Psalm 5
To the Chief Musician. With 1Flutes. A Psalm of David.
1 Give aear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my 2meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
bIn the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil 3dwell with You.
5 The cboastful shall not dstand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the ebloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward 4Your holy temple.
8 fLead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no 5faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
gTheir throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You 6defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
Psalm 38
A Psalm of David. aTo Bring to Remembrance.
1 O Lord, do not brebuke me in Your wrath,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
2 For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
And Your hand presses me down.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh
Because of Your anger,
Nor any health in my bones
Because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds are foul and festering
Because of my foolishness.
6 I am 1troubled, I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are full of inflammation,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart pants, my strength fails me;
As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.
11 My loved ones and my friends cstand aloof from my plague,
And my relatives stand afar off.
12 Those also who seek my life lay snares for me;
Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction,
And plan deception all the day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.
14 Thus I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth is no response.
15 For 2in You, O Lord, dI hope;
You will 3hear, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,
Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”
17 eFor I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I will fdeclare my iniquity;
I will be gin 4anguish over my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;
And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied.
20 Those also hwho render evil for good,
They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.
O my God, ibe not far from me!
O Lord, my salvation!
Psalm 41–42
The Blessing and Suffering of the Godly
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 Blessed is he who considers the 1poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
2 The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
aYou will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will 2sustain him on his sickbed.
4 I said, “Lord, be merciful to me;
bHeal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And if he comes to see me, he speaks 3lies;
His heart gathers iniquity to itself;
When he goes out, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they 4devise my hurt.
8 “An 5evil disease,” they say, “clings to him.
And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.”
9 cEven my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
dWho ate my bread,
Has 6lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that You are well pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And eset me before Your face forever.
13 fBlessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Book Two: Psalms 42–72
Psalm 42
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
To the Chief Musician. A 1Contemplation of the Sons of Korah.
1 As the deer 2pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 aMy soul thirsts for God, for the bliving God.
When shall I come and 3appear before God?
3 cMy tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
d“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
eI pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
fI went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 gWhy are you 4cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
hHope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
5For the help of His countenance.
6 6O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From 7the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
iAll Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will jcommand His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And kin the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
l“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a 8breaking of my bones,
My enemies 9reproach me,
mWhile they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 nWhy are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The 1help of my countenance and my God.