Psalm 42–50

BOOK II

(Psalms 42–72)

Psalm 42

LONGING FOR GOD

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

¹As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so I long for you, God.^w

²I thirst for God, the living God.

When can I come and appear before God?^x

³My tears have been my food day and night,

while all day long people say to me,

“Where is your God?”^y

⁴I remember this as I pour out my heart:^z

how I walked with many,

leading the festive procession to the house of God,

with joyful and thankful shouts.^aa

⁵Why, my soul, are you so dejected?

Why are you in such turmoil?

Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,

my Savior and my God.^ab

⁶I am deeply depressed;

therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan

and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.^ac

⁷Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.^a

⁸The Lord will send his faithful love by day;^b

his song will be with me in the night—

a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I will say to God, my rock,^c

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about in sorrow

because of the enemy’s oppression?”^d

¹⁰My adversaries taunt me,

as if crushing my bones,

while all day long they say to me,

“Where is your God?”^e

¹¹Why, my soul, are you so dejected?

Why are you in such turmoil?

Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,

my Savior and my God.^f

Psalm 43

¹Vindicate me, God, and champion my cause

against an unfaithful nation;

rescue me from the deceitful and unjust person.^g

²For you are the God of my refuge.

Why have you rejected me?

Why must I go about in sorrow

because of the enemy’s oppression?^h

³Send your light and your truth; let them lead me.ⁱ

Let them bring me to your holy mountain,

to your dwelling place.^j

⁴Then I will come to the altar of God,

to God, my greatest joy.^k

I will praise you with the lyre,

God, my God.^l

⁵Why, my soul, are you so dejected?

Why are you in such turmoil?

Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,

my Savior and my God.^m

Psalm 44

ISRAEL’S COMPLAINT

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

¹God, we have heard with our ears—

our ancestors have told us—

the work you accomplished in their days,

in days long ago:ⁿ

²In order to plant them,

you displaced the nations by your hand;

in order to settle them,

you brought disaster on the peoples.^o

³For they did not take the land by their sword—

their arm did not bring them victory—

but by your right hand, your arm,

and the light of your face,^p

because you were favorable toward them.^q

⁴You are my King, my God,

who ordains^A victories for Jacob.^r

⁵Through you we drive back our foes;

through your name we trample our enemies.^s

⁶For I do not trust in my bow,

and my sword does not bring me victory.^t

⁷But you give us victory over our foes

and let those who hate us be disgraced.^u

⁸We boast in God all day long;^*

we will praise your name forever.^v

Selah

⁹But you have rejected and humiliated us;

you do not march out with our armies.^w

¹⁰You make us retreat from the foe,

and those who hate us

have taken plunder for themselves.^x

¹¹You hand us over to be eaten like sheep

and scatter us among the nations.^y

¹²You sell your people for nothing;

you make no profit from selling them.^z

¹³You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors,

a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.^aa

¹⁴You make us a joke among the nations,

a laughingstock^B among the peoples.^ab

¹⁵My disgrace is before me all day long,

and shame has covered my face,^a

¹⁶because of the taunts^C of the scorner and reviler,

because of the enemy and avenger.^b

¹⁷All this has happened to us,

but we have not forgotten you

or betrayed your covenant.^c

¹⁸Our hearts have not turned back;

our steps have not strayed from your path.^d

¹⁹But you have crushed us in a haunt of jackals

and have covered us with deepest darkness.^e

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God

and spread out our hands to a foreign god,^f

²¹wouldn’t God have found this out,

since he knows the secrets of the heart?^g

²²Because of you we are being put to death all day long;

we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.^h

²³Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?

Get up! Don’t reject us forever!ⁱ

²⁴Why do you hide

and forget our affliction and oppression?^j

²⁵For we have sunk down to the dust;

our bodies cling to the ground.^k

²⁶Rise up! Help us!

Redeem us because of your faithful love.^l

Psalm 45

A ROYAL WEDDING SONG

For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”^m A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song.

¹My heart is moved by a noble theme

as I recite my verses to the king;

my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.ⁿ

²You are the most handsome of men;^A

grace flows from your lips.^o

Therefore God has blessed you forever.^p

³Mighty warrior, strap your sword at your side.

In your majesty and splendor^q—

⁴in your splendor ride triumphantly

in the cause of truth, humility, and justice.

May your right hand show your awe-inspiring acts.^r

⁵Your sharpened arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;

the peoples fall under you.^s

⁶Your throne,^t God, is^B forever and ever;

the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.^u

⁷You love righteousness and hate wickedness;^v

therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy

more than your companions.

⁸Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume all your garments;

from ivory palaces harps bring you joy.^w

⁹Kings’ daughters are among your honored women;^x

the queen, adorned with gold from Ophir,

stands at your right hand.^y

¹⁰Listen, daughter, pay attention and consider:

Forget your people and your father’s house,^z

¹¹and the king will desire your beauty.

Bow down to him, for he is your lord.^aa

¹²The daughter of Tyre, the wealthy people,

will seek your favor with gifts.^ab

¹³In her chamber, the royal daughter is all glorious,

her clothing embroidered with gold.^ac

¹⁴In colorful garments she is led to the king;

after her, the virgins, her companions, are brought to you.^ad

¹⁵They are led in with gladness and rejoicing;

they enter the king’s palace.^ae

¹⁶Your sons will succeed your ancestors;

you will make them princes throughout the land.^a

¹⁷I will cause your name to be remembered for all generations;

therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.^b

Psalm 46

GOD OUR REFUGE

For the choir director. A song of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.^c

¹God is our refuge and strength,

a helper who is always found

in times of trouble.^d

²Therefore we will not be afraid,

though the earth trembles

and the mountains topple

into the depths of the seas,^e

³though its water roars and foams

and the mountains quake with its turmoil.^f

Selah

⁴There is a river—

its streams delight the city of God,

the holy dwelling place of the Most High.^g

⁵God is within her; she will not be toppled.

God will help her when the morning dawns.^h

⁶Nations rage, kingdoms topple;

the earth melts when he lifts his voice.ⁱ

⁷The Lord of Armies is with us;

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.^j

Selah

⁸Come, see the works of the Lord,

who brings devastation on the earth.^k

⁹He makes wars cease throughout the earth.

He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;

he sets wagons ablaze.^l

¹⁰“Stop fighting, and know that I am God,

exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”^m

¹¹The Lord of Armies is with us;

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.ⁿ

Selah

Psalm 47

GOD OUR KING

For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

¹Clap your hands, all you peoples;^o

shout to God with a jubilant cry.^p

²For the Lord, the Most High, is awe-inspiring,

a great King over the whole earth.^q

³He subdues peoples under us

and nations under our feet.^r

⁴He chooses for us our inheritance—

the pride of Jacob, whom he loves.^s

Selah

⁵God ascends among shouts of joy,

the Lord, with the sound of a trumpet.^t

⁶Sing praise to God, sing praise;

sing praise to our King, sing praise!^u

⁷Sing a song of wisdom,^A

for God is King of the whole earth.^v

⁸God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.^w

⁹The nobles of the peoples have assembled

with the people of the God of Abraham.^x

For the leaders^B of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted.^y

Psalm 48

ZION EXALTED

A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

¹The Lord is great and highly praised

in the city of our God.^z

His holy mountain, ²rising splendidly,

is the joy of the whole earth.

Mount Zion—the summit of Zaphon—

is the city of the great King.^aa

³God is known as a stronghold

in its citadels.^ab

⁴Look! The kings assembled;

they advanced together.^ac

⁵They looked and froze with fear;

they fled in terror.^ad

⁶Trembling seized them there,

agony like that of a woman in labor,^ae

⁷as you wrecked the ships of Tarshish

with the east wind.^af

⁸Just as we heard, so we have seen

in the city of the Lord of Armies,

in the city of our God;

God will establish it forever.^a

Selah

⁹God, within your temple,

we contemplate your faithful love.^b

¹⁰Like your name, God, so your praise

reaches to the ends of the earth;^c

your right hand is filled with justice.^d

¹¹Mount Zion is glad.

Judah’s villages^A rejoice

because of your judgments.^e

¹²Go around Zion, encircle it;

count its towers,

¹³note its ramparts; tour its citadels

so that you can tell a future generation:^f

¹⁴“This God, our God forever and ever—

he will always lead us.”^Bg

Psalm 49

MISPLACED TRUST IN WEALTH

For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

¹Hear this, all you peoples;

listen, all who inhabit the world,^h

²both low and high,

rich and poor together.ⁱ

³My mouth speaks wisdom;

my heart’s meditation brings understanding.^j

⁴I turn my ear to a proverb;

I explain my riddle with a lyre.^k

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble?

The iniquity of my foes surrounds me.^l

⁶They trust in their wealth

and boast of their abundant riches.^m

⁷Yet these cannot redeem a person^A

or pay his ransom to Godⁿ—

⁸since the price of redeeming him is too costly,

one should forever stop trying^Bo—

⁹so that he may live forever

and not see the Pit.^p

¹⁰For one can see that the wise die;

the foolish and stupid also pass away.^q

Then…