Book Two: Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42

Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses

To the Chief Musician. A 1Contemplation of the Sons of Korah.

1 As the deer 2pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

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

When shall I come and 3appear before God?

3 cMy tears have been my food day and night,

While they continually say to me,

d“Where is your God?”

4 When 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.

5 gWhy 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.

6 6O 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.

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

iAll Your waves and billows have gone over me.

8 The 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.

9 I will say to God my Rock,

l“Why have You forgotten me?

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

10 As with a 8breaking of my bones,

My enemies 9reproach me,

mWhile they say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

11 nWhy 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.

Psalm 43

Prayer to God in Time of Trouble

1 Vindicate ame, O God,

And bplead my cause against an ungodly nation;

Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

2 For You are the God of my strength;

Why do You cast me off?

cWhy do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 dOh, send out Your light and Your truth!

Let them lead me;

Let them bring me to eYour holy hill

And to Your 1tabernacle.

4 Then I will go to the altar of God,

To God my exceeding joy;

And on the harp I will praise You,

O God, my God.

5 fWhy are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The 2help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 44

Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor

To the Chief Musician. A aContemplation 1Of the Sons of Korah.

1 We have heard with our ears, O God, bOur fathers have told us,

The deeds You did in their days,

In days of old:

2 cYou drove out the 2nations with Your hand,

But them You planted;

You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.

3 For dthey did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,

Nor did their own arm save them;

But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,

eBecause You favored them.

4 fYou are my King, 3O God;

4Command victories for Jacob.

5 Through You gwe will push down our enemies;

Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

6 For hI will not trust in my bow,

Nor shall my sword save me.

7 But You have saved us from our enemies,

And have put to shame those who hated us.

8 iIn God we boast all day long,

And praise Your name forever.

Selah

9 But jYou have cast us off and put us to shame,

And You do not go out with our armies.

10 You make us kturn back from the enemy,

And those who hate us have taken 5spoil for themselves.

11 lYou have given us up like sheep intended for food,

And have mscattered us among the nations.

12 nYou sell Your people for next to nothing,

And are not enriched by selling them.

13 oYou make us a reproach to our neighbors,

A scorn and a derision to those all around us.

14 pYou make us a byword among the nations,

qA shaking of the head among the peoples.

15 My dishonor is continually before me,

And the shame of my face has covered me,

16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,

rBecause of the enemy and the avenger.

17 sAll this has come upon us;

But we have not forgotten You,

Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.

18 Our heart has not turned back,

tNor have our steps departed from Your way;

19 But You have severely broken us in uthe place of jackals,

And covered us vwith the shadow of death.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,

Or wstretched 6out our hands to a foreign god,

21 xWould not God search this out?

For He knows the secrets of the heart.

22 yYet for Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

23 zAwake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?

Arise! Do not cast us off forever.

24 aWhy do You hide Your face,

And forget our affliction and our oppression?

25 For bour soul is bowed down to the 7dust;

Our body clings to the ground.

26 Arise for our help,

And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.

Psalm 45

The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride

To the Chief Musician. aSet to 1“The Lilies.” A 2Contemplation of the Sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

1 My heart is overflowing with a good theme;

I recite my composition concerning the King;

My tongue is the pen of a 3ready writer.

2 You are fairer than the sons of men;

bGrace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever.

3 4Gird Your csword upon Your thigh, dO Mighty One,

With Your eglory and Your majesty.

4 fAnd in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;

And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.

5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;

The peoples fall under You.

6 gYour throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A hscepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has ianointed You

With the oil of jgladness more than Your companions.

8 All Your garments are kscented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,

Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.

9 lKings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;

mAt Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

10 Listen, O daughter,

Consider and incline your ear;

nForget your own people also, and your father’s house;

11 So the King will greatly desire your beauty;

oBecause He is your Lord, worship Him.

12 And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;

pThe rich among the people will seek your favor.

13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;

Her clothing is woven with gold.

14 qShe shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;

The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.

15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;

They shall enter the King’s palace.

16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,

rWhom You shall make princes in all the earth.

17 sI will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.

Psalm 46

God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song aFor Alamoth.

1 God is our brefuge and strength, cA 1very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the 2midst of the sea;

3 dThough its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

Selah

4 There is a eriver whose streams shall make glad the fcity of God,

The holy place of the 3tabernacle of the Most High.

5 God is gin the midst of her, she shall not be 4moved;

God shall help her, just 5at the break of dawn.

6 hThe nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;

He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

7 The iLord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,

Who has made desolations in the earth.

9 jHe makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

kHe breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

lHe burns the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God;

mI will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

11 The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah