Psalm 42–72

BOOK 2

PSALM 42

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

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

¹As the deer ¹pants for the water brooks,

So my soul ^apants 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 voice of ^cjoy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

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

And why have you become ^cdisturbed within me?

^2dHope in God, for I shall ³again praise ⁴Him

For the ^5ehelp 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.

⁸The Lord will ^acommand His lovingkindness in the daytime;

And His song will be with me ^bin the night,

A prayer to ^cthe God of my life.

⁹I will 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 revile me,

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

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

And why have you become disturbed within me?

²Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,

The ³help of my countenance and my God.

PSALM 43

Prayer for Deliverance.

^1aVindicate me, O God, and ^bplead my case against an ungodly nation;

¹O deliver me from ^cthe deceitful and unjust man!

²For You are the ^aGod of my strength; why have You ^brejected me?

Why do I go ^cmourning ¹because of the oppression of the enemy?

³O send out Your ^alight and Your truth, let them lead me;

Let them bring me to Your ^bholy hill

And to Your ^cdwelling places.

⁴Then I will go to ^athe altar of God,

To God ¹my exceeding ^bjoy;

And upon the ^clyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

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

And why are you disturbed within me?

²Hope in God, for I shall ³again praise Him,

The ⁴help of my countenance and my God.

PSALM 44

Former Deliverances and Present Troubles.

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

¹O God, we have heard with our ears,

Our ^afathers have told us

The ^bwork that You did in their days,

In the ^cdays of old.

²You with Your own hand ^adrove out the nations;

Then You ^bplanted them;

You ^cafflicted the peoples,

Then You ^dspread them abroad.

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 ¹victories for Jacob.

⁵Through You we will ^apush back our adversaries;

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

⁶For I will ^anot trust in my bow,

Nor will my sword 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 taken spoil for themselves.

¹¹You give us as ^asheep ¹to be eaten

And have ^bscattered us among the nations.

¹²You ^asell Your people ¹cheaply,

And have not ²profited by their sale.

¹³You make us a ^areproach to our neighbors,

A scoffing 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 ¹my ^ahumiliation has overwhelmed 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,

And our steps ^bhave not deviated from Your way,

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 extended 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 considered as ^bsheep to be slaughtered.

^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 body cleaves to the earth.

^26aRise up, be our help,

And ^bredeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.

PSALM 45

A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.

For the choir director; according to the ^†Shoshannim. A ^•Maskil of the sons of Korah. 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 ready writer.

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 fellows.

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 gift;

The ^brich among the people will seek your favor.

¹³The King’s daughter is all glorious within;

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 make them princes in all the earth.

¹⁷I will cause ^aYour name to be remembered in all generations;

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

PSALM 46

God the Refuge of His People.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, ^†set 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 slip into the heart of the ¹sea;

³Though its ^awaters roar and foam,

Though the mountains quake at its swelling 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 moved;

God will ^bhelp her ¹when morning dawns.

⁶The ¹nations ^amade an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;

He ^2braised His voice, the earth ^cmelted.

⁷The Lord of hosts ^ais with us;

The God of Jacob is ^bour stronghold.

Selah.

⁸Come, ^abehold the works of the Lord,

¹Who has wrought ^bdesolations in the earth.

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

He ^bbreaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

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.”

¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Selah.

PSALM 47

God the King of the Earth.

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

¹O ^aclap your hands, all peoples;

^bShout to God with the voice of ¹joy.

²For the Lord Most High is to be ^afeared,

A ^bgreat King over all the earth.

³He ^asubdues peoples under us

And nations under our feet.

⁴He chooses our ^ainheritance for us,

The ^bglory of Jacob whom He loves.

¹Selah.

⁵God has ^aascended ¹with a shout,

The Lord, with 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 ^1aprinces of the people have assembled themselves as the ^bpeople of the God of Abraham,

For the ^cshields of the earth belong to God;

He ²is ^dhighly exalted.

PSALM 48

The Beauty and Glory of Zion.

A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

^1aGreat is the Lord, 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, lo, the ^akings assembled themselves,

They passed by together.

⁵They saw it, then they were amazed;

They were ^aterrified, 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 the Lord 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 daughters 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 ^btell it to the next generation.

¹⁴For ¹such is God,

Our God forever and ever;

He will ^aguide us …