who turns not to the arrogant or to followers of falsehood.
6 a-You, O LORD my God, have done many things;
the wonders You have devised for us
cannot be set out before You;-a
I would rehearse the tale of them,
but they are more than can be told.
7 b-You gave me to understand that-b
You do not desire sacrifice and meal offering;
You do not ask for burnt offering and sin offering.
8Then I said,
b-“See, I will bring a scroll recounting what befell me.”-b
9To do what pleases You, my God, is my desire;
Your teaching is in my inmost parts.
10I proclaimed [Your] righteousness in a great congregation;
see, I did not withhold my words;
O LORD, You must know it.
11I did not keep Your beneficence to myself;
I declared Your faithful deliverance;
I did not fail to speak of Your steadfast love in a great
congregation.
12O LORD, You will not withhold from me Your compassion;
Your steadfast love will protect me always.
13For misfortunes without number envelop me;
my iniquities have caught up with me;
I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
c-I am at my wits’ end.-c
14 dO favor me, LORD, and save me;
O LORD, hasten to my aid.
15Let those who seek to destroy my life
be frustrated and disgraced;
let those who wish me harm
fall back in shame.
16Let those who say “Aha! Aha!” over me
be desolate because of their frustration.
17But let all who seek You be glad and rejoice in You;
let those who are eager for Your deliverance always say,
“Extolled be the LORD!”
18But I am poor and needy;
may the Lord devise [deliverance] for me.
You are my help and my rescuer;
my God, do not delay.
41 For the leader. A psalm of David.
2Happy is he who is thoughtful of the wretched;
in bad times may the LORD keep him from harm.
3May the LORD guard him and preserve him;
and may he be thought happy in the land.
Do not subject him to the will of his enemies.
4The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed;
a-You shall wholly transform his bed of suffering.-a
5I said, “O LORD, have mercy on me,
heal me, for I have sinned against You.”
6My enemies speak evilly of me,
“When will he die and his name perish?”
7If one comes to visit, he speaks falsely;
his mind stores up evil thoughts;
once outside, he speaks them.
8All my enemies whisper together against me,
imagining the worst for me.
9“Something baneful has settled in him;
he’ll not rise from his bed again.”
10My ally in whom I trusted,
even he who shares my bread,
a-has been utterly false to me.-a
11But You, O LORD, have mercy on me;
let me rise again and repay them.
12Then shall I know that You are pleased with me:
when my enemy cannot shout in triumph over me.
13You will support me because of my integrity,
and let me abide in Your presence forever.
14Blessed is the LORD, God of Israel,
from eternity to eternity.
Amen and Amen.
Book two
42 For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites.
2Like a hind crying for water,a
my soul cries for You, O God;
3my soul thirsts for God, the living God;
O when will I come to appear before God!
4My tears have been my food day and night;
I am ever taunted with, “Where is your God?”
5When I think of this, I pour out my soul:
how I b-walked with the crowd, moved with them,-b
the festive throng, to the House of God
with joyous shouts of praise.
6Why so downcast, my soul,
why disquieted within me?
Have hope in God;
I will yet praise Him
c-for His saving presence.-c
7O my God, my soul is downcast;
therefore I think of You
in this land of Jordan and Hermon,
in Mount Mizar,
8where deep calls to deep
in the roar of b-Your cataracts;-b
all Your breakers and billows have swept over me.
9By day may the LORD vouchsafe His faithful care,
so that at night a song to Him may be with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
10I say to God, my rock,
“Why have You forgotten me,
why must I walk in gloom,
oppressed by my enemy?”
11b-Crushing my bones,-b
my foes revile me,
taunting me always with, “Where is your God?”
12Why so downcast, my soul,
why disquieted within me?
Have hope in God;
I will yet praise Him,
my ever-present help, my God.
43 aVindicate me, O God,
champion my cause
against faithless people;
rescue me from the treacherous, dishonest man.
2For You are my God, my stronghold;
why have You rejected me?
Why must I walk in gloom,
oppressed by the enemy?
3Send forth Your light and Your truth;
they will lead me;
they will bring me to Your holy mountain,
to Your dwelling-place,
4that I may come to the altar of God,
God, my delight, my joy;
that I may praise You with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5Why so downcast, my soul,
why disquieted within me?
Have hope in God;
I will yet praise Him,
my ever-present help, my God.
44For the leader. Of the Korahites. A maskil.
2We have heard, O God,
our fathers have told us
the deeds You performed in their time,
in days of old.
3With Your hand You planted them,
displacing nations;
You brought misfortune on peoples,
and drove them out.
4It was not by their sword that they took the land,
their arm did not give them victory,
but Your right hand, Your arm, and Your goodwill,
for You favored them.
5You are my king, O God;
decree victories for Jacob!
6Through You we gore our foes;
by Your name we trample our adversaries;
7I do not trust in my bow;
it is not my sword that gives me victory;
8You give us victory over our foes;
You thwart those who hate us.
9In God we glory at all times,
and praise Your name unceasingly. Selah.
10Yet You have rejected and disgraced us;
You do not go with our armies.
11You make us retreat before our foe;
our enemies plunder us at will.
12You let them devour us like sheep;
You disperse us among the nations.
13You sell Your people for no fortune,
You set no high price on them.
14You make us the butt of our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
15You make us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstocka among the peoples.
16I am always aware of my disgrace;
I am wholly covered with shame
17at the sound of taunting revilers,
in the presence of the vengeful foe.
18All this has come upon us,
yet we have not forgotten You,
or been false to Your covenant.
19Our hearts have not gone astray,
nor have our feet swerved from Your path,
20though You cast us, crushed, to where the b-sea monster-b
is,
and covered us over with deepest darkness.
21If we forgot the name of our God
and spread forth our hands to a foreign god,
22God would surely search it out,
for He knows the secrets of the heart.
23It is for Your sake that we are slain all day long,
that we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
24Rouse Yourself; why do You sleep, O Lord?
Awaken, do not reject us forever!
25Why do You hide Your face,
ignoring our affliction and distress?
26We lie prostrate in the dust;
our body clings to the ground.
27Arise and help us,
redeem us, as befits Your faithfulness.
45For the leader; a-on shoshannim.-a Of the Korahites. A maskil. A love song.
2My heart is astir with gracious words;
I speak my poem to a king;
my tongue is the pen of an expert scribe.
3You are fairer than all men;
your speech is endowed with grace;
rightly has God given you an eternal blessing.
4Gird your sword upon your thigh, O hero,
in your splendor and glory;
5a-in your glory, win success;
ride on in the cause of truth and meekness and right;
and let your right hand lead you to awesome deeds.-a
6Your arrows, sharpened,
b-[pierce] the breast of the king’s enemies;
peoples fall at your feet.-b
7Your c-divine throne-c is everlasting;
your royal scepter is a scepter of equity.
8You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
rightly has God, your God, chosen to anoint you
with oil of gladness over all your peers.
9All your robes [are fragrant] with
myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from ivoried palaces
lutes entertain you.
10Royal princesses are your favorites;
the consort stands at your right hand,
decked in gold of Ophir.
11Take heed, lass, and note,
incline your ear:
forget your people and your father’s house,
12and let the king be aroused by your beauty;
since he is your lord, bow to him.
13O Tyrian lass,
the wealthiest people will court your favor with gifts,
14a-goods of all sorts.
The royal princess,
her dress embroidered with golden mountings,
15is led inside to the king;-a
maidens in her train, her companions,
are presented to you.
16They are led in with joy and gladness;
they enter the palace of the king.
17Your sons will succeed your ancestors;
you will appoint them princes throughout the land.
18I commemorate your fame for all generations,
so peoples will praise you forever and ever.
46For the leader. Of the Korahites; a-on alamoth.-a A song.
2God is our refuge and stronghold,
a help in trouble, very near.
3Therefore we are not afraid
though the earth reels,
though mountains topple into the sea—
4its waters rage and foam;
in its swell mountains quake.
Selah.
5There is a river whose streams gladden God’s city,
the holy dwelling-place of the Most High.
6God is in its midst, it will not be toppled;
by daybreak God will come to its aid.
7Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
at the sound of His thunder the earth dissolves.
8The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our haven.
Selah.
9Come and see what the LORD has done,
how He has wrought desolation on the earth.
10He puts a stop to wars throughout the earth,
breaking the bow, snapping the spear,
consigning wagons to the flames.
11“Desist! Realize that I am God!
I dominate the nations;
I dominate the earth.”
12The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our haven.
Selah.
47For the leader. Of the Korahites. A psalm.
2All you peoples, clap your hands,
raise a joyous shout for God.
3For the LORD Most High is awesome,
great king over all the earth;
4He subjects peoples to us,
sets nations at our feet.
5He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom He loved. Selah.
6God ascends midst acclamation;
the LORD, to the blasts of the horn.
7Sing, O sing to God;
sing, O sing to our king;
8for God is king over all the earth;
sing a hymn.a
9God reigns over the nations;
God is seated on His holy throne.
10The great of the peoples are gathered together,
the retinue of Abraham’s God;
for the guardians of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.
48A song. A psalm
