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Psalm 41

Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing

To the leader. A Psalm of David.
¹ Happy are those who consider the poor;^*
   the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.
² The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
   they are called happy in the land.
   You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.
³ The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
   in their illness you heal all their infirmities.^*

⁴ As for me, I said, ‘O Lord, be gracious to me;
   heal me, for I have sinned against you.’
⁵ My enemies wonder in malice
   when I will die, and my name perish.
⁶ And when they come to see me, they utter empty words,
   while their hearts gather mischief;
   when they go out, they tell it abroad.
⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me;
   they imagine the worst for me.

⁸ They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
   that I will not rise again from where I lie.
⁹ Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,
   who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.
¹⁰ But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
   and raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹ By this I know that you are pleased with me;
   because my enemy has not triumphed over me.
¹² But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
   and set me in your presence for ever.

¹³ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.Amen and Amen.

BOOK II

(Psalms 42-72)

Psalm 42

Longing for God and His Help in Distress

To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites.
¹ As a deer longs for flowing streams,
   so my soul longs for you, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God,
   for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
   the face of God?
³ My tears have been my food
   day and night,
while people say to me continually,
   ‘Where is your God?’

⁴ These things I remember,
   as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,^*
   and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
   a multitude keeping festival.
⁵ 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 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.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
   at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
   have gone over me.
⁸ By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
   and at night his song is with me,
   a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God, my rock,
   ‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
   because the enemy oppresses me?’
¹⁰ As with a deadly wound in my body,
   my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
   ‘Where is your God?’

¹¹ 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 43

Prayer to God in Time of Trouble

¹ Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
   against an ungodly people;
from those who are deceitful and unjust
   deliver me!
² 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?

³ O send out your light and your truth;
   let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
   and to your dwelling.
⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.