Psalm 46

A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered,
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come, behold the works of the LORD,
Who has wrought desolations in the earth.
He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
"Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

~Psalm 46 (NASB 1977)

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.
Thou are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Thy lips;
Therefore God has blessed Thee forever.

Gird Thy sword on Thy thigh, O Mighty One,
In Thy splendor and Thy majesty!
And in Thy majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
Let Thy right hand teach Thee awesome things.
Thine arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under Thee;
Thine arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.

Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee
With the oil of joy above Thy fellows.
All Thy garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made Thee glad.
Kings daughters are among Thy noble ladies;
At Thy 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.
And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will entreat 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 Thee.
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 Thy name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the peoples will give Thee thanks forever and ever.

~Psalm 45 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 44

O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our fathers have told us,
The work that Thou didst in their days,
In the days of old.
Thou with Thine own hand didst drive out the nations;
Then Thou didst plant them;
Thou didst afflict the peoples,
Then Thou didst spread them abroad.
For by their own sword they did not possess the land;
And their own arm did not save them;
But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy presence,
For Thou didst favor them.

Thou art my King, O God;
Command victories for Jacob.
Through Thee we will push back our adversaries;
Through Thy name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
But Thou hast saved us from our adversaries,
And Thou hast put to shame those who hate us.
In God we have boasted all day long,
And we will give thanks to Thy name forever. Selah.

Yet Thou hast rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And dost not go out with our armies.
Thou dost cause us to turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
Thou dost give us as sheep to be eaten,
And hast scattered us among the nations.
Thou dost sell Thy people cheaply,
And hast not profited by their sale.
Thou dost make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
Thou dost make us a byword among the nations,
A laughingstock among the peoples.
All day long my dishonor is before me,
And my humiliation has overwhelmed me,
Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.

All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten Thee,
And we have not dealt falsely with Thy covenant.
Our heart has not turned back,
And our steps have not deviated from Thy way,
Yet Thou hast crushed us in a place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.
If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or extended our hands to a strange god;
Would not God find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
But for Thy sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

Arouse Thyself, why dost Thou sleep, O LORD?
Awake, do not reject us forever.
Why dost Thou hide Thy face,
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
For our soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
Rise up, be our help,
And redeem us for the sake of Thy lovingkindness.

~Psalm 44 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 43

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

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

Why 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.

~Psalm 43 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 42

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for Thee, 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 say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
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.

Why 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.
O my God, my soul is in despair within me,
Therefore I remember Thee from the land of the Jordan,
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at he sound of Thy waterfalls;
All Thy breakers and Thy waves have rolled over me.
The Lord will command His lovingkindess in the day time;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my rock, “Why hast Thou forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
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 42 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 41

How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble.
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.
The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, Thou dost restore him to health.

As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee.”
My enemies speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
And when he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they devise hurt, saying,
“A wicked thing is poured out upon him,
That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
Even my close friend, in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.

But Thou, O LORD, be gracious to me, and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
By this I know that Thou art pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
As for me, Thou uphold me in my integrity,
And Thou dost set me in Thy presence forever.

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

~Psalm 41 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me, and heard my cry.
He 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.
And 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.

How 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.
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done,
And Thy thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with Thee;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

Sacrifice and meal offerings Thou hast not desired;
My ears Thou hast opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering Thou hast not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me;
I delight to do Thy will, O my God;
Thy Law is within my heart.”

I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
O Lord, Thou knowest.
I have not hidden Thy righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation;
I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.

Thou, O LORD, wilt not withhold Thy compassion from me;
Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth will continually preserve me.
For 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.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
Make haste, O LORD, to help me.
Let 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.
Let those be appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
Let all who seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee;
Let those who love Thy salvation say continually,
“The LORD be magnified!”
Since I am afflicted and needy,
Let the LORD be mindful of me;
Thou art my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

~Psalm 40 (NASB 1977)