Song of Praise for God’s Favor

1 O LORD, You are my God;
          I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
          For You have worked wonders,
          Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

2 For You have made a city into a heap,
          A fortified city into a ruin;
          A palace of strangers is a city no more,
          It will never be rebuilt.

3 Therefore a strong people will glorify You;
          Cities of ruthless nations will revere You.

4 For You have been a defense for the helpless,
          A defense for the needy in his distress,
          A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat;
          For the breath of the ruthless
          Is like a rain storm against a wall.

5 Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens;
          Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.

6 The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
          A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
          And refined, aged wine.

7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
          Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death for all time,
          And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
          And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
          For the LORD has spoken.

9 And it will be said in that day,
          “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
          This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
          Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

10 For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
          And Moab will be trodden down in his place
          As straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile.

11 And he will spread out his hands in the middle of it
          As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,
          But the Lord will lay low his pride together with the trickery of his hands.

12 The unassailable fortifications of your walls He will bring down,
          Lay low and cast to the ground, even to the dust.