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    Psalm 71  
     
1
  In you, O Lord, do I seek refuge; •
    let me never be put to shame.
     
2
  In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; •
    incline your ear to me and save me.
     
3
  Be for me a stronghold to which I may ever resort; •
    send out to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
     
4
  Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, •
    from the grasp of the evildoer and the oppressor.
     
5
  For you are my hope, O Lord God, •
    my confidence, even from my youth.
     
6
  Upon you have I leaned from my birth,
    when you drew me from my mother's womb; •
    my praise shall be always of you.
     
7
  I have become a portent to many, •
    but you are my refuge and my strength.
     
8
  Let my mouth be full of your praise •
    and your glory all the day long.
     
9
  Do not cast me away in the time of old age; •
    forsake me not when my strength fails.
     
10
  For my enemies are talking against me, •
    and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together.
     
11
  They say, 'God has forsaken him;
    pursue him and take him, •
    because there is none to deliver him.'
     
12
  O God, be not far from me; •
    come quickly to help me, O my God.
     
13
  Let those who are against me
    be put to shame and disgrace; •
    let those who seek to do me evil
    be covered with scorn and reproach.
     
     
14
  But as for me I will hope continually •
    and will praise you more and more.
     
15
  My mouth shall tell of your righteousness
    and salvation all the day long, •
    for I know no end of the telling.
     
16
  I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord God; •
    I will recall your righteousness, yours alone.
     
17
  O God, you have taught me since I was young, •
    and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.
     
18
  Forsake me not, O God,
    when I am old and grey-headed, •
    till I make known your deeds to the next generation
    and your power to all that are to come.
     
19
  Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens; •
    in the great things you have done, who is like you, O God?
     
20
  What troubles and adversities you have shown me, •
    and yet you will turn and refresh me
    and bring me from the deep of the earth again.
     
21
  Increase my honour; •
    turn again and comfort me.
     
     
22
  Therefore will I praise you upon the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God; •
    I will sing to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
     
23
  My lips will sing out as I play to you, •
    and so will my soul, which you have redeemed.
     
24
  My tongue also will tell of your righteousness all the day long, •
    for they shall be shamed and disgraced
    who sought to do me evil.
     
    Psalm 72  
     
1
  Give the king your judgements, O God, •
    and your righteousness to the son of a king.
     
2
  Then shall he judge your people righteously •
    and your poor with justice.
     
3
  May the mountains bring forth peace, •
    and the little hills righteousness for the people.
     
4
  May he defend the poor among the people, •
    deliver the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
     
5
  May he live as long as the sun and moon endure, •
    from one generation to another.
     
6
  May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, •
    like the showers that water the earth.
     
7
  In his time shall righteousness flourish, •
    and abundance of peace
    till the moon shall be no more.
     
8
  May his dominion extend from sea to sea •
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
     
9
  May his foes kneel before him •
    and his enemies lick the dust.
     
10
  The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute; •
    the kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring gifts.
     
11
  All kings shall fall down before him; •
    all nations shall do him service.
     
12
  For he shall deliver the poor that cry out, •
    the needy and those who have no helper.
     
13
  He shall have pity on the weak and poor; •
    he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
     
14
  He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, •
    and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
     
15
  Long may he live;
    unto him may be given gold from Sheba; •
    may prayer be made for him continually
    and may they bless him all the day long.
     
16
  May there be abundance of grain on the earth,
    standing thick upon the hilltops; •
    may its fruit flourish like Lebanon
    and its grain grow like the grass of the field.
     
17
  May his name remain for ever
    and be established as long as the sun endures; •
    may all nations be blest in him
    and call him blessed.
     
     
18
  Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, •
    who alone does wonderful things.
     
19
  And blessed be his glorious name for ever. •
    May all the earth be filled with his glory.
    Amen. Amen.
     
    Psalm 73  
     
1
  Truly, God is loving to Israel, •
    to those who are pure in heart.
     
2
  Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone; •
    my steps had well-nigh slipped.
     
3
  For I was envious of the proud; •
    I saw the wicked in such prosperity;
     
4
  For they suffer no pains •
    and their bodies are sleek and sound;
     
5
  They come to no misfortune like other folk; •
    nor are they plagued as others are;
     
6
  Therefore pride is their necklace •
    and violence wraps them like a cloak.
     
7
  Their iniquity comes from within; •
    the conceits of their hearts overflow.
     
8
  They scoff, and speak only of evil; •
    they talk of oppression from on high.
     
9
  They set their mouth against the heavens, •
    and their tongue ranges round the earth;
     
10
  And so the people turn to them •
    and find in them no fault.
     
11
  They say, 'How should God know? •
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?'
     
12
  Behold, these are the wicked; •
    ever at ease, they increase their wealth.
     
13
  Is it in vain that I cleansed my heart •
    and washed my hands in innocence?
     
14
  All day long have I been stricken •
    and chastened every morning.
     
15
  If I had said, 'I will speak as they do,' •
    I should have betrayed the generation of your children.
     
16
  Then thought I to understand this, •
    but it was too hard for me,
     
17
  Until I entered the sanctuary of God •
    and understood the end of the wicked:
     
18
  How you set them in slippery places; •
    you cast them down to destruction.
     
19
  How suddenly do they come to destruction, •
    perish and come to a fearful end!
     
20
  As with a dream when one awakes, •
    so, Lord, when you arise you will despise their image.
     
21
  When my heart became embittered •
    and I was pierced to the quick,
     
22
  I was but foolish and ignorant; •
    I was like a brute beast in your presence.
     
23
  Yet I am always with you; •
    you hold me by my right hand.
     
24
  You will guide me with your counsel •
    and afterwards receive me with glory.
     
25
  Whom have I in heaven but you? •
    And there is nothing upon earth that I desire
    in comparison with you.
     
26
  Though my flesh and my heart fail me, •
    God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
     
27
  Truly, those who forsake you will perish; •
    you will put to silence the faithless who betray you.
     
28
  But it is good for me to draw near to God; •
    in the Lord God have I made my refuge,
    that I may tell of all your works.
     
    Psalm 74  
     
1
  O God, why have you utterly disowned us? •
    Why does your anger burn
    against the sheep of your pasture?
     
2
  Remember your congregation that you purchased of old, •
    the tribe you redeemed for your own possession,
    and Mount Zion where you dwelt.
     
3
  Hasten your steps towards the endless ruins, •
    where the enemy has laid waste all your sanctuary.
     
4
  Your adversaries roared in the place of your worship; •
    they set up their banners as tokens of victory.
     
5
  Like men brandishing axes on high in a thicket of trees, •
    all her carved work they smashed down with hatchet and hammer.
     
6
  They set fire to your holy place; •
    they defiled the dwelling place of your name
    and razed it to the ground.
     
7
  They said in their heart, 'Let us make havoc of them altogether,' •
    and they burned down all the sanctuaries of God in the land.
     
8
  There are no signs to see, not one prophet left, •
    not one among us who knows how long.
     
9
  How long, O God, will the adversary scoff? •
    Shall the enemy blaspheme your name for ever?
     
10
  Why have you withheld your hand •
    and hidden your right hand in your bosom?
     
     
11
  Yet God is my king from of old, •
    who did deeds of salvation in the midst of the earth.
     
12
  It was you that divided the sea by your might •
    and shattered the heads of the dragons on the waters;
     
13
  You alone crushed the heads of Leviathan •
    and gave him to the beasts of the desert for food.
     
14
  You cleft the rock for fountain and flood; •
    you dried up ever-flowing rivers.
     
15
  Yours is the day, yours also the night; •
    you established the moon and the sun.
     
16
  You set all the bounds of the earth; •
    you fashioned both summer and winter.
     
     
17
  Remember now, Lord, how the enemy scoffed, •
    how a foolish people despised your name.
     
18
  Do not give to wild beasts the soul of your turtle dove; •
    forget not the lives of your poor for ever.
     
19
  Look upon your creation,
    for the earth is full of darkness, •
    full of the haunts of violence.
     
20
  Let not the oppressed turn away ashamed, •
    but let the poor and needy praise your name.
     
21
  Arise, O God, maintain your own cause; •
    remember how fools revile you all the day long.
     
22
  Forget not the clamour of your adversaries, •
    the tumult of your enemies that ascends continually.
     
    Psalm 75  
     
1
  We give you thanks, O God, we give you thanks, •
    for your name is near, as your wonderful deeds declare.
     
2
  'I will seize the appointed time; •
    I, the Lord, will judge with equity.
     
3
  'Though the earth reels and all that dwell in her, •
    it is I that hold her pillars steady.
     
4
  'To the boasters I say, "Boast no longer," •
    and to the wicked, "Do not lift up your horn.
     
5
  ' "Do not lift up your horn on high; •
    do not speak with a stiff neck." '
     
6
  For neither from the east nor from the west, •
    nor yet from the wilderness comes exaltation.
     
7
  But God alone is judge; •
    he puts down one and raises up another.
     
8
  For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, •
    well mixed and full of foaming wine.
     
9
  He pours it out for all the wicked of the earth; •
    they shall drink it, and drain the dregs.
     
10
  But I will rejoice for ever •
    and make music to the God of Jacob.
     
11
  All the horns of the wicked will I break, •
    but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
     
© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004
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