(Choir note: Sing with feeling. A David psalm.)
I’m holding nothing back.
Every beat of my heart says,
“Thank you, Yahweh!”
Every beat counts out one more
Wonderful thing you’ve done.
My future is full of happiness,
For I will keep growing in joy,
Spilling over in song
As I praise your name, Yahweh the Greatest.
My haters beat a hasty retreat,
Stumbling over themselves
In panic as they perish.
I went to court
And your verdict was in my favor,
For you are the Just Judge upon your throne.
Your decree put twisted nations and people in their place.
You scratched out their names
As if they’d never existed.
You have so thoroughly wiped them out,
No trace,
No artifact,
No memory
Of them remains.
They’re gone like the breeze,
But Yahweh remains forever.
He sits on his throne as the Judge-King.
He rules the world with goodness and justice.
All people can trust he will judge them fairly.
Victims find protection in Yahweh.
He’s a safe house from their trouble.
To know you is to trust you, Yahweh.
You don’t walk away from those who run to you.
Yahweh’s throne is in Zion,
The perfect place to sing his praises.
People everywhere need to hear
How good he’s been.
He doesn’t forget the bereaved.
He doesn’t shrug off the heart-cries
Of the victimized.
I’m surrounded by haters.
They’ve pushed me to death’s door.
Be moved by your affection for me.
Then I’ll stand at Zion’s door,
Singing your praises,
Rejoicing in your rescue.
The trap set by the nations
Has sprung shut on them.
The web they spun
Snared them.
Yahweh has revealed himself
As Judge,
Executing justice.
Trouble-makers get trapped
By their own tricks.
The grave will welcome them,
These people who live
As if God doesn’t exist.
They may forget God,
But the needy won’t be forgotten.
The vulnerable
Won’t be preyed on forever.
Arise, Yahweh,
Don’t let those guys get away with it.
All rise
Before the Judge of all people.
Let them come to grips
With their mortality.
Yahweh, let that leave them
Trembling in their boots.
[Note: The accompanying image of the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones doesn’t suggest that Yahweh’s throne is in any way like it or that he rules or dispenses justice like the rulers in the HBO show or the George R.R. Martin books. But it does suggest power, authority, and the source of law and judgment.]