Psalm 34
By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
1I will bless the LORD at all times.
His praise will always be in my mouth.
2My soul shall boast in the LORD.
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3Oh magnify the LORD with me.
Let’s exalt his name together.
4I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5They looked to him, and were radiant.
Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7The LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him,
and delivers them.
8Oh taste and see that the LORD is good.
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9Oh fear the LORD, you his saints,
for there is no lack with those who fear him.
10The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger,
but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
Come, you children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12Who is someone who desires life,
and loves many days, that he may see good?
13Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking lies.
14Depart from evil, and do good.
Seek peace, and pursue it.
15The LORD’s eyes are toward the righteous.
His ears listen to their cry.
16The LORD’s face is against those who do evil,
to cut off their memory from the earth.
17The righteous cry, and the LORD hears,
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20He protects all of his bones.
Not one of them is broken.
21Evil shall kill the wicked.
Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22The LORD redeems the soul of his servants.
None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.
Psalm 35
By David.
1Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2Take hold of shield and buckler,
and stand up for my help.
3Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me.
Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.”
4Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor.
Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
5Let them be as chaff before the wind,
the LORD’s angel driving them on.
6Let their way be dark and slippery,
the LORD’s angel pursuing them.
7For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me.
Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
8Let destruction come on him unawares.
Let his net that he has hidden catch himself.
Let him fall into that destruction.
My soul shall be joyful in the LORD.
It shall rejoice in his salvation.
10All my bones shall say, “LORD, who is like you,
who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him;
yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
11Unrighteous witnesses rise up.
They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
12They reward me evil for good,
to the bereaving of my soul.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.
I afflicted my soul with fasting.
My prayer returned into my own bosom.
14I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother.
I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.
15But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together.
The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it.
They tore at me, and didn’t cease.
16Like the profane mockers in feasts,
they gnashed their teeth at me.
17Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue my soul from their destruction,
my precious life from the lions.
18I will give you thanks in the great assembly.
I will praise you among many people.
19Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me;
neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.
20For they don’t speak peace,
but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me.
They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
22You have seen it, LORD. Don’t keep silent.
Lord, don’t be far from me.
23Wake up! Rise up to defend me, my God!
My Lord, contend for me!
24Vindicate me, LORD my God, according to your righteousness.
Don’t let them gloat over me.
25Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!”
Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity.
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
Let those who favor my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad.
Yes, let them say continually, “May the LORD be magnified,
who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”
28My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long.
Psalm 36
For the Chief Musician. By David, the servant of the LORD.
1A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
too much to detect and hate his sin.
3The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4He plots iniquity on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that is not good.
He doesn’t abhor evil.
Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgments are like a great deep.
LORD, you preserve man and animal.
7How precious is your loving kindness, God!
The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
8They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house.
You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
9For with you is the spring of life.
In your light we will see light.
10Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11Don’t let the foot of pride come against me.
Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12There the workers of iniquity are fallen.
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.
Psalm 37
By David.
1Don’t fret because of evildoers,
neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.
2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.
3Trust in the LORD, and do good.
Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
4Also delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5Commit your way to the LORD.
Trust also in him, and he will do this:
6he will make your righteousness shine out like light,
and your justice as the noon day sun.
7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.
Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way,
because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.
Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9For evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
10For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.
Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.
11But the humble shall inherit the land,
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12The wicked plots against the just,
and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13The Lord will laugh at him,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,
to cast down the poor and needy,
to kill those who are upright on the path.
15Their sword shall enter into their own heart.
Their bows shall be broken.
16Better is a little that the righteous has,
than the abundance of many wicked.
17For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18The LORD knows the days of the perfect.
Their inheritance shall be forever.
19They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil.
In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish.
The enemies of the LORD shall be like the beauty of the fields.
They will vanish—
vanish like smoke.
21The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back,
but the righteous give generously.
22For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land.
Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.
23A man’s steps are established by the LORD.
He delights in his way.
24Though he stumble, he shall not fall,
for the LORD holds him up with his hand.
25I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his children begging for bread.
26All day long he deals graciously, and lends.
His offspring is blessed.
27Depart from evil, and do good.
Live securely forever.
28For the LORD loves justice,
and doesn’t forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29The righteous shall inherit the land,
and live in it forever.
The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom.
His tongue speaks justice.
31The law of his God is in his heart.
None of his steps shall slide.
32The wicked watch the righteous,
and seek to kill him.
33The LORD will not leave him in his hand,
nor condemn him when he is judged.
34Wait for the LORD, and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land.
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
I have seen the wicked in great power,
spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
36But he passed away, and behold, he was not.
Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37Mark the perfect man, and see the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together.
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.
He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40The LORD helps them and rescues them.
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
because they have taken refuge in him.
Psalm 38
A Psalm by David, for a memorial.
1LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath,
neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
2For your arrows have pierced me,
your hand presses hard on me.
3There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation,
neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
4For my iniquities have gone over my head.
As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5My wounds are loathsome and corrupt
because of my foolishness.
6I am in pain and bowed down greatly.
I go mourning all day long.
7For my waist is filled with burning.
There is no soundness in my flesh.
8I am faint and severely bruised.
I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.
9Lord, all my desire is before you.
My groaning is not hidden from you.
10My heart throbs.
My strength fails me.
As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
11My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague.
My kinsmen stand far away.
12They also who seek after my life lay snares.
Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things,
and meditate deceits all day long.
13But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear.
I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
14Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear,
in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15For I hope in you, LORD.
You will answer, Lord my God.
16For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me,
or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
17For I am ready to fall.
My pain is continually before me.
18For I will declare my iniquity.
I will be sorry for my sin.
19But my enemies are vigorous and many.
Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20They who give evil for good are also adversaries to me,
because I follow what is good.
21Don’t forsake me, LORD.
My God, don’t be far from me.
22Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation.
Psalm 39
For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David.
1I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue.
I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”
2I was mute with silence.
I held my peace, even from good.
My sorrow was stirred.
3My heart was hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned.
I spoke with my tongue:
4“LORD, show me my end,
what is the measure of my days.
Let me know how frail I am.
5Behold, you have made my days hand widths.
My lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely every man stands as a breath.” Selah.
6“Surely every man walks like a shadow.
Surely they busy themselves in vain.
He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather.
7Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
8Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.
9I was mute.
I didn’t open my mouth,
because you did it.
10Remove your scourge away from me.
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity,
you consume his wealth like a moth.
Surely every man is but a breath.” Selah.
12“Hear my prayer, LORD, and give ear to my cry.
Don’t be silent at my tears.
For I am a stranger with you,
a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
13Oh spare me, that I may recover strength,
before I go away and exist no more.”
Psalm 40
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
1I waited patiently for the LORD.
He turned to me, and heard my cry.
2He brought me up also out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay.
He set my feet on a rock,
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.
Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,
and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.
5Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are toward us.
They can’t be declared back to you.
If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.
6Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire.
You have opened my ears.
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
7Then I said, “Behold, I have come.
It is written about me in the book in the scroll.
8I delight to do your will, my God.
Yes, your law is within my heart.”
9I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly.
Behold, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know.
10I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart.
I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.
11Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, LORD.
Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.
12For innumerable evils have surrounded me.
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up.
They are more than the hairs of my head.
My heart has failed me.
13Be pleased, LORD, to deliver me.
Hurry to help me, LORD.
14Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it.
Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
15Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
16Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let the LORD be exalted!”
17But I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think about me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
Don’t delay, my God.
Psalm 41
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
1Blessed is he who considers the poor.
The LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
2The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive.
He shall be blessed on the earth,
and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
3The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed,
and restore him from his bed of illness.
4I said, “LORD, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5My enemies speak evil against me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood.
His heart gathers iniquity to itself.
When he goes abroad, he tells it.
7All who hate me whisper together against me.
They imagine the worst for me.
8“An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him.
Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.”
9Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
who ate bread with me,
has lifted up his heel against me.
But you, LORD, have mercy on me, and raise me up,
that I may repay them.
11By this I know that you delight in me,
because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
12As for me, you uphold me in my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting!
Amen and amen.
Psalm 42
BOOK 2
For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah.
1As the deer pants for the water brooks,
so my soul pants after you, God.
2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3My tears have been my food day and night,
while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me,
how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house,
with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
5Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God!
For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
6My God, my soul is in despair within me.
Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.
7Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls.
All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
The LORD will command his loving kindness in the daytime.
In the night his song shall be with me:
a prayer to the God of my life.
9I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me,
while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
11Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God! For I shall still praise him,
the saving help of my countenance, and my God.
Psalm 43
1Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation.
Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.
2For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3Oh, send out your light and your truth.
Let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy hill,
to your tents.
4Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my exceeding joy.
I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.
5Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God!
For I shall still praise him:
my Savior, my helper, and my God.
Psalm 44
For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. A contemplative psalm.
1We have heard with our ears, God;
our fathers have told us what work you did in their days,
in the days of old.
2You drove out the nations with your hand,
but you planted them.
You afflicted the peoples,
but you spread them abroad.
3For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword,
neither did their own arm save them;
but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face,
because you were favorable to them.
4God, you are my King.
Command victories for Jacob!
5Through you, we will push down our adversaries.
Through your name, we will tread down those who rise up against us.
6For I will not trust in my bow,
neither will my sword save me.
7But you have saved us from our adversaries,
and have shamed those who hate us.
8In God we have made our boast all day long.
We will give thanks to your name forever. Selah.
But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor,
and don’t go out with our armies.
10You make us turn back from the adversary.
Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.
11You have made us like sheep for food,
and have scattered us among the nations.
12You sell your people for nothing,
and have gained nothing from their sale.
13You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.
14You make us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15All day long my dishonor is before me,
and shame covers my face,
16at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
17All this has come on us,
yet we haven’t forgotten you.
We haven’t been false to your covenant.
18Our heart has not turned back,
neither have our steps strayed from your path,
19though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals,
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20If we have forgotten the name of our God,
or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21won’t God search this out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
23Wake up!
Why do you sleep, Lord?
Arise!
Don’t reject us forever.
24Why do you hide your face,
and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Our body clings to the earth.
26Rise up to help us.
Redeem us for your loving kindness’ sake.
Psalm 45
For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A contemplation by the sons of Korah. A wedding song.
1My heart overflows with a noble theme.
I recite my verses for the king.
My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.
2You are the most excellent of the sons of men.
Grace has anointed your lips,
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3Strap your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your splendor and your majesty.
4In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand display awesome deeds.
5Your arrows are sharp.
The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.
6Your throne, God, is forever and ever.
A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.
7You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
8All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.
9Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women.
At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.
10Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear.
Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.
11So the king will desire your beauty,
honor him, for he is your lord.
12The daughter of Tyre comes with a gift.
The rich among the people entreat your favor.
13The princess inside is all glorious.
Her clothing is interwoven with gold.
14She shall be led to the king in embroidered work.
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.
15With gladness and rejoicing they shall be led.
They shall enter into the king’s palace.
16Your sons will take the place of your fathers.
You shall make them princes in all the earth.
17I will make your name to be remembered in all generations.
Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.