Psalms 74; Psalms 75; Psalms 76; Romans 9:16-33

1 Why, O God, have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep in your care?

2 Remember your congregation. Long ago you made it your own. You bought this tribe to be your possession. This tribe is Mount Zion, where you have made your home.

3 Turn your steps toward these pathetic ruins. The enemy has destroyed everything in the holy temple.

4 Your opponents have roared inside your meeting place. They have set up their own emblems as symbols.

5 Starting from its entrance, they hacked away like a woodcutter in a forest.

6 They smashed all its carved paneling with axes and hatchets.

7 They burned your holy place to the ground. They dishonored the place where you live among us.

8 They said to themselves, "We will crush them." They burned every meeting place of God in the land.

9 We no longer see miraculous signs. There are no prophets anymore. No one knows how long this will last.

10 How long, O God, will the enemy insult us? Will the enemy despise you forever?

11 Why do you hold back your hand, especially your right hand? Take your hands out of your pockets. Destroy your enemies!

12 And yet, from long ago God has been my king, the one who has been victorious throughout the earth.

13 You stirred up the sea with your own strength. You smashed the heads of sea monsters in the water.

14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave them to the creatures of the desert for food.

15 You opened the springs and brooks. You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

16 The day and the night are yours. You set the moon and the sun in their places.

17 You determined all the boundaries of the earth. You created summer and winter.

18 Remember how the enemy insulted you, O LORD. Remember how an entire nation of godless fools despised your name.

19 Do not hand over the soul of your dove to wild animals. Do not forget the life of your oppressed people forever.

20 Consider your promise because every dark corner of the land is filled with violence.

21 Do not let oppressed people come back in disgrace. Let weak and needy people praise your name.

22 Arise, O God! Fight for your own cause! Remember how godless fools insult you all day long.

23 Do not forget the shouting of your opponents. Do not forget the uproar made by those who attack you.

1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks. You are present, and your miracles confirm that.

2 When I choose the right time, I will judge fairly.

3 When the earth and everyone who lives on it begin to melt, I will make its foundations as solid as rock. Selah

4 I said to those who brag, "Don't brag," and to wicked people, "Don't raise your weapons.

5 Don't raise your weapons so proudly or speak so defiantly."

6 The [authority] to reward someone does not [come] from the east, from the west, or [even] from the wilderness.

7 God alone is the judge. He punishes one person and rewards another.

8 A cup is in the LORD's hand. (Its foaming wine is thoroughly mixed with spices.) He will empty it, [and] all the wicked people on earth will have to drink every last drop.

9 But I will speak [about your miracles] forever. I will make music to praise the God of Jacob.

10 I will destroy all the weapons of wicked people, but the weapons of righteous people will be raised proudly.

1 God is known in Judah. His name is great in Israel.

2 His tent is in Salem. His home is in Zion.

3 There he destroyed flaming arrows, shields, swords, and weapons of war. Selah

4 You are the radiant one. You are more majestic than the ancient mountains.

5 Brave people were robbed. They died. None of the warriors were able to lift a hand.

6 At your stern warning, O God of Jacob, chariot riders and horses were put to sleep.

7 You alone must be feared! Who can stand in your presence when you become angry?

8 From heaven you announced a verdict. The earth was fearful and silent

9 when you rose to judge, O God, when you rose to save every oppressed person on earth. Selah

10 Even angry mortals will praise you. You will wear the remainder of [their] anger.

11 Make vows to the LORD your God, and keep them. Let everyone around him bring gifts to the one who must be feared.

12 He cuts short the lives of influential people. He terrifies the kings of the earth.

16 Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

17 For example, Scripture says to Pharaoh, "I put you here for this reason: to demonstrate my power through you and to spread my name throughout the earth."

18 Therefore, if God wants to be kind to anyone, he will be. If he wants to make someone stubborn, he will.

19 You may ask me, "Why does God still find fault with anyone? Who can resist whatever God wants to do?"

20 Who do you think you are to talk back to God like that? Can an object that was made say to its maker, "Why did you make me like this?"

21 A potter has the right to do whatever he wants with his clay. He can make something for a special occasion or something for everyday use from the same lump of clay.

22 If God wants to demonstrate his anger and reveal his power, he can do it. But can't he be extremely patient with people who are objects of his anger because they are headed for destruction?

23 Can't God also reveal the riches of his glory to people who are objects of his mercy and who he had already prepared for glory?

24 This is what God did for us whom he called--whether we are Jews or not.

25 As God says in Hosea: "Those who are not my people I will call my people. Those who are not loved I will call my loved ones.

26 Wherever they were told, 'You are not my people,' they will be called children of the living God."

27 Isaiah also says about Israel: "Although the descendants of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, only a few will be saved.

28 The Lord will carry out his sentence on the land, completely and decisively."

29 This is what Isaiah predicted: "If the Lord of Armies hadn't left us some descendants, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah."

30 So what can we say? We can say that non-Jewish people who were not trying to gain God's approval won his approval, an approval based on faith.

31 The people of Israel tried to gain God's approval by obeying Moses' Teachings, but they did not reach their goal.

32 Why? They didn't rely on faith to gain God's approval, but they relied on their own efforts. They stumbled over the rock that trips people.

33 As Scripture says, "I am placing a rock in Zion that people trip over, a large rock that people find offensive. Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed."