68
1 Let God rise up;
let his enemies scatter, and let those who hate him flee before him.
2 As smoke is driven away, drive them away;
as wax melts before fire, let the wicked perish before God.
3 But let the righteous rejoice and exult before God;
let them be glad with joy.
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name;
raise a highway for the one who rides through the deserts.
The LORD is his name;
exult before him.
5 A father to the fatherless and a judge for widows is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God gives the lonely a home and brings prisoners out into prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah,
8 the earth quaked and the heavens poured rain before God;
Sinai itself quaked before God, the God of Israel.
9 You showered generous rain, God;
when your inheritance was weary, you established it.
10 Your community dwelled in it;
in your goodness you provided for the poor, God.
11 The Lord gives the word;
the women who proclaim the good news are a great host:
12 “The kings of armies flee, they flee!”
And the woman at home divides the spoil.
13 Though you lie among the sheepfolds, the wings of a dove are covered with silver, its pinions with yellow gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings there, it snowed on Zalmon.
15 A mountain of God is Mount Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks is Mount Bashan.
16 Why do you look with envy, mountains of many peaks, at the mountain God desired for his dwelling?
Indeed, the LORD will dwell there forever.
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them;
Sinai is in the sanctuary.
18 You ascended on high and led captives away;
you received gifts from people, even the rebellious, so that the LORD God might dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who bears our burdens day after day, the God of our salvation. Selah.
20 Our God is a God of deliverances;
to the LORD, the Lord, belong escapes from death.
21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of one who goes on in his guilt.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 so that your foot may crush them in blood, and the tongue of your dogs may have its share of the enemies.”
24 They have seen your processions, God, the processions of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers go before, the musicians behind, with young women playing tambourines in their midst.
26 In the assemblies bless God;
bless the LORD, you who spring from Israel’s fountain.
27 There is Benjamin, the youngest, leading them, the princes of Judah with their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 Your God has commanded your strength;
strengthen, God, what you have done for us.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem, kings will bring you gifts.
30 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the peoples, until it bows down with pieces of silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
31 Dignitaries will come from Egypt;
Cush will hasten to stretch its hands toward God.
32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praise to the Lord, Selah,
33 to the one who rides in the ancient heavens of heavens.
Look, he sounds his voice, a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe strength to God;
his majesty is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.
35 Awesome are you, God, from your sanctuaries!
The God of Israel gives strength and might to the people.
Blessed be God!