Psalm 39–41

PSALM 39

To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

¹I said, “I will guard my ways,

that I may not sin with my tongue;

I will bridle^y my mouth,

so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was dumb and silent,

I held my peace to no avail;

my distress grew worse,

³my heart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“Lord, let me know my end,

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting my life is!

⁵Behold, thou hast made my days a few handbreadths,

and my lifetime is as nothing in thy sight.

Surely every man stands as a mere breath! Selah

⁶Surely man goes about as a shadow!

Surely for nought are they in turmoil;

man heaps up, and knows not who will gather!

⁷“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in thee.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Make me not the scorn of the fool!

⁹I am dumb, I do not open my mouth;

for it is thou who hast done it.

¹⁰Remove thy stroke from me;

I am spent by the blows^z of thy hand.

¹¹When thou dost chasten man

with rebukes for sin,

thou dost consume like a moth what is dear to him;

surely every man is a mere breath! Selah

¹²“Hear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not thy peace at my tears!

For I am thy passing guest,

a sojourner, like all my fathers.

¹³Look away from me, that I may know gladness,

before I depart and be no more!”

PSALM 40

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

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

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.

⁴Blessed is the man who makes

the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

to those who go astray after false gods!

⁵Thou hast multiplied, O Lord my God,

thy wondrous deeds and thy thoughts toward us;

none can compare with thee!

Were I to proclaim and tell of them,

they would be more than can be numbered.

⁶Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire;

but thou hast given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

thou hast not required.

⁷Then I said, “Lo, I come;

in the roll of the book it is written of me;

⁸I delight to do thy will, O my God;

thy law is within my heart.”

⁹I have told the glad news of deliverance

in the great congregation;

lo, I have not restrained my lips,

as thou knowest, O Lord.

¹⁰I have not hid thy saving help within my heart,

I have spoken of thy faithfulness and thy salvation;

I have not concealed thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness

from the great congregation.

¹¹Do not thou, O Lord, withhold

thy mercy from me,

let thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness

ever preserve me!

¹²For evils have encompassed me

without number;

my iniquities have overtaken me,

till I cannot see;

they are more than the hairs of my head;

my heart fails me.

¹³Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!

O Lord, make haste to help me!

¹⁴Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let them be turned back and brought to dishonor

who desire my hurt!

¹⁵Let them be appalled because of their shame

who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

¹⁶But may all who seek thee

rejoice and be glad in thee;

may those who love thy salvation

say continually, “Great is the Lord!”

¹⁷As for me, I am poor and needy;

but the Lord takes thought for me.

Thou art my help and my deliverer;

do not tarry, O my God!

PSALM 41

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹Blessed is he who considers the poor!^c

The Lord delivers him in the day of trouble;

²the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

thou dost not give him up to the will of his enemies.

³The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness thou healest all his infirmities.

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

heal me, for I have sinned against thee!”

⁵My enemies say of me in malice:

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

⁶And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,

while his heart gathers mischief;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

⁷All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.

⁸They say, “A deadly thing has fastened upon him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.”

⁹Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,

who ate of my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

¹⁰But do thou, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may requite them!

¹¹By this I know that thou art pleased with me,

in that my enemy has not triumphed over me.

¹²But thou hast upheld me because of my integrity,

and set me in thy presence for ever.

¹³Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.