Psalm 40–42

Psalm 40

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹I ^awaited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

²He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of ^bthe miry clay,

And ^cset my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

^3dHe has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

^4eBlessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,

And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

^5fMany, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works

Which You have done;

^gAnd Your thoughts toward us

Cannot be recounted to You in order;

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

^6hSacrifice and offering You did not desire;

My ears You have opened.

Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

⁷Then I said, “Behold, I come;

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

⁸ⁱI delight to do Your will, O my God,

And Your law is ^jwithin my heart.”

^9kI have proclaimed the good news of righteousness

In the great assembly;

Indeed, ^lI do not restrain my lips,

O Lord, You Yourself know.

^10mI have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;

I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth

From the great assembly.

¹¹Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord;

ⁿLet Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

¹²For innumerable evils have surrounded me;

^oMy iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;

They are more than the hairs of my head;

Therefore my heart fails me.

^13pBe pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

O Lord, make haste to help me!

^14qLet them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion

Who seek to destroy my ¹life;

Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor

Who wish me evil.

¹⁵Let them be ^rconfounded because of their shame,

Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

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

Let such as love Your salvation ^tsay continually,

“The Lord be magnified!”

^17uBut I am poor and needy;

^vYet the Lord thinks upon me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

Do not delay, O my God.

Psalm 41

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹Blessed is he who considers the ¹poor;

The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

²The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,

And he will be blessed on the earth;

^aYou will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

³The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;

You will ²sustain him on his sickbed.

⁴I said, “Lord, be merciful to me;

^bHeal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

⁵My enemies speak evil of me:

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

⁶And if he comes to see me, he speaks ³lies;

His heart gathers iniquity to itself;

When he goes out, he tells it.

⁷All who hate me whisper together against me;

Against me they ⁴devise my hurt.

⁸“An ⁵evil disease,” they say, “clings to him.

And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.”

^9cEven my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,

^dWho ate my bread,

Has ⁶lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up,

That I may repay them.

¹¹By this I know that You are well pleased with me,

Because my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹²As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,

And ^eset me before Your face forever.

^13fBlessed be the Lord God of Israel

From everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

Book Two: Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42

To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the Sons of Korah.

¹As the deer ²pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

^2aMy soul thirsts for God, for the ^bliving God.

When shall I come and ³appear before God?

^3cMy tears have been my food day and night,

While they continually say to me,

^d“Where is your God?”

⁴When I remember these things,

^eI pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go with the multitude;

^fI went with them to the house of God,

With the voice of joy and praise,

With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

^5gWhy are you ⁴cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

^hHope in God, for I shall yet praise Him

⁵For the help of His countenance.

⁶⁶O my God, my soul is cast down within me;

Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,

And from the heights of Hermon,

From ⁷the Hill Mizar.

⁷Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;

ⁱAll Your waves and billows have gone over me.

⁸The Lord will ^jcommand His lovingkindness in the daytime,

And ^kin the night His song shall be with me—

A prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I will say to God my Rock,

^l“Why have You forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

¹⁰As with a ⁸breaking of my bones,

My enemies ⁹reproach me,

^mWhile they say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

¹¹ⁿWhy are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The ¹help of my countenance and my God.