Psalm 71New International Version

Psalm 71^(A)

¹ In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;^(B)
    let me never be put to shame.^(C)
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
    turn your ear^(D) to me and save me.
³ Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.^(E)
4 Deliver^(F) me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,^(G)
    from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.^(H)

⁵ For you have been my hope,^(I) Sovereign Lord,
    my confidence^(J) since my youth.
⁶ From birth^(K) I have relied on you;
    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.^(L)
    I will ever praise^(M) you.
⁷ I have become a sign^(N) to many;
    you are my strong refuge.^(O)
8 My mouth^(P) is filled with your praise,
    declaring your splendor^(Q) all day long.

⁹ Do not cast^(R) me away when I am old;^(S)
    do not forsake^(T) me when my strength is gone.
¹⁰ For my enemies^(U) speak against me;
    those who wait to kill^(V) me conspire^(W) together.
¹¹ They say, “God has forsaken^(X) him;
    pursue him and seize him,
    for no one will rescue^(Y) him.”
¹² Do not be far^(Z) from me, my God;
    come quickly, God, to help^(AA) me.
¹³ May my accusers^(AB) perish in shame;^(AC)
    may those who want to harm me
    be covered with scorn and disgrace.^(AD)

¹⁴ As for me, I will always have hope;^(AE)
    I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵ My mouth will tell^(AF) of your righteous deeds,^(AG)
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all.
¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts,^(AH) Sovereign Lord;
    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
¹⁷ Since my youth, God, you have taught^(AI) me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.^(AJ)
18 Even when I am old and gray,^(AK)
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power^(AL) to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.^(AM)

¹⁹ Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,^(AN)
    you who have done great things.^(AO)
    Who is like you, God?^(AP)
20 Though you have made me see troubles,^(AQ)
    many and bitter,
    you will restore^(AR) my life again;
from the depths of the earth^(AS)
    you will again bring me up.
²¹ You will increase my honor^(AT)
    and comfort^(AU) me once more.

²² I will praise you with the harp^(AV)
    for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,^(AW)
    Holy One of Israel.^(AX)
23 My lips will shout for joy^(AY)
    when I sing praise to you—
    I whom you have delivered.^(AZ)
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
    all day long,^(BA)
for those who wanted to harm me^(BB)
    have been put to shame and confusion.^(BC)

Psalm 70 New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.

¹ Hasten, O God, to save me;
    come quickly, Lord, to help me.

² May those who want to take my life
    be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
    be turned back in disgrace.
³ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
    turn back because of their shame.
⁴ But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
    “The Lord is great!”

⁵ But as for me, I am poor and needy;
    come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    Lord, do not delay.

Psalm 69 New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David.

¹ Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
² I sink in the miry depths,
    where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
    the floods engulf me.
³ I am worn out calling for help;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
    looking for my God.
⁴ Those who hate me without reason
    outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
    those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
    what I did not steal.

⁵ You, God, know my folly;
    my guilt is not hidden from you.

⁶ Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    may those who hope in you
    not be disgraced because of me;
God of Israel,
    may those who seek you
    not be put to shame because of me.
⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake,
    and shame covers my face.
⁸ I am a foreigner to my own family,
    a stranger to my own mother’s children;
⁹ for zeal for your house consumes me,
    and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
¹⁰ When I weep and fast,
    I must endure scorn;
¹¹ when I put on sackcloth,
    people make sport of me.
¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me,
    and I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³ But I pray to you, Lord,
    in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
    answer me with your sure salvation.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire,
    do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
    from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
    or the depths swallow me up
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶ Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;
    in your great mercy turn to me.
¹⁷ Do not hide your face from your servant;
    answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
¹⁸ Come near and rescue me;
    deliver me because of my foes.

¹⁹ You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
    all my enemies are before you.
²⁰ Scorn has broken my heart
    and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
    for comforters, but I found none.
²¹ They put gall in my food
    and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

²² May the table set before them become a snare;
    may it become retribution and a trap.
²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
    and their backs be bent forever.
²⁴ Pour out your wrath on them;
    let your fierce anger overtake them.
²⁵ May their place be deserted;
    let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
²⁶ For they persecute those you wound
    and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
²⁷ Charge them with crime upon crime;
    do not let them share in your salvation.
²⁸ May they be blotted out of the book of life
    and not be listed with the righteous.

²⁹ But as for me, afflicted and in pain—
    may your salvation, God, protect me.

³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song
    and glorify him with thanksgiving.
³¹ This will please the Lord more than an ox,
    more than a bull with its horns and hooves.
³² The poor will see and be glad—
    you who seek God, may your hearts live!
³³ The Lord hears the needy
    and does not despise his captive people.

³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and all that move in them,
³⁵ for God will save Zion
    and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will settle there and possess it;
³⁶     the children of his servants will inherit it,
    and those who love his name will dwell there.

Psalm 68 The Message (MSG)

A David Psalm

68 ^1-4 Up with God!
    Down with his enemies!
        Adversaries, run for the hills!
Gone like a puff of smoke,
    like a blob of wax in the fire—
        one look at God and the wicked vanish.
When the righteous see God in action
    they’ll laugh, they’ll sing,
        they’ll laugh and sing for joy.
Sing hymns to God;
    all heaven, sing out;
        clear the way for the coming of Cloud-Rider.
Enjoy God,
    cheer when you see him!

^5-6 Father of orphans,
    champion of widows,
        is God in his holy house.
God makes homes for the homeless,
    leads prisoners to freedom,
        but leaves rebels to rot in hell.

^7-10 God, when you took the lead with your people,
    when you marched out into the wild,
Earth shook, sky broke out in a sweat;
    God was on the march.
Even Sinai trembled at the sight of God on the move,
    at the sight of Israel’s God.
You pour out rain in buckets, O God;
    thorn and cactus become an oasis
For your people to camp in and enjoy.
    You set them up in business;
    they went from rags to riches.

^11-14 The Lord gave the word;
    thousands called out the good news:
“Kings of the armies
    are on the run, on the run!”
While housewives, safe and sound back home,
    divide up the plunder,
    the plunder of Canaanite silver and gold.
On that day that Shaddai scattered the kings,
    snow fell on Black Mountain.

^15-16 You huge mountains, Bashan mountains,
    mighty mountains, dragon mountains.
All you mountains not chosen,
    sulk now, and feel sorry for yourselves,
For this is the mountain God has chosen to live on;
    he’ll rule from this mountain forever.

^17-18 The chariots of God, twice ten thousand,
    and thousands more besides,
The Lord in the lead, riding down Sinai—
    straight to the Holy Place!
You climbed to the High Place, captives in tow,
    your arms full of booty from rebels,
And now you sit there in state,
    God, sovereign God!

^19-23 Blessed be the Lord—
    day after day he carries us along.
He’s our Savior, our God, oh yes!
    He’s God-for-us, he’s God-who-saves-us.
Lord God knows all
    death’s ins and outs.
What’s more, he made heads roll,
    split the skulls of the enemy
As he marched out of heaven,
    saying, “I tied up the Dragon in knots,
    put a muzzle on the Deep Blue Sea.”
You can wade through your enemies’ blood,
    and your dogs taste of your enemies from your boots.

^24-31 See God on parade
    to the sanctuary, my God,
    my King on the march!
Singers out front, the band behind,
    maidens in the middle with castanets.
The whole choir blesses God.
    Like a fountain of praise, Israel blesses God.
Look—little Benjamin’s out
    front and leading
Princes of Judah in their royal robes,
    princes of Zebulon, princes of Naphtali.
Parade your power, O God,
    the power, O God, that made us what we are.
Your temple, High God, is Jerusalem;
    kings bring gifts to you.
Rebuke that old crocodile, Egypt,
    with her herd of wild bulls and calves,
Rapacious in her lust for silver,
    crushing peoples, spoiling for a fight.
Let Egyptian traders bring blue cloth
    and Cush come running to God, her hands outstretched.

^32-34 Sing, O kings of the earth!
    Sing praises to the Lord!
There he is: Sky-Rider,
    striding the ancient skies.
Listen—he’s calling in thunder,
    rumbling, rolling thunder.
Call out “Bravo!” to God,
    the High God of Israel.
His splendor and strength
    rise huge as thunderheads.

³⁵ A terrible beauty, O God,
    streams from your sanctuary.
It’s Israel’s strong God! He gives
    power and might to his people!
O you, his people—bless God!