Psalms 75
What Happens in This Chapter
In this psalm, the singers thank God and say His help is close by. God speaks and says He will judge fairly when the right time comes. He tells proud and wicked people to stop bragging, because only God lifts people up or brings them down. The psalm ends with a promise to keep singing praise to God.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
1We thank you, God. We thank you again and again. You are close to us. People tell about the wonderful things you do.
2When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
2God says, "I will pick the right time. Then I will judge fairly."
3The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
3"When the earth shakes, and everyone on it shakes, I am the one who holds it steady." Selah.
"Selah" is a word found in many psalms. No one today knows for sure what it meant. It may have been a music mark, like a pause.
4I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
4"I say to proud people, 'Stop bragging.' I say to bad people, 'Do not show off your strength.'"
A "horn" here means an animal's horn. It stands for strength or power. "Lifting up your horn" means showing off how strong you are.
5Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
5"Do not lift your strength up high. Do not talk with your chin in the air."
6For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
6No one is made great by help from the east or the west or the desert.
7But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
7God is the one who judges. He brings one person down and lifts another one up.
8For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
8The LORD holds a cup in his hand. It is full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. All the wicked people of the earth drink it. They drink every last drop.
The "dregs" are the thick bits at the bottom of a cup. Drinking them means drinking the whole cup, with nothing left.
9But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
9But I will tell about God forever. I will sing songs of praise to the God of Jacob.
10All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
10God says, "I will cut off the strength of wicked people. But I will lift up the strength of good people."
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