Psalm 42–50

A psalm of the sons of Korah

^1–342A white-tailed deer drinks

from the creek;

I want to drink God,

deep draughts of God.

I’m thirsty for God-alive.

I wonder, “Will I ever make it—

arrive and drink in God’s presence?”

I’m on a diet of tears—

tears for breakfast, tears for supper.

All day long

people knock at my door,

Pestering,

“Where is this God of yours?”

⁴These are the things I go over and over,

emptying out the pockets of my life.

I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,

right out in front,

Leading them all,

eager to arrive and worship,

Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—

celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!

⁵Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

Why are you crying the blues?

Fix my eyes on God—

soon I’ll be praising again.

He puts a smile on my face.

He’s my God.

^6–8When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse

everything I know of you,

From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,

including Mount Mizar.

Chaos calls to chaos,

to the tune of whitewater rapids.

Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers

crash and crush me.

Then God promises to love me all day,

sing songs all through the night!

My life is God’s prayer.

^9–10Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God,

“Why did you let me down?

Why am I walking around in tears,

harassed by enemies?”

They’re out for the kill, these

tormentors with their obscenities,

Taunting day after day,

“Where is this God of yours?”

¹¹Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

Why are you crying the blues?

Fix my eyes on God—

soon I’ll be praising again.

He puts a smile on my face.

He’s my God.

^1–243Clear my name, God; stick up for me

against these loveless, immoral people.

Get me out of here, away

from these lying degenerates.

I counted on you, God.

Why did you walk out on me?

Why am I pacing the floor, wringing my hands

over these outrageous people?

^3–4Give me your lantern and compass,

give me a map,

So I can find my way to the sacred mountain,

to the place of your presence,

To enter the place of worship,

meet my exuberant God,

Sing my thanks with a harp,

magnificent God, my God.

⁵Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?

Why are you crying the blues?

Fix my eyes on God—

soon I’ll be praising again.

He puts a smile on my face.

He’s my God.

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

^1–344We’ve been hearing about this, God,

all our lives.

Our fathers told us the stories

their fathers told them,

How single-handedly you weeded out the godless

from the fields and planted us,

How you sent those people packing

but gave us a fresh start.

We didn’t fight for this land;

we didn’t work for it—it was a gift!

You gave it, smiling as you gave it,

delighting as you gave it.

^4–8You’re my King, O God—

command victories for Jacob!

With your help we’ll wipe out our enemies,

in your name we’ll stomp them to dust.

I don’t trust in weapons;

my sword won’t save me—

But it’s you, you who saved us from the enemy;

you made those who hate us lose face.

All day we parade God’s praise—

we thank you by name over and over.

^9–12But now you’ve walked off and left us,

you’ve disgraced us and won’t fight for us.

You made us turn tail and run;

those who hate us have cleaned us out.

You delivered us as sheep to the butcher,

you scattered us to the four winds.

You sold your people at a discount—

you made nothing on the sale.

^13–16You made people on the street,

urchins, poke fun and call us names.

You made us a joke among the godless,

a cheap joke among the rabble.

Every day I’m up against it,

my nose rubbed in my shame—

Gossip and ridicule fill the air,

people out to get me crowd the street.

^17–19All this came down on us,

and we’ve done nothing to deserve it.

We never betrayed your Covenant: our hearts

were never false, our feet never left your path.

Do we deserve torture in a den of jackals?

or lockup in a black hole?

^20–22If we had forgotten to pray to our God

or made fools of ourselves with store-bought gods,

Wouldn’t God have figured this out?

We can’t hide things from him.

No, you decided to make us martyrs,

lambs assigned for sacrifice each day.

^23–26Get up, God! Are you going to sleep all day?

Wake up! Don’t you care what happens to us?

Why do you bury your face in the pillow?

Why pretend things are just fine with us?

And here we are—flat on our faces in the dirt,

held down with a boot on our necks.

Get up and come to our rescue.

If you love us so much, Help us!

A Wedding Song of the Sons of Korah

¹45My heart bursts its banks,

spilling beauty and goodness.

I pour it out in a poem to the king,

shaping the river into words:

^2–4“You’re the handsomest of men;

every word from your lips is sheer grace,

and God has blessed you, blessed you so much.

Strap your sword to your side, warrior!

Accept praise! Accept due honor!

Ride majestically! Ride triumphantly!

Ride on the side of truth!

Ride for the righteous meek!

^4–5“Your instructions are glow-in-the-dark;

you shoot sharp arrows

Into enemy hearts; the king’s

foes lie down in the dust, beaten.

^6–7“Your throne is God’s throne,

ever and always;

The scepter of your royal rule

measures right living.

You love the right

and hate the wrong.

And that is why God, your very own God,

poured fragrant oil on your head,

Marking you out as king

from among your dear companions.

^8–9“Your ozone-drenched garments

are fragrant with mountain breeze.

Chamber music—from the throne room—

makes you want to dance.

Kings’ daughters are maids in your court,

the Bride glittering with golden jewelry.

^10–12“Now listen, daughter, don’t miss a word:

forget your country, put your home behind you.

Be here—the king is wild for you.

Since he’s your lord, adore him.

Wedding gifts pour in from Tyre;

rich guests shower you with presents.”

^13–15(Her wedding dress is dazzling,

lined with gold by the weavers;

All her dresses and robes

are woven with gold.

She is led to the king,

followed by her virgin companions.

A procession of joy and laughter!

a grand entrance to the king’s palace!)

^16–17“Set your mind now on sons—

don’t dote on father and grandfather.

You’ll set your sons up as princes

all over the earth.

I’ll make you famous for generations;

you’ll be the talk of the town

for a long, long time.”

A Song of the Sons of Korah

^1–346God is a safe place to hide,

ready to help when we need him.

We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,

courageous in sea-storm and earthquake,

Before the rush and roar of oceans,

the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^4–6River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,

this sacred haunt of the Most High.

God lives here, the streets are safe,

God at your service from crack of dawn.

Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,

but Earth does anything he says.

⁷Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^8–10Attention, all! See the marvels of God!

He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,

Bans war from pole to pole,

breaks all the weapons across his knee.

“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,

loving look at me, your High God,

above politics, above everything.”

¹¹Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

^1–947Applause, everyone. Bravo, bravissimo!

Shout God-songs at the top of your lungs!

God Most High is stunning,

astride land and ocean.

He crushes hostile people,

puts nations at our feet.

He set us at the head of the line,

prize-winning Jacob, his favorite.

Loud cheers as God climbs the mountain,

a ram’s horn blast at the summit.

Sing songs to God, sing out!

Sing to our King, sing praise!

He’s Lord over earth,

so sing your best songs to God.

God is Lord of godless nations—

sovereign, he’s King of the mountain.

Princes from all over are gathered,

people of Abraham’s God.

The powers of earth are God’s—

he soars over all.

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

^1–348God majestic,

praise abounds in our God-city!

His sacred mountain,

breathtaking in its heights—earth’s joy.

Zion Mountain looms in the North,

city of the world-King.

God in his citadel peaks

impregnable.

^4–6The kings got together,

they united and came.

They took one look and shook their heads,

they scattered and ran away.

They doubled up in pain

like a woman having a baby.

^7–8You smashed the ships of Tarshish

with a storm out of the East.

We heard about it, then we saw it

with our eyes—

In God’s city of Angel Armies,

in the city our God

Set on firm foundations,

firm forever.

^9–10We pondered your love-in-action, God,

waiting in your temple:

Your name, God, evokes a train

of Hallelujahs wherever

It is spoken, near and far;

your arms are heaped with goodness-in-action.

¹¹Be glad, Zion Mountain;

Dance, Judah’s daughters!

He does what he said he’d do!

^12–14Circle Zion, take her measure,

count her fortress peaks,

Gaze long at her sloping bulwark,

climb her citadel heights—

Then you can tell the next generation

detail by detail the story of God,

Our God forever,

who guides us till the end of time.

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

^1–249Listen, everyone, listen—

earth-dwellers, don’t miss this.

All you haves

and have-nots,

All together now: listen.

^3–4I set plainspoken wisdom before you,

my heart-seasoned understandings of life.

I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise,

I solve life’s riddle with the help of a harp.

^5–6So why should I fear in bad times,

hemmed in by enemy malice,

Shoved around by bullies,

demeaned by the arrogant rich?

^7–9Really! There’s no such thing as self-rescue,

pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

The cost of rescue is beyond our means,

and even then it doesn’t guarantee

Life forever, or insurance

against the Black Hole.

^10–11Anyone can see that the brightest and best die,

wiped out right along with fools and dunces.

They leave all their prowess behind,

move into their new home, The Coffin,

The cemetery their permanent address.

And to think they named counties after themselves!

¹²We aren’t immortal. We don’t last long.

Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.

^13–15This is what happens to those who live for the moment,

who only look out for themselves:

Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;

they disappear down the gullet of the grave;

They waste away to nothing—

nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.

But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,

he reaches down and grabs me.

^16–19So don’t be impressed…