(Worship leader: This David psalm is a great song.)
Get up, God!
Blast those bullies!
Send them running home to their mommies.
Blow them away like smoke.
Melt them into a smoking mess,
Like butter on a stove.
But get the party started
For the kind-hearted,
Justice-minded.
Let them laugh and dance and sing
Before you, God.
Let loose your lungs!
Sing the praise of God’s name.
Go all out for the Cloud Rider.
Find your joy in him.
What’s his name?
It’s Yahweh.
He’s a father
To those whose fathers are absent.
He’s a bodyguard
For single moms.
This is the God we worship.
He puts lonely people into families.
He releases victims of human trafficking
And they burst into song.
But there’s no such exodus
For those who reject him.
They wander in the wasteland.
Way back when
You led your people, God,
Marching them through the desert,
You cracked the earth,
Split the skies,
Poured down rain.
All for you, God of Sinai.
All for you, God of Israel.
You showered down rain, O God,
Refreshing your weary inheritance.
Your people settled in the Promised Land.
Out of your rich generosity,
The poor were poor no more.
The word
Comes from Yahweh.
A vast crowd of women echo it.
“Kings and your armies, beat it!
Women will divide up the loot you leave behind.
While you run away
With no place to stay,
My gentle, dove-like ladies,
Will wear your silver and gold
In beauty.”
When Mighty-as-a-Mountain
Tossed those kings around,
The dead looked like freshly fallen snow
On Mount Zalmon.
And you, Mount Bashan, magically majestic.
Yes, you, Mount Bashan, rugged and ridged.
Why do your peaks turn purple
With envy
As you gaze on the one Mountain
God has chosen as the seat of his kingdom,
The Mountain Yahweh has made
His forever home.
Count God’s chariots.
There are tens of thousands of them.
No! Thousands of thousands!
Yahweh has marched from
Mount Sinai to Mount Zion’s sanctuary.
When you ascended the heights,
Captives paraded before you,
Gifts poured in for you,
Even from those who had rejected you.
And you, Yahweh-God, made Zion your home.
Praise Yahweh!
Praise God our Savior!
Every single day without fail,
He bears our burdens.
Unlike so-called gods who let people down,
Our God saves us.
Escape from death’s fierce jaws
Comes from Kingly Yahweh.
He’ll smash heads,
Crushing the skulls of those skilled at sin.
Yahweh says,
“I’ll drag them down from Bashan.
I’ll dredge them up from the bottom of the sea.
You’ll walk a road painted red with blood,
Dogs licking at your crimson boots.”
Here comes God’s procession,
The people of my God and King,
Marching into the sanctuary.
Singers come first,
Then musicians.
Dancers next.
The crowd is thick and eager to praise God,
This great gathering of Israel.
The smallest tribe leads them all,
Benjamin,
Followed by the largest,
Judah.
Then Zebulun and Naphtali and so on,
All of them princely people.
Flex your muscles, God.
Show us just how strong you are
Like you did before.
There in your Zion temple,
Kings will kneel and pay tribute.
Beat down these beastly people,
These bullies among the gentler nations.
Make them beasts of burden,
Hauling their tribute to you.
Bring to their knees
Nations proud of their military might.
Egypt will beg,
Cush will grovel before God.
Come, join in the song to God,
You nations around the earth.
Make Yahweh your song.
He’s the true Cloud Rider,
His voice thundering across ancient skies.
Broadcast God’s power,
Monarch of Israel,
Master of the skies.
Here we are in your Zion sanctuary
And I’m in awe.
All this power,
All this strength,
And it’s all for us,
All in service of your people.
The only thing I can say is: Wow!
What a God you are!