NAS - Psalms 39 to 43

Psalm 39

The Vanity of Life.

For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

¹I said, "I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence." ² I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, And my sorrow grew worse. ³ My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned; Then I spoke with my tongue: ⁴"LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. ⁵ "Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah. ⁶ "Surely every man walks about as a phantom; Surely they make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

⁷"And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. ⁸"Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the foolish. ⁹"I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who have done it. ¹⁰ "Remove Your plague from me; Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing. ¹¹ "With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is a mere breath. Selah.

¹²"Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner like all my fathers. ¹³ "Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again Before I depart and am no more."

Psalm 40

God Sustains His Servant.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. ²He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. ³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.

⁴How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. ⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.

⁶Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. ⁷Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. ⁸I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart."

⁹I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O LORD, You know. ¹⁰I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

¹¹You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. ¹²For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.

¹³Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; Make haste, O LORD, to help me. ¹⁴Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to destroy it; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in my hurt. ¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, "Aha, aha!" ¹⁶ Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!" ¹⁷ Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.

Psalm 41

The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble. ² The LORD will protect him and keep him alive, And he shall be called blessed upon the earth; And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. ³ The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.

⁴As for me, I said, "O LORD, be gracious to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You." ⁵ My enemies speak evil against me, "When will he die, and his name perish?" ⁶ And when he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood; His heart gathers wickedness to itself; When he goes outside, he tells it. ⁷ All who hate me whisper together against me; Against me they devise my hurt, saying, ⁸ "A wicked thing is poured out upon him, That when he lies down, he will not rise up again." ⁹ Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up 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 are pleased with me, Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me. ¹² As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And You set me in Your presence forever.

¹³Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

BOOK2

Psalm 42

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

¹As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. ²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? ³ My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" ⁴ These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

⁵Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. ⁶O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. ⁷Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. ⁸ The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I will say to God my rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" ¹⁰ As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" ¹¹ Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 43

Prayer for Deliverance.

¹Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! ² For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. ⁴Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

⁵Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.