Psalm 39

What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun.[1] A Psalm of David.

39:1 I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence.” ²I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse. ³ My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! ⁵Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah ⁶ Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing[2] they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

⁷“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. ⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool! ⁹I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. ¹⁰Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand. ¹¹When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

¹²“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. ¹³Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!”

[1] Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] Hebrew Surely as a breath

Psalm 40

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. ²He drew me up from the pit of destruction, 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 a lie! ⁵You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

⁶Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but you have given me an open ear.^[3]Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. ⁷Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: ⁸I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

⁹I have told the glad news of deliverance[4] in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. ¹⁰I have not hidden your deliverance 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.

¹¹As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! ¹²For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and 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 those be put to shame and disappointed altogether 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!

[3] Hebrew ears you have dug for me [4] Hebrew righteousness; also verse 10

Psalm 41

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

41:1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor![5] In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; ²the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. ³The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.^[6]

⁴As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me,[7] for I have sinned against you! 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 iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad. ⁷All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.^[8]

⁸They say, “A deadly thing is poured out[9] on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” ⁹Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his 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 delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph 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.

[5] Or weak [6] Hebrew you turn all his bed [7] Hebrew my soul [8] Or they devise evil against me [9] Or has fastened

Psalm 42

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil[10] of the Sons of Korah.

42:1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. ²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?^[11]³My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?” ⁴These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation[12] ⁶and 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 roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves 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 do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” ¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones, 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 in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

[10] Probably a musical or liturgical term [11] Revocalization yields and see the face of God [12] Hebrew the salvation of my face; also verse 11 and 43:5

Psalm 43

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me! ²For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! ⁴Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.