What Is the Measure of My Days?

39 To the choirmaster: to vJeduthun. A Psalm of David.

1  I said, “I will wguard my ways,

that I xmay not sin with my tongue;

I will yguard my mouth with a muzzle,

so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

2  I was zmute and silent;

I held my peace to no avail,

and my distress grew worse.

3  My aheart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

4  “O Lord, bmake me know my end

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting I am!

5  Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and cmy lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely dall mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

6  Surely a man egoes about as a shadow!

Surely for nothing1 they are in turmoil;

man fheaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

7  “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

gMy hope is in you.

8  Deliver me from all my transgressions.

hDo not make me the scorn of the fool!

9  iI am mute; I do not open my mouth,

jfor it is you who have done it.

10  kRemove your stroke from me;

I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

11  When you discipline a man

with lrebukes for sin,

you mconsume like a nmoth what is dear to him;

osurely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

12  p“Hear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not your peace at my tears!

For I am qa sojourner with you,

qa guest, like all my fathers.

13  rLook away from me, that I may smile again,

sbefore I depart and tam no more!”

My Help and My Deliverer

40 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  I uwaited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and vheard my cry.

2  He drew me up from wthe pit of destruction,

out of xthe miry bog,

and yset my feet upon a rock,

zmaking my steps secure.

3  He put aa new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will bsee and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

4  Blessed is the man who cmakes

the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

to those who dgo astray after a lie!

5  You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your ewondrous deeds and your fthoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet they are gmore than can be told.

6  hIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open iear.1

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

7  Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written jof me:

8  kI delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is lwithin my heart.”

9  I have told the glad news of deliverance2

in mthe great congregation;

behold, I have not nrestrained my lips,

oas you know, O Lord.

10  I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.

11  As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain

your mercy from me;

your psteadfast love and your faithfulness will

ever preserve me!

12  For evils have qencompassed me

beyond number;

my riniquities have overtaken me,

and I cannot ssee;

they are tmore than the hairs of my head;

my heart ufails me.

13  vBe pleased, O Lord, to wdeliver me!

O Lord, xmake haste to help me!

14  yLet those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be zturned back and brought to dishonor

who delight in my hurt!

15  Let those be appalled because of their shame

who asay to me, “Aha, Aha!”

16  But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

bsay continually, “Great is the Lord!”

17  As for me, I am cpoor and needy,

but dthe Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

41 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!1

fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

2  the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.

3  The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.2

4  As for me, I said, “O Lord, hbe gracious to me;

iheal me,3 for I have sinned against you!”

5  My enemies say of me in malice,

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

6  And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

7  All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.4

8  They say, “A deadly thing is poured out5 on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.”

9  Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,

who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

10  But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11  By this I know that myou delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But nyou have upheld me because of omy integrity,

and pset me in your presence qforever.

13  rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

42 To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of sthe Sons of Korah.

1  tAs a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

2  uMy soul thirsts for God,

for vthe living God.

When shall I come and wappear before God?2

3  xMy tears have been my food

day and night,

ywhile they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

4  These things I remember,

as I zpour out my soul:

ahow I would go bwith the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

ca multitude keeping festival.

5  dWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you ein turmoil within me?

fHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation3 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I gremember you

hfrom the land of Jordan and of iHermon,

from Mount Mizar.

7  Deep calls to deep

at the roar of your waterfalls;

jall your breakers and your kwaves

have gone over me.

8  By day the Lord lcommands his steadfast love,

and at mnight his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

9  I say to God, nmy rock:

“Why have you forgotten me?

oWhy do I go mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

pwhile they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

11  qWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43 rVindicate me, O God, and sdefend my cause

against an ungodly people,

from tthe deceitful and unjust man

deliver me!

2  For you are uthe God in whom I take refuge;

why have you vrejected me?

Why do I wgo about mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

3  xSend out your light and your truth;

let them lead me;

let them bring me to your yholy hill

and to your zdwelling!

4  Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.

5  aWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

bHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

Come to Our Help

44 To the choirmaster. cA Maskil1 of the Sons of Korah.

1  O God, we have heard with our ears,

dour fathers have told us,

what deeds you performed in their days,

ein the days of old:

2  you with your own hand fdrove out the nations,

but gthem you planted;

you afflicted the peoples,

but hthem you set free;

3  for not iby their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm save them,

but your right hand and your arm,

and jthe light of your face,

kfor you delighted in them.

4  lYou are my King, O God;

mordain salvation for Jacob!

5  Through you we npush down our foes;

through your name we otread down those who rise up against us.

6  For not in pmy bow do I trust,

nor can my sword save me.

7  But you have saved us from our foes

and have qput to shame those who hate us.

8  rIn God we have boasted continually,

and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

9  But you have srejected us and disgraced us

and thave not gone out with our armies.

10  You have made us uturn back from the foe,

and those who hate us have gotten spoil.

11  You have made us like vsheep for slaughter

and have wscattered us among the nations.

12  xYou have sold your people for a trifle,

demanding no high price for them.

13  You have made us ythe taunt of our neighbors,

the derision and zscorn of those around us.

14  You have made us aa byword among the nations,

ba laughingstock2 among the peoples.

15  All day long my disgrace is before me,

and cshame has covered my face

16  at the sound of the taunter and reviler,

at the sight of dthe enemy and the avenger.

17  eAll this has come upon us,

though we have not forgotten you,

and we have not been false to your covenant.

18  Our heart has not turned back,

nor have our fsteps gdeparted from your way;

19  yet you have hbroken us in the place of ijackals

and covered us with jthe shadow of death.

20  If we had forgotten the name of our God

or kspread out our hands to la foreign god,

21  mwould not God discover this?

nFor he knows the secrets of the heart.

22  Yet ofor your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

23  pAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Rouse yourself! qDo not reject us forever!

24  Why rdo you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

25  For our ssoul is bowed down to the dust;

our belly clings to the ground.

26  Rise up; tcome to our help!

uRedeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

Your Throne, O God, Is Forever

45 To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil1 of vthe Sons of Korah; a love song.

1  My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of wa ready scribe.

2  You are xthe most handsome of the sons of men;

ygrace is poured upon your lips;

therefore God has blessed you forever.

3  zGird your asword on your thigh, O bmighty one,

in cyour splendor and majesty!

4  In your majesty dride out victoriously

for the cause of truth and meekness and …