PSALM 52

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man?

Why do you boast all day long,

you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

Your tongue plots destruction;

it is like a sharpened razor,

you who practice deceit.

You love evil rather than good,

falsehood rather than speaking the truth.

Selah

You love every harmful word,

O you deceitful tongue!

Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:

he will snatch you up and tear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living.

Selah

The righteous will see and fear;

they will laugh at him, saying,

“Here now is the man

who did not make God his stronghold

but trusted in his great wealth

and grew strong by destroying others!”

But I am like an olive tree

flourishing in the house of God;

I trust in God’s unfailing love

for ever and ever.

I will praise you forever for what you have done;

in your name I will hope, for your name is good.

I will praise you in the presence of your saints.

PSALM 51

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are right in your verdict

and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

so that sinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

you who are God my Savior,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart

you, God, will not despise.

May it please you to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

in burnt offerings offered whole;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

PSALM 50

The Mighty One, God the LORD,

has spoken and called the earth

from the rising of the sun to its going down.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God will shine forth.

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;

a fire shall devour before him,

and it shall be very tempestuous all around him.

         

He shall call to the heavens from above,

and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

“Gather my saints together to me,

those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

Let the heavens declare his righteousness,

for God himself is Judge.  Selah  

         

“Hear, O my people, and I will speak,

O Israel, and I will testify against you;

I am God, your God!

I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices

or your burnt offerings,

which are continually before me.

I will not take a bull from your house,

nor goats out of your folds.

For every beast of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know all the birds of the mountains,

and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

         

“If I were hungry, I would not tell you;

for the world is mine, and all its fullness.

Will I eat the flesh of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

Offer to God thanksgiving,

and pay your vows to the Most High.

 Call upon me in the day of trouble;

 I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

         

But to the wicked God says:

“What right have you to declare my statutes,

or take my covenant in your mouth,

seeing you hate instruction

and cast my words behind you?

When you saw a thief, you consented with him,

and have been a partaker with adulterers.

You give your mouth to evil,

and your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother;

you slander your own mother’s son.

These things you have done, and I kept silent;

you thought that I was altogether like you;

but I will rebuke you,

and set them in order before your eyes.

         

“Now consider this, you who forget God,

lest I tear you in pieces,

and there be none to deliver:

whoever offers praise glorifies me;

and to him who orders his conduct aright

I will show the salvation of God.”

PSALM 49

Hear this, all peoples;

give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

both low and high,

rich and poor together.

My mouth shall speak wisdom,

and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.

I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will disclose my dark saying on the harp.

         

Why should I fear in the days of evil,

when the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

Those who trust in their wealth

and boast in the multitude of their riches,

none of them can by any means redeem his brother,

nor give to God a ransom for him—

for the redemption of their souls is costly,

and it shall cease forever—

that he should continue to live eternally,

and not see the pit.

         

For he sees wise men die;

likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,

and leave their wealth to others.

Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,

their dwelling places to all generations;

they call their lands after their own names.

Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain;

he is like the beasts that perish.

         

This is the way of those who are foolish,

and of their posterity who approve their sayings.  Selah  

Like sheep they are laid in the grave;

death shall feed on them;

the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;

and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave,

far from their dwelling.

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,

for he shall receive me.  Selah  

         

Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,

when the glory of his house is increased;

for when he dies he shall carry nothing away;

his glory shall not descend after him.

Though while he lives he blesses himself

(For men will praise you when you do well for yourself),

he shall go to the generation of his fathers;

they shall never see light.

A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,

is like the beasts that perish.

PSLAM 48

The LORD is great; he should be praised

in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.

It is high and beautiful

and brings joy to the whole world.

Mount Zion is like the high mountains of the north;

it is the city of the Great King.

God is within its palaces;

he is known as its defender.

Kings joined together

and came to attack the city.

But when they saw it, they were amazed.

They ran away in fear.

Fear took hold of them;

they hurt like a woman having a baby.

You destroyed the large trading ships

with an east wind.

First we heard

and now we have seen

that God will always keep his city safe.

It is the city of the Lord All-Powerful,

the city of our God.

Selah

God, we come into your Temple

to think about your love.

God, your name is known everywhere;

all over the earth people praise you.

Your right hand is full of goodness.

Mount Zion is happy

and all the towns of Judah rejoice,

because your decisions are fair.

Walk around Jerusalem

and count its towers.

Notice how strong they are.

Look at the palaces.

Then you can tell your children about them.

This God is our God forever and ever.

He will guide us from now on.

PSALM 47

Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

For the LORD Most High is awesome,

the great King over all the earth.

He subdued nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

He chose our inheritance for us,

the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

God has ascended amid shouts of joy,

the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth;

sing to him a psalm of praise.

God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the kings of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted

PSALM 46

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

The holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

Come and see the works of the LORD,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,

he burns the shields with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

PSALM 45

My heart overflows with a good theme;

I address my verses to the King;

my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

You are fairer than the sons of men;

grace is poured upon your lips;

therefore God has blessed you forever.

Gird your sword on your thigh, O Mighty One,

in your splendor and your majesty!

And in your majesty ride on victoriously,

for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

let your right hand teach you awesome things.

Your arrows are sharp;

the peoples fall under you;

your arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies.

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of joy above your fellows.

All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.

Kings' daughters are among your noble ladies;

at your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:

forget your people and your father's house;

then the King will desire your beauty.

Because he is your LORD, bow down to him.

The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;

the rich among the people will seek your favor.

The King's daughter is all glorious within;

her clothing is interwoven with gold.

She will be led to the King in embroidered work;

the virgins, her companions who follow her,

will be brought to you.

They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;

they will enter into the King's palace.

In place of your fathers will be your sons;

you shall make them princes in all the earth.

I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

therefore the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever.

PSALM 44

We have heard with our ears, O God,

our fathers have told us,

the deeds you did in their days,

in days of old:

you drove out the nations with your hand,

but them you planted;

you afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.

For they 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,

because you favored them.

         

You are my King, O God;

command victories for Jacob.

Through you we will push down our enemies;

through your name we will trample

those who rise up against us.

For I will not trust in my bow,

nor shall my sword save me.

But you have saved us from our enemies,

and have put to shame those who hated us.

In God we boast all day long,

and praise your name forever.  Selah  

         

But you have cast us off and put us to shame,

and you do not go out with our armies.

You make us turn back from the enemy,

and those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

You have given us up like sheep intended for food,

and have scattered us among the nations.

You sell your people for next to nothing,

and are not enriched by selling them.

         

You make us a reproach to our neighbors,

a scorn and a derision to those all around us.

You make us a byword among the nations,

a shaking of the head among the peoples.

My dishonor is continually before me,

and the shame of my face has covered me,

because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,

because of the enemy and the avenger.

         

All this has come upon us;

but we have not forgotten you,

nor have we dealt falsely with your covenant.

Our heart has not turned back,

nor have our steps departed from your way;

but you have severely broken us in the place of jackals,

and covered us with the shadow of death.

         

If we had forgotten the name of our God,

or stretched out our hands to a foreign god,

would not God search this out?

For he knows the secrets of the heart.

yet for your sake we are killed all day long;

we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

         

Awake! Why do you sleep, O Lord?

Arise! Do not cast us off forever.

Why do you hide your face,

and forget our affliction and our oppression?

For our soul is bowed down to the dust;

our body clings to the ground.

Arise for our help,

and redeem us for your mercies’ sake.

PSALM 43

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause

against an ungodly people;

from those who are deceitful and unjust

deliver me!

For you are the God in whom I take refuge;

why have you cast me off?

Why must I walk about mournfully

because of the oppression of the enemy?

O send out your light and your truth;

let them lead me;

Let them bring me to your holy hill

and to your dwelling.

Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy;

and I will praise you with the harp,

O God, my God.

Why 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.

PSALM 42

As the deer pants for the water brooks,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night,

while they continually say to me,

“Where is your God?”

         

When I remember these things,

I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go with the multitude;

I went with them to the house of God,

with the voice of joy and praise,

with a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

        

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him

for the help of His countenance.

         

O 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 the Hill Mizar.

Deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterfalls;

all your waves and billows have gone over me.

The LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime,

and in the night his song shall be with me—

a prayer to the God of my life.

         

I will say to God my Rock,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?”

As with a breaking of my bones,

my enemies reproach me,

while they say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

         

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

for I shall yet praise him,

the help of my countenance and my God.

PSALM 41

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.

The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed

and restore him from his bed of illness.

I said, “O LORD, have mercy on me;

heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

My enemies say of me in malice,

“When will he die and his name perish?”

Whenever one comes to see me,

he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;

then he goes out and spreads it abroad.

All my enemies whisper together against me;

they imagine the worst for me, saying,

“A vile disease has beset him;

he will never get up from the place where he lies.”

Even my close friend, whom I trusted,

he who shared my bread,

has lifted up his heel against me.

But you, O LORD, have mercy on me;

raise me up, that I may repay them.

I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does not triumph over me.

In my integrity you uphold me

and set me in your presence forever.

Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.

PSALM 40

I waited patiently for the LORD;

and he inclined to me,

and heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

out of the miry clay,

and set my feet upon a rock,

and established my steps.

He has put a new song in my mouth—

praise to our God;

many will see it and fear,

and will trust in the LORD.

         

Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust,

and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful works

which you have done;

and your thoughts toward us

cannot be recounted to you in order;

if I would declare and speak of them,

they are more than can be numbered.

         

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire;

my ears you have opened.

Burnt offering and sin offering you did not require.

Then I said, “Behold, I come;

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

I delight to do your will, O my God,

and your law is within my heart.”

         

I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness

in the great assembly;

indeed, I do not restrain my lips,

O LORD, you yourself know.

I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart;

I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation;

I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth

from the great assembly.

         

Do not withhold your tender mercies from me, O LORD;

let your lovingkindness and your truth continually preserve me.

For innumerable evils have surrounded me;

my iniquities have overtaken me,

so that I am not able to look up;

they are more than the hairs of my head;

therefore my heart fails me.

         

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;

O LORD, make haste to help me!

Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion

who seek to destroy my life;

let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor

who wish me evil.

Let them be confounded because of their shame,

who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

         

Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;

let such as love your salvation say continually,

“The LORD be magnified!”

But I am poor and needy;

yet the LORD thinks upon me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God.

PSALM 39

I said, “I will guard my ways

that I may not sin with my tongue;

I will keep a muzzle on my mouth

as long as the wicked are in my presence.”

I was silent and still;

I held my peace to no avail;

my distress grew worse,

my heart became hot within me.

While I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

“LORD, let me know my end,

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting my life is.

You have made my days a few handbreadths,

and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.

Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah

Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.

Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;

they heap up, and do not know who will gather.

“And now, O LORD, what do I wait for?

My hope is in you.

Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Do not make me the scorn of the fool.

I am silent; I do not open my mouth,

for it is you who have done it.

Remove your stroke from me;

I am worn down by the blows of your hand.

“You chastise mortals in punishment for sin,

consuming like a moth what is dear to them;

surely everyone is a mere breath. Selah

“Hear my prayer, O LORD,

and give ear to my cry;

do not hold your peace at my tears.

For I am your passing guest,

an alien, like all my forebears.

Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,

before I depart and am no more.”

PSALM 38

LORD, don't correct me when you are angry.

Don't punish me when you are furious.

Your arrows have wounded me,

and your hand has come down on me.

My body is sick from your punishment.

Even my bones are not healthy because of my sin.

My guilt has overwhelmed me;

like a load it weighs me down.

My sores stink and become infected

because I was foolish.

I am bent over and bowed down;

I am sad all day long.

I am burning with fever,

and my whole body is sore.

I am weak and faint.

I moan from the pain I feel.

LORD, you know everything I want;

my cries are not hidden from you.

My heart pounds, and my strength is gone.

I am losing my sight.

Because of my wounds, my friends and neighbors avoid me,

and my relatives stay far away.

Some people set traps to kill me.

Those who want to hurt me plan trouble;

all day long they think up lies.

I am like the deaf; I cannot hear.

Like the mute, I cannot speak.

I am like those who do not hear,

who have no answer to give.

I trust you, LORD.

You will answer, my LORD and God.

I said, "Don't let them laugh at me

or brag when I am defeated."

I am about to die,

and I cannot forget my pain.

I confess my guilt;

I am troubled by my sin.

My enemies are strong and healthy,

and many hate me for no reason.

They repay me with evil for the good I did.

They lie about me because I try to do good.

LORD, don't leave me;

my God, don't go away.

Quickly come and help me,

my LORD and Savior.

PSALM 37

Do not fret because of evildoers,

nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,

and wither as the green herb.

         

Trust in the LORD, and do good;

dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the LORD,

and he shall give you the desires of your heart.

         

Commit your way to the LORD,

trust also in him,

and he shall bring it to pass.

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

         

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him;

do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;

do not fret—it only causes harm.

         

For evildoers shall be cut off;

but those who wait on the LORD,

they shall inherit the earth.

For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;

indeed, you will look carefully for his place,

but it shall be no more.

But the meek shall inherit the earth,

and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

         

The wicked plots against the just,

and gnashes at him with his teeth.

The LORD laughs at him,

for he sees that his day is coming.

The wicked have drawn the sword

and have bent their bow,

to cast down the poor and needy,

to slay those who are of upright conduct.

Their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

         

A little that a righteous man has

is better than the riches of many wicked.

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the LORD upholds the righteous.

         

The LORD knows the days of the upright,

and their inheritance shall be forever.

They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,

and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

But the wicked shall perish;

and the enemies of the LORD,

like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.

Into smoke they shall vanish away.

         

The wicked borrows and does not repay,

but the righteous shows mercy and gives.

For those blessed by him shall inherit the earth,

but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

         

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,

and he delights in his way.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;

for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

         

I have been young, and now am old;

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

nor his descendants begging bread.

He is ever merciful, and lends;

and his descendants are blessed.

Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore.

For the LORD loves justice,

and does not forsake his saints;

they are preserved forever,

but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

The righteous shall inherit the land,

and dwell in it forever.

         

The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,

and his tongue talks of justice.

The law of his God is in his heart;

none of his steps shall slide.

         

The wicked watches the righteous,

and seeks to slay him.

The LORD will not leave him in his hand,

nor condemn him when he is judged.

         

Wait on the LORD,

and keep his way,

and he shall exalt you to inherit the land;

when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

I have seen the wicked in great power,

and spreading himself like a native green tree.

Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more;

indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

         

Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;

for the future of that man is peace.

But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;

the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

         

But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;

he is their strength in the time of trouble.

And the LORD shall help them and deliver them;

he shall deliver them from the wicked,

and save them, because they trust in him.

PSALM 36

I have a message from God in my heart

concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:

there is no fear of God

before their eyes.

In their own eyes they flatter themselves

too much to detect or hate their sin.

The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;

they have ceased to be wise and to do good.

Even on their beds they plot evil;

they commit themselves to a sinful course

and do not reject what is wrong.

Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!

People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights.

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

Continue your love to those who know you,

your righteousness to the upright in heart.

May the foot of the proud not come against me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

See how the evildoers lie fallen –

thrown down, not able to rise!