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Praise for Deliverance from Oppression

O L ord, you are my God;

I will exalt you, I will praise your name;

for you have done wonderful things,

plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

For you have made the city a heap,

the fortified city a ruin;

the palace of aliens is a city no more,

it will never be rebuilt.

Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;

cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

For you have been a refuge to the poor,

a refuge to the needy in their distress,

a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.

When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,

the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,

you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;

the song of the ruthless was stilled.

On this mountain the L ord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,

of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.

And he will destroy on this mountain

the shroud that is cast over all peoples,

the sheet that is spread over all nations;

he will swallow up death forever.

Then the Lord G od will wipe away the tears from all faces,

and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,

for the L ord has spoken.

It will be said on that day,

Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.

This is the L ord for whom we have waited;

let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

For the hand of the L ord will rest on this mountain.

The Moabites shall be trodden down in their place

as straw is trodden down in a dung-pit.

Though they spread out their hands in the midst of it,

as swimmers spread out their hands to swim,

their pride will be laid low despite the struggle of their hands.

The high fortifications of his walls will be brought down,

laid low, cast to the ground, even to the dust.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

11. And he shall spread out. The Prophet now explains and confirms the former statement; but he employs a different metaphor, by which he means, that the Lord will spread out his hand to the innermost part of the country of Moab, and not merely to its extremities. Some explain the metaphor thus: “As the arms are stretched out in swimming, so the Lord will chastise the Moabites on all sides.” Others think that it expresses the doubling of punishments, as if he had said, “The Lord will not only punish the Moabites, but will again and again take vengeance for the cruelty which they exercised against the children of God.”

But we might take another way of explaining that metaphor. Those who swim do not rush forward with the utmost violence, but gently spread out and quickly draw back their arms, and yet they cut and subdue the waters. In like manner, the Lord does not always put forth great strength to cut down the wicked, but without any effort, without the use of armies, without any noise or uproar, he destroys and puts them to flight, however valiant or well prepared for battle they may appear to be. And I approve of this explanation, because it takes nothing from the meaning formerly given, and explains more clearly, that the wicked are often brought to nothing by the hand of God, though he do not openly thunder from heaven. When he says, “In the midst of it,” he shews that no part will be hidden in such a manner as not to be overtaken by this vengeance.