Song of Trust in God’s Provision
1 In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city!
He appoints salvation as walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter:
the one which remains faithful.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for God, the Lord, is an everlasting Rock.
5 For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city.
He lays it low.
He lays it low to the ground.
He brings it to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down,
the feet of the poor
and the steps of the needy.”
God’s People get Vindication
7 The way of the just is uprightness.
You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.
8 Yes, in the way of your judgments, O Lord,
we have waited for you.
Your name and your renown are the desire of our heart.
9 With all my soul I have desired you in the night.
Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly,
for when your judgments are on the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Even if favor is shown to the wicked,
yet he will not learn righteousness.
In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully,
and will not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, your hand is lifted up, yet they do not see,
but they will see your zeal for the people,
and be disappointed.
Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.
12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
for you have also done all our work for us.
13 Lord our God, other masters besides you have had dominion over us,
but your name alone will we acknowledge.
14 The dead shall not live.
The departed spirits shall not rise.
Therefore you have visited and destroyed them,
and caused all memory of them to perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O Lord.
You have increased the nation!
You are glorified!
You have enlarged all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, in trouble they have sought you.
They poured out a prayer
when your chastening was upon them.
17 Just like a woman with child,
who draws near the time of her delivery,
writhes and cries out in pain,
so we have been before you, O Lord.
18 We have been with child.
We have been in pain.
We gave birth, it seems, only to wind.
We have not accomplished any salvation on the earth,
nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Your dead shall live.
My dead bodies shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust,
for your dew is like the dew of herbs,
and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.
20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms,
and shut your doors behind you.
Hide yourself for a little moment,
until the indignation is past.
21 For behold, the Lord is coming from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth also will disclose her blood,
and will no longer cover her slain.