defeat my enemies! Destroy them completely! They are trying to hurt me. I hope they feel the shame and disgrace. ¹⁴Then I will always trust you. And I will praise you more and more. ¹⁵I will tell people how good you are. I will tell about the times you saved me. That has happened too many times to count. ¹⁶I will tell about your greatness, Lord my Master. I will talk only about you and your goodness. ¹⁷God, you have taught me since I was a young boy. And to this day I have told people about the wonderful things you do! ¹⁸Now I am old and my hair is gray. But I know that you won’t leave me, God. I will tell each new generation about your power and greatness. ¹⁹God, your goodness reaches far above the skies. God, there is no god like you. You have done wonderful things. ²⁰You let me see troubles and bad times. But you saved me from every one of them and kept me alive. No matter how deep I sank, you lifted me out of my troubles. ²¹Help me do greater things than before. Continue to comfort me. ²²And I will play the harp and praise you. My God, I will sing that you can be trusted. I will play songs on my lyre* for the Holy One of Israel. ²³You saved my soul. My soul will be happy. I will sing songs of praise with my lips. ²⁴My tongue will sing about your goodness all the time. And the people who want to kill me will be defeated and disgraced.

fortress A building or city with tall, strong walls for protection. Rock A name for God to show he is a strong place of safety. lyre(s) An instrument with several strings, like a harp.

Psalm 72

To Solomon.*

¹God, help the king make wise decisions like you. And help the king’s son learn about your goodness. ²Help the king judge your people fairly. Help him make wise decisions for your poor people. ³Let there be peace and justice throughout the land. ⁴Let the king be fair to the poor people. Let him help the helpless. Let him punish the people who hurt them. ⁵May people fear and respect the king as long as the sun shines and the moon is in the sky. May people fear and respect him forever! ⁶Help the king be like rain falling on the fields, like showers falling on the land. ⁷Let goodness blossom while he is king. Let peace continue as long as the moon. ⁸Let his kingdom grow from sea to sea, from the {Euphrates} River to the faraway places on earth.* ⁹May all the people living in the desert bow down to him. May all his enemies bow before him with their faces in the dirt. ¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish* and all the faraway lands bring gifts to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring their tribute* to him. ¹¹May all kings bow down to our king. May all nations serve him. ¹²Our king helps the helpless. Our king helps poor, helpless people. ¹³Poor, helpless people depend on him. The king keeps them alive. ¹⁴The king saves them from cruel people who try to hurt them. The lives of those poor people are very important to the king. ¹⁵Long live the king! And let him receive gold from Sheba. Always pray for the king. Bless him every day. ¹⁶May the fields grow plenty of grain. May the hills be covered with crops. May the fields be as fertile as Lebanon. And may the cities be filled with people like fields covered with grass. ¹⁷May the king be famous forever. May people remember his name as long as the sun shines. May the people be blessed by him. And may they all bless him. ¹⁸Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel! Only God can do such amazing things. ¹⁹Praise his glorious name forever! Let his glory fill the whole world! Amen and Amen!* ²⁰This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.

To Solomon This might mean this song was written by Solomon or dedicated to him or that it is from some special collection of songs. faraway places on earth This usually means the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Tarshish A city far away from Israel, probably in Spain. Tarshish was famous for its large ships that sailed the Mediterranean Sea. tribute The money and gifts a country paid to the country that defeated it. Amen A Hebrew word meaning “truly,” “indeed.” It shows that a person agrees with what has been said.