Old/New Testament
A Prayer for the King
72 O God, make the king right in what he decides. Make the king’s son right with You. 2 May he be right when he decides who is right and who is wrong and may he be fair to the poor. 3 Let mountains and hills bring peace to the people through what is right and good. 4 May he stand by those who are poor, save the children of those in need, and destroy the bad power over them.
5 May all the children-to-come fear You as long as the sun and the moon last. 6 May He come down like rain upon the cut grass, like rain that waters the earth. 7 In His days may all go well with those who are right and good. And may there be much peace until the moon is no more.
8 May he also rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 9 Those who live in the desert will put their faces to the ground before Him. And those who hate Him will kiss the dust. 10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring gifts. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. 11 Yes, let all kings fall down at His feet, and all nations serve Him.
12 For He will take out of trouble the one in need when he cries for help, and the poor man who has no one to help. 13 He will have loving-pity on the weak and those in need. He will save the lives of those in need. 14 He will take them from the bad power that is held over them and from being hurt. Their blood will be of much worth in His eyes. 15 He will live, and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him. Prayer will be given for Him all the time. Let them honor Him all day long.
16 May there be much grain in the land on top of the mountains. May its fruit grow like the trees of Lebanon. And may those of the city grow like the grass of the earth. 17 May His name last forever. May His name become bigger as long as the sun shines. And let men respect themselves through Him. Let all nations honor Him.
18 Honor and thanks be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does great things. 19 And honor be to His great name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His shining-greatness. Let it be so.
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
The Good and the Sinful
73 For sure God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet came close to falling. My steps had almost tripped. 3 For I was jealous of the proud when I saw that all was going well with the sinful. 4 For they suffer no pain in their death, and their body is fat. 5 They do not have the troubles of other men or suffer like other men. 6 So they wear pride around their neck. Fighting covers them like a coat. 7 They are so fat that their eyes are pushed out. The crazy thoughts of their hearts run wild. 8 They laugh at the truth, and speak sinful things about making it hard for others. They speak from a high place. 9 They say bad things against heaven, and their tongue walks through the earth.
10 And so his people return to this place and drink water from a full cup. 11 They say, “How does God know? Is there much learning with the Most High?”
12 See, this is what the sinful are like. They always have it easy and their riches grow. 13 For no good reason I have kept my heart pure and have not sinned. 14 For I have suffered all day long. I have been punished every morning.
15 I would not have been true to Your children if I had spoken this way. 16 It was too hard for me when I tried to understand this, 17 until I went into the holy place of God. Then I understood their end. 18 For sure, You set the sinful in places where there is danger at every step. You throw them down to be destroyed. 19 How they are destroyed right away! They come to an end with much fear. 20 Like a dream when one wakes up, so You will hate what they look like when You rise up, O Lord.
21 My heart was troubled and I was hurt inside. 22 I was without reason and did not know better. I was like an animal before You. 23 Yet I am always with You. You hold me by my right hand. 24 You will lead me by telling me what I should do. And after this, You will bring me into shining-greatness.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? I want nothing more on earth, but You. 26 My body and my heart may grow weak, but God is the strength of my heart and all I need forever. 27 For, see, those who are far from You will be lost from You forever. You have destroyed all those who are not faithful to You. 28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my safe place. So I may tell of all the things You have done.
9 I am telling the truth because I belong to Christ. The Holy Spirit tells my heart that I am not lying. 2 I have much sorrow. The pain in my heart never leaves. 3 I could even wish that I might be kept from being with Christ if that would help my people to be saved from the punishment of sin. They are of my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Jews and are the people God chose for Himself. He shared His shining-greatness with them and gave them His Law and a way to worship. They have His promises. 5 The early preachers came from this family. Christ Himself was born of flesh from this family and He is over all things. May God be honored and thanked forever. Let it be so.
6 I am not saying that God did not keep His promises. Not all the Jews are people God chose for Himself. 7 Not all of Abraham’s family are children of God. God told Abraham, “Only the family of Isaac will be called your family.”(A) 8 This means that children born to Abraham are not all children of God. Only those that are born because of God’s promise to Abraham are His children. 9 This was the promise God made: “About this time next year I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” (B) 10 Not only this, but there was Rebecca also. Rebecca gave birth to two sons at the same time. Both of them were sons of Isaac. 11 Even before the two sons were born, we see God’s plan of choosing. God could choose whom He wanted. It could not be changed because of anything the older son tried to do about it. It was before either one had done anything good or bad. 12 Rebecca was told, “The older son will work for the younger son.” 13 The Holy Writings say, “I loved Jacob, but hated Esau.” (C)
14 What about it then? Can we say that God is not fair? No, not at all! 15 God said to Moses, “I will have loving-kindness and loving-pity for anyone I want to.” (D)
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