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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.

Psalm 44

National Lament and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God,
   our ancestors have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
   in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
   but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
   but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
   nor did their own arm give them victory;
but your right hand, and your arm,
   and the light of your countenance,
   for you delighted in them.


4 You are my King and my God;
   you command* victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push down our foes;
   through your name we tread down our assailants.
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
   nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes,
   and have put to confusion those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually,
   and we will give thanks to your name for ever.
          Selah


9 Yet you have rejected us and abased us,
   and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You made us turn back from the foe,
   and our enemies have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter,
   and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You have sold your people for a trifle,
   demanding no high price for them.


13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
   the derision and scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations,
   a laughing-stock* among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
   and shame has covered my face
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers,
   at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.


17 All this has come upon us,
   yet we have not forgotten you,
   or been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
   nor have our steps departed from your way,
19 yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals,
   and covered us with deep darkness.


20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
   or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21 would not God discover this?
   For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Because of you we are being killed all day long,
   and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.


23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
   Awake, do not cast us off for ever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
   Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For we sink down to the dust;
   our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Rise up, come to our help.
   Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

Psalm 45

Ode for a Royal Wedding

To the leader: according to Lilies. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. A love song.
1 My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
   I address my verses to the king;
   my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.


2 You are the most handsome of men;
   grace is poured upon your lips;
   therefore God has blessed you for ever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
   in your glory and majesty.


4 In your majesty ride on victoriously
   for the cause of truth and to defend* the right;
   let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharp
   in the heart of the king’s enemies;
   the peoples fall under you.


6 Your throne, O God,* endures for ever and ever.
   Your royal sceptre is a sceptre of equity;
7   you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
   with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8   your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9   daughters of kings are among your ladies of honour;
   at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.


10 Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
   forget your people and your father’s house,
11   and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him;
12   the people* of Tyre will seek your favour with gifts,
   the richest of the people 13with all kinds of wealth.


The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;*
14   in many-coloured robes she is led to the king;
   behind her the virgins, her companions, follow.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along
   as they enter the palace of the king.


16 In the place of ancestors you, O king,* shall have sons;
   you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations;
   therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever.

Psalm 46

God’s Defence of His City and People

To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
   a very present* help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
          Selah


4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city;* it shall not be moved;
   God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
   he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
          Selah


8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
   see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
10 ‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
          Selah

Psalm 47

God’s Rule over the Nations

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
   shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
   a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
   and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
   the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
          Selah


5 God has gone up with a shout,
   the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
   sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the king of all the earth;
   sing praises with a psalm.*


8 God is king over the nations;
   God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
   as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
   he is highly exalted.

Psalm 48

The Glory and Strength of Zion

A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites.
1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
   in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, 2beautiful in elevation,
   is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
   the city of the great King.
3 Within its citadels God
   has shown himself a sure defence.


4 Then the kings assembled,
   they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
   they were in panic, they took to flight;
6 trembling took hold of them there,
   pains as of a woman in labour,
7 as when an east wind shatters
   the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
   in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
   which God establishes for ever.
          Selah


9 We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
   in the midst of your temple.
10 Your name, O God, like your praise,
   reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.
11   Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the towns* of Judah rejoice
   because of your judgements.


12 Walk about Zion, go all around it,
   count its towers,
13 consider well its ramparts;
   go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14   that this is God,
our God for ever and ever.
   He will be our guide for ever.

Psalm 49

The Folly of Trust in Riches

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
   give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
   rich and poor together.
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
   the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
   I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.


5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
   when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
   and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,*
   there is no price one can give to God for it.
8 For the ransom of life is costly,
   and can never suffice,
9 that one should live on for ever
   and never see the grave.*


10 When we look at the wise, they die;
   fool and dolt perish together
   and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves* are their homes for ever,
   their dwelling-places to all generations,
   though they named lands their own.
12 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
   they are like the animals that perish.


13 Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
   the end of those* who are pleased with their lot.
          Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
   Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,*
   and their form shall waste away;
   Sheol shall be their home.*
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
   for he will receive me.
          Selah


16 Do not be afraid when some become rich,
   when the wealth of their houses increases.
17 For when they die they will carry nothing away;
   their wealth will not go down after them.
18 Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
   —for you are praised when you do well for yourself—
19 they* will go to the company of their ancestors,
   who will never again see the light.
20 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
   they are like the animals that perish.

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30 June 2021

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.