Chapter 76
This
psalm contains the prophecy of when the vast army of Sennacherib was seized
with a deep slumber that rendered the hands of the soldiers powerless to raise
their weapons; thus did they all fall in battle.
1. For the Conductor,
with instrumental music, a psalm by Asaph, a song. 2. G-d is known in Judah,
His Name is great in Israel. 3. His Tabernacle was in Shalem,1 and His dwelling place in Zion. 4. There He broke
the flying arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword and battle-forever. 5. You
are illumination, mightier than the mountains of prey. 6. The stout-hearted
were without sense, they slept their sleep, and all the warriors were unable to
find their strength. 7. At Your rebuke, O G-d of Jacob, chariot and horse were
stunned. 8. You, awesome are You! Who can stand before You once You are
enraged. 9. From heaven You let the verdict be heard; the earth feared and was
still, 10. when G-d rose to pass judgment, to save all the humble of the earth
forever. 11. The anger of man will cause us to thank You;2 You will restrain the residue of wrath. 12. Make
vows to the Lord your G-d and fulfill them; all who surround Him will bring
tribute to the Awesome One. 13. He cuts down the spirit of nobles; He is
awesome to the kings of the earth.
Chapter 77
1. For the Conductor, on
the yedutun,1 by Asaph, a psalm. 2. [I raise] my voice to G-d and
cry out; [I raise] my voice to G-d and He will listen to me. 3. On the day of
my distress I sought my Lord. My wound oozes at night and does not abate; my
soul refuses to be consoled. 4. I remember G-d and I moan; I speak and my
spirit faints, Selah. 5. You grasped my eyelids; I am broken, I cannot speak.
6. I think of olden days, of ancient years. 7. During the night I recall my
music, I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches: 8. Is it for eternity
that my Lord forsakes [me], nevermore to be appeased? 9. Has His kindness
ceased forever? Has He sealed the decree for all generations? 10. Has G-d
forgotten mercy? Has He in anger restrained His compassion forever? 11. I said,
"It is to ter- rify me that the right hand of the Most High changes.” 12.
I remember the deeds of Yah, when I remember Your wonders of long ago. 13. I
meditate on all Your works, and speak of Your deeds. 14. O G-d, Your way is in
sanctity; what G-d is as great as G-d? 15. You are the G-d Who works wonders;
You make Your might known among the nations. 16. You redeemed Your people with
a mighty arm, the children of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. 17. The waters2 saw You, O G-d, the waters saw You and trembled;
even the deep shuddered. 18. The clouds streamed water, the heavens sounded
forth, even Your arrows flew about. 19. The sound of Your thunder was in the
rolling wind; lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. 20.
Your way was through the sea, Your path through the mighty waters; and Your
footsteps were not known.3 21. You led Your people like a flock, by the hand of
Moses and Aaron
Chapter 78
This
psalm recounts all the miracles that G-d wrought for Israel, from the exodus of
Egypt to David's becoming king over Israel.
1. A maskil1 by Asaph. Listen, my people, to my teaching; incline
your ear to the words of my mouth. 2. I will open my mouth with a parable, I
will utter riddles of long ago; 3. that which we have heard and know [to be
true], and that our fathers have told us. 4. We will not withhold from their
children, telling the final generation the praises of the Lord, and His might,
and the wonders He has performed. 5. He established a testimony in Jacob, and
set down the Torah in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to make known to
their children, 6. so that the last generation shall know; children yet to be
born will rise and tell their children, 7. and they shall put their hope in G-d,
and not forget the works of the Almighty; and they shall guard His commandments.
8. And they shall not be like their fathers, a wayward and rebellious
generation, a generation that did not set its heart straight, and whose spirit
was not faithful to G-d. 9. The children of Ephraim, armed archers, retreated
on the day of battle.2 10. They did not keep the covenant of G-d, and
refused to follow His Torah. 11. They forgot His deeds and His wonders that He
had shown them. 12. He performed wonders before their fathers, in the land of
Egypt, in the field of Zoan.3 13. He split the sea and brought them across; He
erected the waters like a wall. 14. He led them with a cloud by day, and all
night long with the light of fire. 15. He split rocks in the wilderness, and
gave them to drink as if from the abundant depths. 16. And He brought forth
flowing waters from the rock, and caused waters to descend like rivers. 17. Yet
they again continued to sin against Him, to provoke the Most High in the
parched land. 18. And they tested G-d in their hearts, by requesting food for
their craving. 19. They spoke against G-d; they said, "Can G-d set a table
in the wilderness? 20. True, He hit the rock and waters flowed, streams gushed
forth; but can He also give bread? Will He prepare meat for His people?” 21.
And so the Lord heard and was enraged; a fire was kindled against Jacob; wrath,
too, flared against Israel. 22. For they did not believe in G-d and did not
trust in His salvation, 23. [though] He had commanded the skies above, and
opened the doors of heaven. 24. He had rained upon them manna to eat, and given
them grain of heaven. 25. Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them [enough]
provisions to satiate. 26. He drove the east wind through the heaven, and led
the south wind with His might. 27. He rained meat upon them like dust, winged
birds like the sand of seas; 28. and He dropped them inside His camp, around
His dwellings. 29. And they ate and were very satiated, for He brought them
their desire. 30. They were not yet estranged from their craving, their food
was still in their mouths, 31. when the wrath of G-d rose against them and slew
their mighty ones, and brought down the chosen of Israel. 32. Despite this,
they sinned again, and did not believe in His wonders; 33. so He ended their
days in futility, and their years in terror. 34. When He slew them they would
seek Him, they would return and pray to G-d. 35. They remembered that G-d is
their rock, G-d the Most High, their redeemer. 36. But they beguiled Him with
their mouth, and deceived Him with their tongue. 37. Their heart was not
steadfast with Him; they were not faithful to His covenant. 38. Yet He is
compassionate, pardons iniquity, and does not destroy; time and again He turns
away His anger, and does not arouse all His wrath. 39. He remembered that they
were but flesh, a spirit that leaves and does not return. 40. How often they
provoked Him in the desert, and grieved Him in the wasteland! 41. Again and
again they tested G-d, and sought a sign from the Holy One of Israel. 42. They
did not remember His hand, the day He redeemed them from the oppressor; 43.
that He set His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan. 44. He
turned their rivers to blood, and made their flowing waters undrinkable. 45. He
sent against them a mixture of beasts which devoured them, and frogs that
destroyed them. 46. He gave their produce to the grasshopper, and their toil to
the locust. 47. He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamores with
biting frost. 48. He delivered their animals to the hail, and their livestock
to fiery bolts. 49. He sent against them His fierce anger, fury, rage, and
affliction; a delegation of messengers of evil. 50. He leveled a path for His
anger, and did not spare their soul from death; He delivered their animals to
pestilence. 51. He struck every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruit of their
strength in the tents of Ham.4 52. He drove His nation like sheep, and guided them
like a flock in the desert. 53. He led them in security and they did not fear,
for the sea covered their enemies. 54. And He brought them to the boundary of
His holy place, this mountain which His right hand acquired. 55. He drove out
nations before them, and allotted them an inheritance [measured] by the cord;
He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 56. Yet they tested and defied G-d,
the Most High, and did not keep His testimonies. 57. They regressed and
rebelled like their fathers; they turned around like a deceptive bow. 58. They
angered Him with their high altars, and provoked Him with their idols. 59. G-d
heard and was enraged, and He was utterly disgusted with Israel; 60. And He
abandoned the Tabernacle of Shilo, the Tent where He had dwelled among men. 61.
He put His might into captivity, and His glory into the hand of the oppressor.
62. He delivered His nation to the sword, and was enraged with His inheritance.
63. Fire consumed His young men, and His maidens had no marriage song. 64. His
priests fell by the sword, and their widows did not weep.5 65. And the Lord awoke like one who had been asleep,
like a warrior shouting [to sober himself] from wine. 66. He beat His enemies
into retreat, and dealt them eternal disgrace. 67. He was disgusted with the
tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. 68. He chose the tribe
of Judah, Mount Zion which He loves. 69. And He built His Sanctuary [permanent
as] the heavens; like the earth, He established it forever. 70. And He chose
David His servant, and took him from the sheep corrals. 71. From following the
nursing ewes, He brought Him to shepherd His nation Jacob, Israel His
inheritance. 72. And he tended them with the integrity of his heart, and led
them with the skill of his hands.
TIKKUN HAKLALI
Chapter 77
16. You redeemed Your people with Your arm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph forever. 17. The waters perceived You, O G-d, the waters perceived You, they trembled, even the deeps quaked. 18. They poured forth thick waters; the skies let out a voice, even your arrows went abroad.
PSALM 89
27. He will call to Me, 'You are my Father, my G-d, and the Rock of my salvation.'
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