Psalm 45

(By the descendants of Korah)

My heart does overflow with glad tidings,
When I recite my verses to the king.
(My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe).

You are the handsomest of men;
Words of grace proceed from your lips.
God has therefore blessed you forever.

Strap your sword to your side, O Mighty One!
Along with your splendor and your glory.
In your majesty ride forth to victory,
For truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand perform deeds of wonder.
Sharpen your arrows that impale the hearts
Of those who are enemies of the king,
So that their people will fall beneath your feet.

Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever;
The scepter of your kingdom is one of justice.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore, it is you above all others that God,
Your god, has anointed with the oil of gladness.
You robes are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
In palaces of ivory you are entertained.
The daughters of kings serve as your noble ladies;
At your right side stands the queen garbed in gold from Ophir.

Listen, O daughter, pay attention to what I say.
Forget your own people and the house of your father,
For the king will be enamored with your beauty.
Because he is your master, you must submit to him.
The princess of Tyre will come and bring a gift for you.
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
In the palace the princess is magnificent,
Bedecked in garments interwoven with threads of gold.
In this rich raiment she is presented to the king,
And the bridesmaids in her train, will all be brought to you.
They will be brought with jubilation and rejoicing.
As the procession enters the royal palace,
Your sons will assume the places of their fathers,
And you will make them princes, to rule throughout the land.

I will make your name remembered
By generations that are to come.
And all the peoples will give you thanks
For ever and ever.

Psalm 44

O God, with our own ears we have heard
The things our fathers have told us,
All the deeds you did in their day
And what you wrought in olden times.

With your power you drove out the nations,
Harassing and scattering them abroad.
You settled our ancestors on their land.
But it was not by the sword they did conquer,
Nor with their own might achieve victory;
It was done through your power and your might.
With the light of your presence you favored them.

You are my sovereign, O my God!
Decree victories for Jacob!

By your power we repel our enemies;
In your name we tread our foes under foot.

In my bow I place not my trust;
My sword will not deliver me.
It is you who saves us from our foes,
And disgraces those who hate us.
To God we give praise all day long,
And extol your name forever.

But now you have forsaken us,
And have caused us to feel ashamed.
No longer do you lead our armies.
You make us retreat before our foes
And allow them to plunder our land.
You’ve made us sheep for the slaughter
And dispersed us among the nations.
Cheaply you have sold your people
And gained no profit from the sale.
You’ve disgraced us before our neighbors
And made us an object of derision
And scorn to those who live around us.
You have turned us into a byword
Among the nations; their people
Shake their heads at us with disdain.
I live in constant confusion,
And my face is covered with shame
When I hear the taunting reviler
And see the avenging enemy.

All this befell us, though we did not forget you,
Nor indeed did we violate your covenant.

Our hearts turned not away from you,
Nor have our steps strayed from your path.
But you have crushed us and left us
Where we are the prey of jackals,
Covered by the dark shadow of death.

If we had forgotten the name of our god
Or had worshiped some foreign deity,
Would not God have discovered such a thing,
Knowing as he does the secrets of our hearts?

Yet it is surely for your sake
We are being killed all day long,  
And treated like sheep to be slaughtered.
Wake up, O Master Jehovah!
Why is it that you are sleeping?
Rise up, reject us not forever!
Why do you turn away your face?
Why have you forgotten about
Our affliction and oppression?
Our bodies grovel in the dirt,
Our bellies are pressed to the ground.
Rise up, rescue us, redeem us
For the sake of your merciful love!

Psalm 43

Be my judge, O Jehovah, and plead my case
Against a godless nation; deliver me
From men who are deceitful and wicked.

You are the god of my refuge.
Why then have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
Persecuted by enemies.
Send forth to me the light of your truth.
Let it lead me and conduct me 
To your holy mount, your dwelling place.

Then will I go to the altar of God,
To God who is the source of my delight.
Upon the lyre will I sing your praise,
O God, my God!

Why are you, my soul, so depressed?
Why is there such unrest within me?
But I will put my hope in God
And praise again my Savior, my God.

Psalm 42

As the deer craves the running stream,
So my soul craves for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I stand before his presence?
Day and night tears are my only food,
All day long people harass me,
And challenge me, “Where is your god?”

As I search my soul, these things I remember:
How I walked among the throng of worshipers
And led the procession to the house of God;
How I raised my voice in song of joy and praise,
Among the multitude at the festival.

Tell me, my soul, why am I so downcast,
Why is there such anxiety within me?
I must put my hopes in God and praise him,
That his presence may be my salvation.
I am deeply depressed, but remember
You, O my god, from the land of Jordan,
The peaks of Hermon, and the hills of Mizar.

The seas call out to each other
In the roar of your waterfalls.
Your breakers and waves roll over me.

By day Jehovah sends his love to me;
And through the night his song shall be with me;
It is my prayer to the life-bringing God.

I ask God, my fortress of stone,
“Why have you forgotten about me?
Why do I go about in grief,
While my enemies oppress me?”

The taunts of my enemies cut me to the quick.
“Where is your god?” they ask me all day long.
Tell me, my soul, why am I so downcast,
Why is there such anxiety within me?
I must put my hopes in God and praise him,
That his presence may be my salvation.

Psalm 41

Blessed is he who cares about the destitute;
In times of trouble Jehovah will rescue him;
Jehovah will preserve him and keep him alive
That he may be blessed in the land; he will not
Surrender him to the will of his enemies.

On his sickbed Jehovah will nurse him;
He will raise him up and restore him to health.
I have cried, “Jehovah, have mercy on me.
Heal my body for I have sinned against you.”
My enemies speak evil words about me,
“When will he die and his name pass away?”
They visit me as if they were my friends,
But when they are here they gather gossip,
And when they leave they spread the slanders abroad.

Those who hate me whisper among themselves,
Imagining the worst for me and saying,
“He’s afflicted with some fatal disease
And will never rise up from where he lies.”
Even my closest friend, who had my trust,
Who did share my bread, has turned against me.
May you have mercy on me, Jehovah.
Let me recover that I may show them up.

I know that you are pleased with me,
For you have not let my enemies
Proclaim their triumph over me.
Because of my integrity,
You have supported me and will let me
Enjoy your presence forever.

Blessed be Jehovah, the god of Israel,
From everlasting age to everlasting age;
Amen and Amen!

Psalm 40

For Jehovah I waited patiently.
He turned to me and heard my plea for help.
He pulled me out of a desolate pit
Of muck and mire and set me on a rock;
He steadied me and sent me on my way,
Teaching me a new song of praise to our god.

Many will see and be in awe
And place their trust in Jehovah.
Blessed is he who makes Jehovah
The object of his faith and turns not
To the falsehoods of the arrogant.

Your miracles have multiplied,
As have your plans for our people.
They are too many to mention;
Indeed, none can compare with you.
I would proclaim your wondrous acts,
But they are more than one can count.

You craved not sacrifices and offerings;
You made me understand they were not required,
The burnt offerings and the sin offerings.

Then I announced, “Behold I have arrived!” --
As it is written of me in the scriptures.
I delight in doing your will, O my god,
For your law is written deep in my heart.
I have proclaimed to the congregation
The tidings of your justice, and, as you know,
I did not hold my tongue, O Jehovah.
I did not hide in my breast your righteousness:
I announced your faithfulness and salvation.
From the congregation I did not conceal
Your truth, your love and kindness and mercy.

O Jehovah, do not hold back from me,
Your mercy, for it is your faithful love
That will protect and preserve me forever.
For countless evils have encompassed me
And my sins have taken such hold of me
That I can no longer see my way clear.
They number more that the hairs on my head.
My heart and courage have forsaken me.

Please, then, Jehovah, deliver me,
Make haste, Jehovah, and help me!
May those who seek to take my life
Know shame and humiliation.
May those who wish to do me harm
Be put to disgraceful retreat.
Those who taunt me with “Aha, aha,”
May they be shocked by their own shame.

Let those who seek you out, rejoice
And be gladdened because of you.
Let those who love your salvation
Always say, “Great is Jehovah!”

As for me, I am poor and needy.
May Jehovah give thought to me.
You are my help and my savior,
May there be no delay, my god.

Psalm 39

I have promised to guard my ways
So I may not sin with my tongue;
I would put a muzzle on my mouth
When the wicked are in my presence.

And so I was totally silent, dumb,
Not even saying anything positive;
Yet, my distress was exacerbated;
More and more a heartache seethed within me
Until, after contemplation, it flared up.

Then, I spoke out, “Show me, O Jehovah,
How I will die and how long I will live,
That I may know how fleeting is my life.
You have made my days like the breadth of a hand;
My lifespan is nothing compared to yours.
At his best, man is but a breath of wind.
He moves about like a shadow, a phantom,
And his rushing around is all in vain.
He hoards riches, but knows not who will spend them.
And so, what now is my expectation?
I will place my hope in you, Jehovah.

“From all my transgressions deliver me.
Do not let me be the mockery of fools.
I have been silent and kept my mouth shut,
For that is what you’ve demanded of me.
But remove this scourge you’ve laid upon me,
For I am perishing under its blows.
When you correct and discipline a man,
Rebuking him for his iniquities,
Like a moth you consume what is dear to him. ---
For each of us is but a breath of wind.

"Hear my prayer, O Jehovah.
Listen to my cries for help.
Do not ignore my tears.
For I am a guest with you,
A foreign resident,
As my forefathers were.
Turn away your angry gaze
So I may be cheered again
Before I go away
And so exist no more."