Song of Praise for God’s Favor
1 O Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will praiseandgive thanks to Your name;
For You have done miraculous things,
Plansformedlong, long ago, [fulfilled] with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have made a city into a heap [of trash],
A fortified city into a ruin;
A palace offoreigners is no longer a city,
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore a strong people will honor You;
Cities of terribleandviolent nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,
A stronghold for the poor in his distress,
A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat;
For the breath of tyrants
Is like a rainstormagainsta wall.
5 Like heat in a dry land, You will subdue the noise of foreigners [rejoicing over their enemies];
Like heat in the shadow of a cloud, the song of the tyrants issilenced.
6 On this mountain [Zion] the Lordof hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples [to welcome His reign on earth],
A banquet of aged wines–choice pieces [flavored] with marrow,
Of refined, aged wines.
7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples,
And the veil [of death] that is wovenandspread over all the nations.
8 He will swallow up death [and abolish it] for all time.
And the Lord Godwill wipe away tears from all faces,
And He will take away the disgrace of His people from all the earth;
For the Lordhas spoken.
9 It will be said in that day,
“Indeed, this is our God for whom we have waited that He would save us.
This is the Lordfor whom we have waited;
Let us shout for joy and rejoice in His salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lordwill rest on this mountain [Zion],
And Moab will be trampled down in his place
As straw is trampled down in the [filthy] water of a manure pile.
11 And Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of the filth
As a swimmer spreads outhis handsto swim,
Butthe Lordwill humiliate his pride in spite of the [skillful] movements of his hands.
12 The high fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
Lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.