Psalm 37–39

PSALM 37

Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.

A Psalm of David.

^1aDo not fret because of evildoers,

Be not ^benvious toward wrongdoers.

²For they will ^awither quickly like the grass

And ^bfade like the green herb.

^3aTrust in the Lord and do good;

^bDwell in the land and ^1ccultivate faithfulness.

^4aDelight yourself in the Lord;

And He will ^bgive you the desires of your heart.

^5aCommit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

⁶He will bring forth ^ayour righteousness as the light

And your judgment ^bas the noonday.

⁷¹Rest in the Lord and ^await ²patiently for Him;

^bDo not fret because of him who ^cprospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

⁸Cease from anger and ^aforsake wrath;

Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

⁹For ^aevildoers will be cut off,

But those who wait for the Lord, they will ^binherit the land.

¹⁰Yet ^aa little while and the wicked man will be no more;

And you will look carefully for ^bhis place and he will not be there.

¹¹But ^athe humble will inherit the land

And will delight themselves in ^babundant prosperity.

¹²The wicked ^aplots against the righteous

And ^bgnashes at him with his teeth.

¹³The Lord ^alaughs at him,

For He sees ^bhis day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked have drawn the sword and ^abent their bow

To cast down the ^bafflicted and the needy,

To ^cslay those who are upright in conduct.

¹⁵Their sword will enter their own heart,

And their ^abows will be broken.

^16aBetter is the little of the righteous

Than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For the ^aarms of the wicked will be broken,

But the Lord ^bsustains the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord ^aknows the days of the ¹blameless,

And their ^binheritance will be forever.

¹⁹They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,

And ^ain the days of famine they will have abundance.

²⁰But the ^awicked will perish;

And the enemies of the Lord will be like the ¹glory of the pastures,

They vanish—^blike smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows and does not pay back,

But the righteous ^ais gracious and gives.

²²For ^athose blessed by Him will ^binherit the land,

But those ^ccursed by Him will be cut off.

^23aThe steps of a man are established by the Lord,

And He ^bdelights in his way.

²⁴When ^ahe falls, he will not be hurled headlong,

Because ^bthe Lord is the One ¹who holds his hand.

²⁵I have been young and now I am old,

Yet ^aI have not seen the righteous forsaken

Or ^bhis ¹descendants begging bread.

²⁶All day long ^ahe is gracious and lends,

And ^bhis ¹descendants are a blessing.

^27aDepart from evil and do good,

¹So you will abide ^bforever.

²⁸For the Lord ^aloves ¹justice

And ^bdoes not forsake His godly ones;

They are ^cpreserved forever,

But the ^2ddescendants of the wicked will be cut off.

²⁹The righteous will ^ainherit the land

And ^bdwell in it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous ^autters wisdom,

And his tongue ^bspeaks justice.

³¹The ^alaw of his God is in his heart;

His ^bsteps do not slip.

³²The ^awicked spies upon the righteous

And ^bseeks to kill him.

³³The Lord will ^anot leave him in his hand

Or ^blet him be condemned when he is judged.

^34aWait for the Lord and keep His way,

And He will exalt you to inherit the land;

When the ^bwicked are cut off, you will see it.

³⁵I have ^aseen a wicked, violent man

Spreading himself like a ^bluxuriant ¹tree in its native soil.

³⁶Then ¹he passed away, and lo, he ^awas no more;

I sought for him, but he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the ^1ablameless man, and behold the ^bupright;

For the man of peace will have a ^2cposterity.

³⁸But transgressors will be altogether ^adestroyed;

The ¹posterity of the wicked will be ^bcut off.

³⁹But the ^asalvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

He is their strength ^bin time of trouble.

^40aThe Lord helps them and delivers them;

He ^bdelivers them from the wicked and saves them,

Because they ^ctake refuge in Him.

PSALM 38

Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.

A Psalm of David, for a memorial.

¹O Lord, ^arebuke me not in Your wrath,

And chasten me not in Your burning anger.

²For Your ^aarrows have sunk deep into me,

And ^bYour hand has pressed down on me.

³There is ^ano soundness in my flesh ^bbecause of Your indignation;

There is no health ^cin my bones because of my sin.

⁴For my ^ainiquities are gone over my head;

As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

⁵My ¹wounds grow foul and fester

Because of ^amy folly.

⁶I am bent over and ^agreatly bowed down;

I ^bgo mourning all day long.

⁷For my loins are filled with ^aburning,

And there is ^bno soundness in my flesh.

⁸I am ^abenumbed and ¹badly crushed;

I ^2bgroan because of the ³agitation of my heart.

⁹Lord, all ^amy desire is ¹before You;

And my ^bsighing is not hidden from You.

¹⁰My heart throbs, ^amy strength fails me;

And the ^blight of my eyes, even ¹that ²has gone from me.

¹¹My ^1aloved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;

And my kinsmen ^bstand afar off.

¹²Those who ^aseek my life ^blay snares for me;

And those who ^cseek to injure me have ¹threatened destruction,

And they ^ddevise treachery all day long.

¹³But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;

And I am like a ^amute man who does not open his mouth.

¹⁴Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,

And in whose mouth are no arguments.

¹⁵For ^aI ¹hope in You, O Lord;

You ^bwill answer, O Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,

Who, when my foot slips, ^awould magnify themselves against me.”

¹⁷For I am ^aready to fall,

And ^bmy ¹sorrow is continually before me.

¹⁸For I ^1aconfess my iniquity;

I am full of ^banxiety because of my sin.

¹⁹But my ^aenemies are vigorous and ¹strong,

And many are those who ^bhate me wrongfully.

²⁰And those who ^arepay evil for good,

They ^boppose me, because I follow what is good.

²¹Do not forsake me, O Lord;

O my God, ^ado not be far from me!

²²Make ^ahaste to help me,

O Lord, ^bmy salvation!

PSALM 39

The Vanity of Life.

For the choir director, for ^†Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

¹I said, “I will ^aguard my ways

That I ^bmay not sin with my tongue;

I will guard ^cmy mouth as with a muzzle

While the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was ^amute ¹and silent,

I ²refrained even from good,

And my ³sorrow grew worse.

³My ^aheart was hot within me,

While I was musing the fire burned;

Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“Lord, make me to know ^amy end

And what is the extent of my days;

Let me know how ^btransient I am.

⁵“Behold, You have made ^amy days as handbreadths,

And my ^blifetime as nothing in Your sight;

Surely every man ¹at his best is ²a mere ^cbreath.

³Selah.

⁶“Surely every man ^awalks about as ¹a phantom;

Surely they make an ^buproar for nothing;

He ^camasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

⁷“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?

My ^ahope is in You.

⁸“^aDeliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the ^breproach of the foolish.

⁹“I have become ^amute, I do not open my mouth,

Because it is ^bYou who have done it.

¹⁰“^aRemove Your plague from me;

Because of ^bthe opposition of Your hand I am ¹perishing.

¹¹“With ^areproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;

You ^bconsume as a moth what is precious to him;

Surely ^cevery man is a mere breath.

Selah.

¹²“^aHear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;

Do not be silent ^bat my tears;

For I am ^ca stranger with You,

A ^dsojourner like all my fathers.

¹³“^aTurn Your gaze away from me, that I may ¹smile again

Before I depart and am no more.”