November 26, 2026

Psalms73

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 Truly God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had nearly slipped.

3 For I was envious of the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no pangs until death;

their bodies are fat and sleek.

5 They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;

violence covers them as a garment.

7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.

8 They scoff and speak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

9 They set their mouths against the heavens,

and their tongue struts through the earth.

10 Therefore his people turn back to them,

and find no fault in them.

11 And they say, “How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

12 Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

14 For all the day long I have been stricken

and rebuked every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their end.

18 Truly you set them in slippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

19 How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!

20 Like a dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

21 When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

22 I was brutish and ignorant;

I was like a beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

28 But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

that I may tell of all your works.

Psalms74

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil of Asaph.

1 O God, why do you cast us off forever?

Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,

which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!

Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.

3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;

they set up their own signs for signs.

5 They were like those who swing axes

in a forest of trees.

6 And all its carved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

7 They set your sanctuary on fire;

they profaned the dwelling place of your name,

bringing it down to the ground.

8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9 We do not see our signs;

there is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?

Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

12 Yet God my King is from of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 You divided the sea by your might;

you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.

14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;

you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

15 You split open springs and brooks;

you dried up ever-flowing streams.

16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;

you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.

17 You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;

you have made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,

and a foolish people reviles your name.

19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;

do not forget the life of your poor forever.

20 Have regard for the covenant,

for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

21 Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;

let the poor and needy praise your name.

22 Arise, O God, defend your cause;

remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,

the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

Psalms75

God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1 We give thanks to you, O God;

we give thanks, for your name is near.

We recount your wondrous deeds.

2 “At the set time that I appoint

I will judge with equity.

3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,

it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah

4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’

and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;

5 do not lift up your horn on high,

or speak with haughty neck.’”

6 For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,

7 but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup

with foaming wine, well mixed,

and he pours out from it,

and all the wicked of the earth

shall drain it down to the dregs.

9 But I will declare it forever;

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,

but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Psalms76

Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

1 In Judah God is known;

his name is great in Israel.

2 His abode has been established in Salem,

his dwelling place in Zion.

3 There he broke the flashing arrows,

the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

4 Glorious are you, more majestic

than the mountains full of prey.

5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;

they sank into sleep;

all the men of war

were unable to use their hands.

6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,

both rider and horse lay stunned.

7 But you, you are to be feared!

Who can stand before you

when once your anger is roused?

8 From the heavens you uttered judgment;

the earth feared and was still,

9 when God arose to establish judgment,

to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;

the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.

11 Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;

let all around him bring gifts

to him who is to be feared,

12 who cuts off the spirit of princes,

who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

Psalms77

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

1 I cry aloud to God,

aloud to God, and he will hear me.

2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul refuses to be comforted.

3 When I remember God, I moan;

when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5 I consider the days of old,

the years long ago.

6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;

let me meditate in my heart.”

Then my spirit made a diligent search:

7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,

and never again be favorable?

8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?

Are his promises at an end for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,

to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

12 I will ponder all your work,

and meditate on your mighty deeds.

13 Your way, O God, is holy.

What god is great like our God?

14 You are the God who works wonders;

you have made known your might among the peoples.

15 You with your arm redeemed your people,

the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 When the waters saw you, O God,

when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

indeed, the deep trembled.

17 The clouds poured out water;

the skies gave forth thunder;

your arrows flashed on every side.

18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

your lightnings lighted up the world;

the earth trembled and shook.

19 Your way was through the sea,

your path through the great waters;

yet your footprints were unseen.

20 You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

1 Peter4

Stewards of God’s Grace

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Suffering as a Christian

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.