Power of God

Praise God Who Saved the Nation

Psalm 68

FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC. A PSALM OF DAVID. A SONG.

¹Let God rise up and scatter his enemies;

let those who hate him run away from him.

²Blow them away as smoke

is driven away by the wind.

As wax melts before a fire,

let the wicked be destroyed before God.

³But those who do right should be glad

and should rejoice before God;

they should be happy and glad.

⁴Sing to God; sing praises to his name.

Prepare the way for him

who rides through the desert,

whose name is the LORD.

Rejoice before him.

⁵God is in his holy Temple.

He is a father to orphans,

and he defends the widows.

⁶God gives the lonely a home.

He leads prisoners out with joy,

but those who turn against God will live in a dry land.

⁷God, you led your people out

when you marched through the desert.

Selah

⁸The ground shook

and the sky poured down rain

before God, the God of Mount Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

⁹God, you sent much rain;

you refreshed your tired land.

¹⁰Your people settled there.

God, in your goodness

you took care of the poor.

¹¹The Lord gave the command,

and a great army told the news:

¹²“Kings and their armies run away.

In camp they divide the wealth taken in war.

¹³Those who stayed by the campfires

will share the riches taken in battle.”

¹⁴The Almighty scattered kings

like snow on Mount Zalmon.

¹⁵The mountains of Bashan are high;

the mountains of Bashan have many peaks.

¹⁶Why do you mountains with many peaks look with envy

on the mountain that God chose for his home?

The LORD will live there forever.

¹⁷God comes with millions of chariots;

the Lord comes from Mount Sinai to his holy place.

¹⁸When you went up to the heights,

you led a parade of captives.

You received gifts from the people,

even from those who turned against you.

And the LORD God will live there.

¹⁹Praise the Lord, God our Savior,

who helps us every day.

Selah

²⁰Our God is a God who saves us;

the LORD God saves us from death.

²¹God will crush his enemies’ heads,

the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.

²²The Lord said, “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan;

I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.

²³Then you can stick your feet in their blood,

and your dogs can lick their share.”

²⁴God, people have seen your victory march;

God my King marched into the holy place.

²⁵The singers are in front and the instruments are behind.

In the middle are the girls with the tambourines.

²⁶Praise God in the meeting place;

praise the LORD in the gathering of Israel.

²⁷There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.

And there are the leaders of Judah with their group.

There also are the leaders of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

²⁸God, order up your power;

show the mighty power you have used for us before.

²⁹Kings will bring their wealth to you,

to your Temple in Jerusalem.

³⁰Punish Egypt, the beast in the tall grass along the river.

Punish the leaders of nations, those bulls among the cows.

Defeated, they will bring you their silver.

Scatter those nations that love war.

³¹Messengers will come from Egypt;

the people of Cush will pray to God.

³²Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;

sing praises to the Lord.

Selah

³³Sing to the one who rides through the skies, which are from long ago.

He speaks with a thundering voice.

³⁴Announce that God is powerful.

He rules over Israel,

and his power is in the skies.

³⁵God, you are wonderful in your Temple.

The God of Israel gives his people strength and power.

Praise God!

Title: The Holy Bible, New Century Version

The Majesty of the Lord

Psalm 93

¹The LORD is king. He is clothed in majesty.

The LORD is clothed in majesty

and armed with strength.

The world is set,

and it cannot be moved.

²LORD, your kingdom was set up long ago;

you are everlasting.

³LORD, the seas raise,

the seas raise their voice.

The seas raise up their pounding waves.

⁴The sound of the water is loud;

the ocean waves are powerful,

but the LORD above is much greater.

⁵LORD, your laws will stand forever.

Your Temple will be holy forevermore.

Title: The Holy Bible, New Century Version

The Lord Saves, Idols Do Not

Psalm 135

¹Praise the LORD!

Praise the name of the LORD;

praise him, you servants of the LORD,

²you who stand in the LORD’S Temple

and in the Temple courtyards.

³Praise the LORD, because he is good;

sing praises to him, because it is pleasant.

⁴The LORD has chosen the people of Jacob for himself;

he has chosen the people of Israel for his very own.

⁵I know that the LORD is great.

Our Lord is greater than all the gods.

⁶The LORD does what he pleases,

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and the deep oceans.

⁷He brings the clouds from the ends of the earth.

He sends the lightning with the rain.

He brings out the wind from his storehouses.

⁸He destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt

the firstborn of both people and animals.

⁹He did many signs and miracles in Egypt

against the king and his servants.

¹⁰He defeated many nations

and killed powerful kings:

¹¹Sihon king of the Amorites,

Og king of Bashan,

and all the kings of Canaan.

¹²Then he gave their land as a gift,

a gift to his people, the Israelites.

¹³LORD, your name is everlasting;

LORD, you will be remembered forever.

¹⁴The LORD defends his people

and has mercy on his servants.

¹⁵The idols of other nations are made of silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

¹⁶They have mouths, but they cannot speak.

They have eyes, but they cannot see.

¹⁷They have ears, but they cannot hear.

They have no breath in their mouths.

¹⁸People who make idols will be like them,

and so will those who trust them.

¹⁹Family of Israel, praise the LORD.

Family of Aaron, praise the LORD.

²⁰Family of Levi, praise the LORD.

You who respect the LORD should praise him.

²¹You people of Jerusalem, praise the LORD on Mount Zion.

Praise the LORD!