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.