PSALM 75*
God the Judge of the World
I
we call upon your name,
we declare your wonderful deeds.
[You said:]*
I will judge fairly.
I make steady its pillars.”a
Selah
II
to the wicked: “Do not raise your horns!*
Do not speak with a stiff neck!”c
not from the wilderness or the mountains,d
who brings some low and raises others high.e
foaming wine, fully spiced.*
When God pours it out,
they will drain it even to the dregs;
all the wicked of the earth will drink.f
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
“I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”
* [Psalm 75] The psalmist gives thanks and rejoices (Ps 75:2, 10) for the direct intervention of God, which is promised in two oracles (Ps 75:3–4, 11). Expecting that divine intervention, the psalmist warns evildoers to repent (Ps 75:5–9).
* [75:2] You said: supplied for clarity here and in Ps 75:11. The translation assumes in both places that the psalmist is citing an oracle of God.
* [75:5] Do not raise your horns!: the horn is the symbol of strength; to raise one’s horn is to exalt one’s own power as Ps 75:5 explains.
* [75:9] A cup: “the cup of God’s wrath” is the punishment inflicted on the wicked, cf. Is 51:17; Jer 25:15–29; 49:12; Ez 23:31–33. Spiced: lit., “a mixed drink”; spices or drugs were added to wine, cf. Prv 9:2, 5.
a. [75:4] Ps 46:3; 60:4; 93:1; 96:10; 104:5; 1 Sm 2:8; Is 24:19.
b. [75:5] 1 Sm 2:3; Zec 2:1–4.
f. [75:9] Ps 60:5; Jb 21:20; Is 51:17, 21–22; Jer 25:15ff; Hab 2:16.
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