Psalm 44–49

PSALM 44

Rise Up, Be Our Help

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

¹O God, we have heard with our ears,

Our ^afathers have recounted to us

The ^bwork that You did in their days,

In the ^cdays of old.

²You with Your own hand ^adispossessed the nations;

Then You ^bplanted them;

You ^cafflicted the peoples,

Then You ^dcast them out.

³For by their own sword they ^adid not possess the land,

And their own arm did not save them,

But Your right hand and Your ^barm and the ^clight of Your presence,

For You ^dfavored them.

⁴You are ^amy King, O God;

^bCommand ¹salvation for Jacob.

⁵Through You we will ^apush back our adversaries;

Through Your name we will ^btread down those who rise up against us.

⁶For I will ^anot trust in my bow,

And my sword will not save me.

⁷But You ^ahave saved us from our adversaries,

And You have ^bput to shame those who hate us.

⁸In God we have ^aboasted all day long,

And we will ^bgive thanks to Your name forever. ¹Selah.

⁹Yet You ^ahave rejected us and brought us to ^bdishonor,

And ^cdo not go out with our armies.

¹⁰You cause us to ^aturn back from the adversary;

And those who hate us ^bhave plundered us for themselves.

¹¹You give us as ^asheep ¹to be eaten

And have ^bscattered us among the nations.

¹²You ^asell Your people ¹for no amount,

And You have not ²profited from their price.

¹³You make us a ^areproach to our neighbors,

A mockery and a ^bderision to those around us.

¹⁴You make us ^aa byword among the nations,

A ^1blaughingstock among the peoples.

¹⁵All day long my dishonor is before me

And ¹the ^ashame of my face has covered me,

¹⁶Because of the voice of him who ^areproaches and reviles,

Because of the presence of the ^benemy and the avenger.

¹⁷All this has come upon us, but we have ^anot forgotten You,

And we have not ^bdealt falsely with Your covenant.

¹⁸Our heart has not ^aturned back,

Nor have our steps ^bdeviated from Your path,

¹⁹Yet You have ^acrushed us in a place of ^bjackals

And covered us with ^cthe shadow of death.

²⁰If we had ^aforgotten the name of our God

Or spread our ¹hands to ^ba strange god,

²¹Would not God ^afind this out?

For He knows the secrets of the heart.

²²But ^afor Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are counted as ^bsheep for the slaughter.

^23aArouse Yourself, why ^bdo You sleep, O Lord?

Awake, ^cdo not reject us forever.

²⁴Why do You ^ahide Your face

And ^bforget our affliction and our oppression?

²⁵For our ^asoul has sunk down into the dust;

Our ¹body cleaves to the earth.

^26aRise up, be our help,

And ^bredeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.

PSALM 45

Your Throne, O God, Is Forever

For the choir director. According to ^†Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. A ^•Maskil. A Song of Love.

¹My heart ¹overflows with a good theme;

I ²address my ³verses to the ⁴King;

My tongue is the pen of ^aa skillful scribe.

²You are fairer than the sons of men;

^aGrace is poured ¹upon Your lips;

Therefore God has ^bblessed You forever.

³Gird ^aYour sword on Your thigh, O ^1bMighty One,

In Your splendor and Your majesty!

⁴And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,

For the cause of truth and ^ameekness and righteousness;

Let Your ^bright hand teach You ¹awesome things.

⁵Your ^aarrows are sharp;

The ^bpeoples fall under You;

Your arrows are ^cin the heart of the King’s enemies.

^6aYour throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of ^buprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁷You have ^aloved righteousness and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has ^banointed You

With the oil of joy above Your companions.

⁸All Your garments are fragrant with ^amyrrh and aloes and cassia;

Out of ivory palaces ^bstringed instruments have made You glad.

⁹Kings’ daughters are among ^aYour noble ladies;

At Your ^bright hand stands the queen in ^cgold from Ophir.

¹⁰Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:

^aForget your people and your father’s house;

¹¹Then the King will desire your beauty.

Because He is your ^aLord, ^bbow down to Him.

¹²The daughter of ^aTyre will come with a present;

The ^brich among the people will seek your favor.

¹³The King’s daughter is all glorious within her chamber;

Her clothing is ^ainterwoven with gold.

¹⁴She will be ^aled to the King ^bin embroidered work;

The ^cvirgins, her companions who follow her,

Will be brought to You.

¹⁵They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;

They will enter into the King’s palace.

¹⁶In place of your fathers will be your sons;

You shall set them up as princes in all the earth.

¹⁷I will cause ^aYour name to be remembered from generation to every generation;

Therefore the peoples ^bwill give You thanks forever and ever.

PSALM 46

God Is Our Refuge and Strength

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. ^†According to Alamoth. A Song.

¹God is our ^arefuge and strength,

¹A very ^bpresent help ^cin ²trouble.

²Therefore we will ^anot fear, though ^bthe earth should change

And though ^cthe mountains shake into the heart of the ¹sea;

³Though its ^awaters roar and foam,

Though the mountains quake at its lofty pride. ¹Selah.

⁴There is a ^ariver whose streams make glad the ^bcity of God,

The holy ^cdwelling places of the Most High.

⁵God is ^ain the midst of her, she will not be shaken;

God will ^bhelp her ¹when morning dawns.

⁶The ¹nations ^aroar, the kingdoms shake;

He ^bgives His voice, the earth ^cmelts.

⁷Yahweh of hosts ^ais with us;

The God of Jacob is ^bour stronghold. Selah.

⁸Come, ^abehold the works of Yahweh,

¹Who has appointed ^bdesolations in the earth.

⁹He ^amakes wars to cease to the end of the earth;

He ^bbreaks the bow and cuts up the spear;

He ^cburns the chariots with fire.

¹⁰“¹Cease striving and ^aknow that I am God;

I will be ^bexalted among the ²nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹Yahweh of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

PSALM 47

God Is King of All the Earth

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.

¹O ^aclap your hands, all peoples;

^bMake a loud shout to God with the sound of a shout of ¹joy.

²For Yahweh Most High is ^1afearsome,

A ^bgreat King over all the earth.

³He ^asubdues peoples under us

And nations under our feet.

⁴He chooses our ^ainheritance for us,

The ^bpride of Jacob whom He loves. ¹Selah.

⁵God has ^aascended ¹with a loud shout,

Yahweh, ²with the ^bsound of a trumpet.

^6aSing praises to God, sing praises;

Sing praises to ^bour King, sing praises.

⁷For God is the ^aKing of all the earth;

Sing praises ^bwith a ¹skillful psalm.

⁸God ^areigns over the nations,

God ¹sits on ^bHis holy throne.

⁹The ^anobles of the peoples have assembled themselves with the ^bpeople of the God of Abraham,

For the ^cshields of the earth belong to God;

He ¹is ^dhighly exalted.

PSALM 48

The City of Our God

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

^1aGreat is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised,

In the ^bcity of our God, His ^choly mountain.

^2aBeautiful in elevation, ^bthe joy of the whole earth,

Is Mount Zion in the far north,

The ^ccity of the great King.

³God, in her palaces,

Has made Himself known as a ^astronghold.

⁴For, behold, the ^akings assembled themselves,

They passed by together.

⁵They saw it, then they were astonished;

They were ^adismayed, they ¹fled in alarm.

⁶¹Panic seized them there,

Anguish, as of ^aa woman in childbirth.

⁷With the ^aeast wind

You ^bbreak the ^cships of Tarshish.

⁸As we have heard, so have we seen

In the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God;

God will ^aestablish her forever. ¹Selah.

⁹We have thought on ^aYour lovingkindness, O God,

In the midst of Your temple.

¹⁰As is Your ^aname, O God,

So is Your ^bpraise to the ends of the earth;

Your ^cright hand is full of righteousness.

¹¹Let Mount ^aZion be glad,

Let the ^bdaughters of Judah rejoice

Because of Your judgments.

¹²Walk about Zion and go around her;

Count her ^atowers;

¹³Consider her ^aramparts;

Go through her palaces,

That you may ^brecount it to the next generation.

¹⁴For this is God,

Our God forever and ever;

He will ^aguide us ¹over death.

PSALM 49

Why Should I Fear in Days of Evil?

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.

^1aHear this, all peoples;

Give ear, all ^binhabitants of the world,

²Both ^1alow and ²high,

Rich and poor together.

³My mouth will ^aspeak wisdom,

And the meditation of my heart will be ^bdiscernment.

⁴I will incline my ear to ^aa proverb;

^bI will ¹express my ^criddle on the harp.

⁵Why should I ^afear in days of evil,

When the iniquity of my ¹supplanters surrounds me,

⁶Even those who ^atrust in their wealth

And boast in the abundance of their riches?

⁷Truly, no man can ^aredeem his brother;

He cannot give to God a ^bransom for him—

⁸For ^athe redemption price for their soul is costly,

And it ceases forever—

⁹That he should ^alive on eternally,

That he should not ^bsee ¹corruption.

¹⁰For he sees that even ^awise men die;

The ^1bfool and the senseless alike perish

And ^cleave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their ^1ainner thought is that their houses ^bare forever

And their dwelling places ²from generation to generation;

They have ^ccalled their lands after their own names.

¹²But ^aman in his honor will not endure;

He is like the animals that ¹perish.

¹³This is the ^away of those who are foolish,

And of those after them who ^bare pleased ¹with their words. ²Selah.

¹⁴As sheep they are appointed ^afor Sheol;

Death will shepherd them;

And the ^bupright shall have dominion over them in the morning,

And their form shall be for Sheol ^cto consume,

Far away from his habitation.

¹⁵But God will ^aredeem my soul from the ¹power of Sheol,

For ^bHe will receive me. Selah.

¹⁶Do not be afraid ^awhen a man becomes rich,

When the ¹glory of his house increases;

¹⁷For when he dies he will not ^atake any of it;

His ¹glory will not descend after him.

¹⁸For while he lives he ^ablesses his soul—

And men will praise you when you do well for yourself—

¹⁹But his soul shall ^ago to the generation of his fathers;

They will eternally not see ^blight.

^20aMan in his honor, but who does not understand,

Is ^blike the animals that ¹perish.