Psalm 70

O Lord, Do Not Delay

To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.

70:1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! ²Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt! ³Let them turn back because of their shame who say, “Aha, Aha!”

⁴May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” ⁵But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!

Psalm 71

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

71:1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! ²In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! ³Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. ⁵For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. ⁶Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

⁷I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. ⁸My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. ⁹Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. ¹⁰For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together ¹¹and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”

¹²O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! ¹³May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. ¹⁴But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. ¹⁵My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. ¹⁶With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. ¹⁸So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. ¹⁹Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? ²⁰You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. ²¹You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

²²I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. ²³My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. ²⁴And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.

Psalm 72

Give the King Your Justice

Of Solomon.

72:1 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! ²May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! ³Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! ⁴May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!

⁵May they fear you[1] while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations! ⁶May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! ⁷In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

⁸May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River[2] to the ends of the earth! ⁹May desert tribes bow down before him and his enemies lick the dust! ¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! ¹¹May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!

¹²For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. ¹³He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. ¹⁴From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.

¹⁵Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! ¹⁶May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! ¹⁷May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!

¹⁸Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. ¹⁹Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

²⁰The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

[1] Septuagint He shall endure [2] That is, the Euphrates