Psalm 40–42

Psalm 40

Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

¹I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.^*

²He drew me up from the desolate pit,^x

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.^*

³He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the Lord.^*

⁴Happy are those who make

the Lord their trust,

who do not turn to the proud,

to those who go astray after false gods.^*

⁵You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

none can compare with you.

Were I to proclaim and tell of them,

they would be more than can be counted.^*

⁶Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,

but you have given me an open ear.^y

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.^*

⁷Then I said, “Here I am;

in the scroll of the book it is written of me.^z

⁸I delight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.”^*

⁹I have told the glad news of deliverance

in the great congregation;

see, I have not restrained my lips,

as you know, O Lord.^*

¹⁰I have not hidden your saving help within my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

from the great congregation.^*

¹¹Do not, O Lord, withhold

your mercy from me;

let your steadfast love and your faithfulness

keep me safe forever.^*

¹²For evils have encompassed me

without number;

my iniquities have overtaken me

until I cannot see;

they are more than the hairs of my head,

and my heart fails me.^*

¹³Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

O Lord, make haste to help me.^*

¹⁴Let all those be put to shame and confusion

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be turned back and brought to dishonor

who desire my hurt.^*

¹⁵Let those be appalled because of their shame

who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”^*

¹⁶But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

say continually, “Great is the Lord!”^*

¹⁷As for me, I am poor and needy,

but the Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God.^*

Psalm 41

Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

¹Happy are those who consider the poor;^a

the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.^*

²The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;

they are called happy in the land.

You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.^*

³The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;

in their illness you heal all their infirmities.^b*

⁴As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;

heal me, for I have sinned against you.”^*

⁵My enemies wonder in malice

when I will die and my name perish.^*

⁶And when they come to see me, they utter empty words

while their hearts gather mischief;

when they go out, they tell it abroad.^*

⁷All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.^*

⁸They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,

that I will not rise again from where I lie.^*

⁹Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.^*

¹⁰But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them.^*

¹¹By this I know that you are pleased with me:

because my enemy has not triumphed over me.^*

¹²But you have upheld me because of my integrity

and set me in your presence forever.^*

¹³Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.^*

Book II

(Psalms 42–72)

Psalm 42

Longing for God and His Help in Distress

To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites.

¹As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for you, O God.^*

²My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and behold

the face of God?^*

³My tears have been my food

day and night,

while people say to me continually,

“Where is your God?”^*

⁴These things I remember,

as I pour out my soul:

how I went with the throng^c

and led them in procession to the house of God,

with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,

a multitude keeping festival.^*

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,

my help^{* 6}and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I remember you

from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,

from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep

at the thunder of your torrents;

all your waves and your billows

have gone over me.^*

⁸By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

and at night his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.^*

⁹I say to God, my rock,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I walk about mournfully

because the enemy oppresses me?”^*

¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my body,

my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me continually,

“Where is your God?”^*

¹¹Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,

my help and my God.^*