Psalm 40:1–42:11

¹I ^ahoped ¹earnestly for Yahweh;

And He inclined to me and ^bheard my cry for help.

²He brought me up out of the ^apit of destruction, out of the ¹miry clay,

And ^bHe set my feet upon a high rock, ^cHe established my steps.

³He put a ^anew song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;

Many will ^bsee and fear

And will trust in Yahweh.

⁴How ^ablessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust,

And ^bhas not ¹turned to the proud, nor to those who ^cstray into falsehood.

⁵Many, O Yahweh my God, are ^athe wondrous deeds You have done,

And Your ^bthoughts toward us;

There is none to compare with You.

I would declare and speak of them,

But they ^care too numerous to recount.

^61aSacrifice and meal offering ²You have not desired;

My ears You have ³opened;

Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.

⁷Then I said, “Behold, I come;

In the scroll of the book it is ¹written of me.

⁸“^aI desire to do Your will, O my God;

^bYour law is within my inner being.”

⁹I ^aproclaim good news of righteousness in the great assembly;

Behold, I do ^bnot restrain my lips,

O Yahweh, ^cYou know.

¹⁰I do ^anot conceal Your righteousness within my heart;

I ^bspeak of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I do not hide Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.

¹¹You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me;

¹Your ^alovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me.

¹²For evils beyond number have ^asurrounded me;

My ^biniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;

They are ^cmore numerous than the hairs of my head,

And my ^dheart has ¹failed me.

^13aBe pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me;

Make ^bhaste, O Yahweh, to help me.

¹⁴Let those be ^aashamed and humiliated together

Who ^bseek my ¹life to sweep it away;

Let those be turned back and dishonored

Who delight in ²evil against me.

¹⁵Let those ^abe ¹appalled because of their shame

Who ^bsay to me, “Aha, aha!”

^16aLet all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

Let those who love Your salvation ^bsay continually,

“Yahweh be magnified!”

¹⁷As for me, ^aI am afflicted and needy,

^1bMay the Lord think of me.

You are my help and the One who rescues me;

Do not delay, O my God.

PSALM 41

O Yahweh, Be Gracious to Me

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹How blessed is he who ^aconsiders the ¹poor;

Yahweh will provide him escape ^bin a day of ²calamity.

²Yahweh will ^akeep him and keep him alive,

And he shall be ^bblessed upon the earth;

And ^cdo not give him over to the desire of his enemies.

³Yahweh will sustain him upon his sickbed;

In his illness, You ¹restore him to health.

⁴As for me, I said, “O Yahweh, be gracious to me;

^aHeal my soul, for ^bI have sinned against You.”

⁵My enemies ^aspeak evil against me,

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

⁶And ¹when he comes to see me, he ^aspeaks ²worthlessness;

His heart gathers wickedness to itself;

When he goes outside, he speaks it.

⁷All who hate me whisper together against me;

Against me, they ^adevise for me ¹calamity, saying,

⁸“A vile thing is poured out ¹upon him,

That when he lies down, he will ^anot rise up again.”

⁹Even my ^aclose friend in whom I trusted,

Who ate my bread,

Has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But You, O Yahweh, be gracious to me and ^araise me up,

That I may repay them.

¹¹By this I know that ^aYou delight in me,

Because ^bmy enemy makes no shout in triumph over me.

¹²As for me, ^aYou uphold me in my integrity,

And You make me ^bstand firm in Your presence forever.

^13aBlessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,

From everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.

BOOK 2

PSALM 42

My Soul Thirsts for God

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

¹As the deer ¹pants for the water brooks,

So my soul ^2apants for You, O God.

²My soul ^athirsts for God, for the ^bliving God;

When shall I come and ^1cappear before God?

³My ^atears have been my food day and night,

While they ^bsay to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

⁴These things I remember and I ^apour out my soul within me.

For I ^bused to go along with the throng and ¹lead them in procession to the house of God,

With the sound of a ^cshout of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

^5aWhy are you ^1bin despair, O my soul?

And why are you ^cdisturbed within me?

^dWait for God, for I shall still praise Him,

²For the ^3esalvation of His presence.

⁶O my God, my soul is ¹in despair within me;

Therefore I ^aremember You from ^bthe land of the Jordan

And the ²peaks of ^cHermon, from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;

All Your ^abreakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

⁸By day, Yahweh will ^acommand His lovingkindness;

And ^bby night, His song will be with me,

A prayer to ^cthe God of my life.

⁹I say to God ^amy rock, “Why have You forgotten me?

Why do I go ^bmourning ¹because of the ^coppression of the enemy?”

¹⁰As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries reproach me,

While they ^asay to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

^11aWhy are you ¹in despair, O my soul?

And why are you disturbed within me?

Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him,

The salvation of my presence and my God.