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Psalm 74

1  O God, why have you utterly disowned us? ♦︎
   Why does your anger burn
      against the sheep of your pasture?
2  Remember your congregation that you purchased of old, ♦︎
   the tribe you redeemed for your own possession,
      and Mount Zion where you dwelt.
3  Hasten your steps towards the endless ruins, ♦︎
   where the enemy has laid waste all your sanctuary.
4  Your adversaries roared in the place of your worship; ♦︎
   they set up their banners as tokens of victory.
5  Like men brandishing axes on high in a thicket of trees, ♦︎
   all her carved work they smashed down with hatchet and hammer.
6  They set fire to your holy place; ♦︎
   they defiled the dwelling place of your name
      and razed it to the ground.
7  They said in their heart, ‘Let us make havoc of them altogether,’ ♦︎
   and they burned down all the sanctuaries of God in the land.
8  There are no signs to see, not one prophet left, ♦︎
   not one among us who knows how long.
9  How long, O God, will the adversary scoff? ♦︎
   Shall the enemy blaspheme your name for ever?
10  Why have you withheld your hand ♦︎
   and hidden your right hand in your bosom?
11  Yet God is my king from of old, ♦︎
   who did deeds of salvation in the midst of the earth.
12  It was you that divided the sea by your might ♦︎
   and shattered the heads of the dragons on the waters;
13  You alone crushed the heads of Leviathan ♦︎
   and gave him to the beasts of the desert for food.
14  You cleft the rock for fountain and flood; ♦︎
   you dried up ever-flowing rivers.
15  Yours is the day, yours also the night; ♦︎
   you established the moon and the sun.
16  You set all the bounds of the earth; ♦︎
   you fashioned both summer and winter.
17  Remember now, Lord, how the enemy scoffed, ♦︎
   how a foolish people despised your name.
18  Do not give to wild beasts the soul of your turtle dove; ♦︎
   forget not the lives of your poor for ever.
19  Look upon your creation,
      for the earth is full of darkness, ♦︎
   full of the haunts of violence.
20  Let not the oppressed turn away ashamed, ♦︎
   but let the poor and needy praise your name.
21  Arise, O God, maintain your own cause; ♦︎
   remember how fools revile you all the day long.
22  Forget not the clamour of your adversaries, ♦︎
   the tumult of your enemies that ascends continually.

David Plays the Lyre for Saul

14 Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵And Saul’s servants said to him, ‘See now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skilful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will feel better.’ ¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, ‘Provide for me someone who can play well, and bring him to me.’ ¹⁸One of the young men answered, ‘I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilful in playing, a man of valour, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him.’ ¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, ‘Send me your son David who is with the sheep.’ ²⁰Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by his son David to Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul, and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armour-bearer. ²²Saul sent to Jesse, saying, ‘Let David remain in my service, for he has found favour in my sight.’ ²³And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

The Thousand Years

20Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. ²He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, ³and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.

4 Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus^* and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.