The Fate of the Wicked

731 No doubt about it! God is good - good to good people, good to the good-hearted. 2 But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. 3 I was looking the other way, looking up to the people 4 At the top, envying the wicked who have it made, 5 Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world. 6 Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence, 7 Pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness. 8 They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words. 9 They're full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace. 10 People actually listen to them - can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words. 11 What's going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody's tending the store. 12 The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches 13 I've been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? 14 A long run of bad luck, that's what - a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.

15 If I'd have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children. 16 Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache . . . 17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture: 18 The slippery road you've put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. 19 In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and - nightmare! 20 We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing. There's nothing to them. And there never was.

21 When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, 22 I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence. 23 I'm still in your presence, but you've taken my hand. 24 You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me. 25 You're all I want in heaven! You're all I want on earth! 26 When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful. 27 Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they'll never be heard from again. 28 But I'm in the very presence of God - oh, how refreshing it is! I've made Lord God my home. God, I'm telling the world what you do!

Comfort from Recalling God's Mighty Deeds

771 I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens. 2 I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord; my life was an open wound that wouldn't heal. When friends said, "Everything will turn out all right," I didn't believe a word they said. 3 I remember God - and shake my head. I bow my head - then wring my hands. 4 I'm awake all night - not a wink of sleep; I can't even say what's bothering me. 5 I go over the days one by one, I ponder the years gone by. 6 I strum my lute all through the night, wondering how to get my life together. 7 Will the Lord walk off and leave us for good? Will he never smile again? 8 Is his love worn threadbare? Has his salvation promise burned out? 9 Has God forgotten his manners? Has he angrily stalked off and left us? 10 "Just my luck," I said. "The High God goes out of business just the moment I need him."

11 Once again I'll go over what God has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders; 12 I'll ponder all the things you've accomplished, and give a long, loving look at your acts. 13 O God! Your way is holy! No god is great like God! 14 You're the God who makes things happen; you showed everyone what you can do - 15 You pulled your people out of the worst kind of trouble, rescued the children of Jacob and Joseph. 16 Ocean saw you in action, God, saw you and trembled with fear; Deep Ocean was scared to death. 17 Clouds belched buckets of rain, Sky exploded with thunder, your arrows flashing this way and that. 18 From Whirlwind came your thundering voice, Lightning exposed the world, Earth reeled and rocked. 19 You strode right through Ocean, walked straight through roaring Ocean, but nobody saw you come or go. 20 Hidden in the hands of Moses and Aaron, You led your people like a flock of sheep.

God's Faithfulness to His Unfaithful People

781 Listen, dear friends, to God's truth, bend your ears to what I tell you. 2 I'm chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I'll let you in on the sweet old truths, 3 Stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother's knee. 4 We're not keeping this to ourselves, we're passing it along to the next generation - God's fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done. 5 He planted a witness in Jacob, set his Word firmly in Israel, Then commanded our parents to teach it to their children 6 So the next generation would know, and all the generations to come - Know the truth and tell the stories 7 can trust in God, Never forget the works of God but keep his commands to the letter. 8 Heaven forbid they should be like their parents, bullheaded and bad, A fickle and faithless bunch who never stayed true to God.

9 The Ephraimites, armed to the teeth, ran off when the battle began. 10 They were cowards to God's Covenant, refused to walk by his Word. 11 They forgot what he had done - marvels he'd done right before their eyes. 12 He performed miracles in plain sight of their parents in Egypt, out on the fields of Zoan. 13 He split the Sea and they walked right through it; he piled the waters to the right and the left. 14 He led them by day with a cloud, led them all the night long with a fiery torch. 15 He split rocks in the wilderness, gave them all they could drink from underground springs; 16 He made creeks flow out from sheer rock, and water pour out like a river. 17 All they did was sin even more, rebel in the desert against the High God. 18 They tried to get their own way with God, clamored for favors, for special attention. 19 They whined like spoiled children, "Why can't God give us a decent meal in this desert? 20 Sure, he struck the rock and the water flowed, creeks cascaded from the rock. But how about some fresh-baked bread? How about a nice cut of meat?" 21 When God heard that, he was furious - his anger flared against Jacob, he lost his temper with Israel. 22 It was clear they didn't believe God, had no intention of trusting in his help. 23 But God helped them anyway, commanded the clouds and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven. 24 He rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven. 25 They ate the bread of the mighty angels; he sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He let East Wind break loose from the skies, gave a strong push to South Wind. 27 This time it was birds that rained down - succulent birds, an abundance of birds. 28 He aimed them right for the center of their camp; all round their tents there were birds. 29 They ate and had their fill; he handed them everything they craved on a platter. 30 But their greed knew no bounds; they stuffed their mouths with more and more. 31 Finally, God was fed up, his anger erupted - he cut down their brightest and best, he laid low Israel's finest young men. 32 And - can you believe it? - they kept right on sinning; all those wonders and they still wouldn't believe! 33 So their lives dribbled off to nothing - nothing to show for their lives but a ghost town. 34 When he cut them down, they came running for help; they turned and pled for mercy. 35 They gave witness that God was their rock, that High God was their redeemer, 36 But they didn't mean a word of it; they lied through their teeth the whole time. 37 They could not have cared less about him, wanted nothing to do with his Covenant. 38 And God? Compassionate! Forgave the sin! Didn't destroy! Over and over he reined in his anger, restrained his considerable wrath. 39 He knew what they were made of; he knew there wasn't much to them,

40 How often in the desert they had spurned him, tried his patience in those wilderness years. 41 Time and again they pushed him to the limit, provoked Israel's Holy God. 42 How quickly they forgot what he'd done, forgot their day of rescue from the enemy, 43 When he did miracles in Egypt, wonders on the plain of Zoan. 44 He turned the River and its streams to blood - not a drop of water fit to drink. 45 He sent flies, which ate them alive, and frogs, which bedeviled them. 46 He turned their harvest over to caterpillars, everything they had worked for to the locusts. 47 He flattened their grapevines with hail; a killing frost ruined their orchards. 48 He pounded their cattle with hail, let thunderbolts loose on their herds. 49 His anger flared, a wild firestorm of havoc, An advance guard of disease-carrying angels 50 to clear the ground, preparing the way before him. He didn't spare those people, he let the plague rage through their lives. 51 He killed all the Egyptian firstborns, lusty infants, offspring of Ham's virility. 52 Then he led his people out like sheep, took his flock safely through the wilderness. 53 He took good care of them; they had nothing to fear. The Sea took care of their enemies for good. 54 He brought them into his holy land, this mountain he claimed for his own. 55 He scattered everyone who got in their way; he staked out an inheritance for them - the tribes of Israel all had their own places. 56 But they kept on giving him a hard time, rebelled against God, the High God, refused to do anything he told them. 57 They were worse, if that's possible, than their parents: traitors - crooked as a corkscrew. 58 Their pagan orgies provoked God's anger, their obscene idolatries broke his heart. 59 When God heard their carryings-on, he was furious; he posted a huge No over Israel. 60 He walked off and left Shiloh empty, abandoned the shrine where he had met with Israel. 61 He let his pride and joy go to the dogs, turned his back on the pride of his life. 62 He turned them loose on fields of battle; angry, he let them fend for themselves. 63 Their young men went to war and never came back; their young women waited in vain. 64 Their priests were massacred, and their widows never shed a tear. 65 Suddenly the Lord was up on his feet like someone roused from deep sleep, shouting like a drunken warrior. 66 He hit his enemies hard, sent them running, yelping, not daring to look back. 67 He disqualified Joseph as leader, told Ephraim he didn't have what it takes, 68 And chose the Tribe of Judah instead, Mount Zion, which he loves so much. 69 He built his sanctuary there, resplendent, solid and lasting as the earth itself. 70 Then he chose David, his servant, handpicked him from his work in the sheep pens. 71 One day he was caring for the ewes and their lambs, the next day God had him shepherding Jacob, his people Israel, his prize possession. 72 His good heart made him a good shepherd; he guided the people wisely and well.