Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 46

God Our Refuge
For the choir director. A song of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.

46:1 God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.
2 Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,
3 though its water roars and foams
and the mountains quake with its turmoil.Selah

4 There is a river—
its streams delight the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.
5 God is within her; she will not be toppled.
God will help her when the morning dawns.
6 Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
the earth melts when he lifts his voice.
7 The Lord of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.Selah

8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
who brings devastation on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease throughout the earth.
He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;
he sets wagons ablaze.
10 “Stop fighting, and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”
11 The Lord of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.Selah

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 45

A Royal Wedding Song
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.” A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song.

45:1 My heart is moved by a noble theme
as I recite my verses to the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
2 You are the most handsome of men;
grace flows from your lips.
Therefore God has blessed you forever.

3 Mighty warrior, strap your sword at your side.
In your majesty and splendor—
4 in your splendor ride triumphantly
in the cause of truth, humility, and justice.
May your right hand show your awe-inspiring acts.
5 Your sharpened arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.

6 Your throne, God, is forever and ever;
the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy
more than your companions.
8 Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume all your garments;
from ivory palaces harps bring you joy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women;
the queen, adorned with gold from Ophir,
stands at your right hand.

10 Listen, daughter, pay attention and consider:
Forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Bow down to him, for he is your lord.
12 The daughter of Tyre, the wealthy people,
will seek your favor with gifts.

13 In her chamber, the royal daughter is all glorious,
her clothing embroidered with gold.
14 In colorful garments she is led to the king;
after her, the virgins, her companions, are brought to you.
15 They are led in with gladness and rejoicing;
they enter the king’s palace.

16 Your sons will succeed your ancestors;
you will make them princes throughout the land.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered for all generations;
therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 44

Israel’s Complaint
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

44:1 God, we have heard with our ears—
our ancestors have told us—
the work you accomplished in their days,
in days long ago:
2 In order to plant them,
you displaced the nations by your hand;
in order to settle them,
you brought disaster on the peoples.
3 For they did not take the land by their sword—
their arm did not bring them victory—
but by your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face,
because you were favorable toward them.

4 You are my King, my God,
who ordains victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we drive back our foes;
through your name we trample our enemies.
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and my sword does not bring me victory.
7 But you give us victory over our foes
and let those who hate us be disgraced.
8 We boast in God all day long;
we will praise your name forever.Selah

9 But you have rejected and humiliated us;
you do not march out with our armies.
10 You make us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us
have taken plunder for themselves.
11 You hand us over to be eaten like sheep
and scatter us among the nations.
12 You sell your people for nothing;
you make no profit from selling them.
13 You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.
14 You make us a joke among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
15 My disgrace is before me all day long,
and shame has covered my face,
16 because of the taunts of the scorner and reviler,
because of the enemy and avenger.

17 All this has happened to us,

but we have not forgotten you
or betrayed your covenant.

18 Our hearts have not turned back;

our steps have not strayed from your path.

19 But you have crushed us in a haunt of jackals

and have covered us with deepest darkness.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God

and spread out our hands to a foreign god,

21 wouldn’t God have found this out,

since he knows the secrets of the heart?

22 Because of you we are being put to death all day long;

we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?

Get up! Don’t reject us forever!

24 Why do you hide

and forget our affliction and oppression?

25 For we have sunk down to the dust;

our bodies cling to the ground.

26 Rise up! Help us!

Redeem us because of your faithful love.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 43

43:1 Vindicate me, God, and champion my cause
against an unfaithful nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust person.
2 For you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?

3 Send your light and your truth; let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
4 Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.
I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God.

5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 42

Longing for God
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

42:1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so I long for you, God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.

5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.
6 I am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.
8 The Lord will send his faithful love by day;
his song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 41

Victory in spite of Betrayal
For the choir director. A psalm of David.

41:1 Happy is one who is considerate of the poor;
the Lord will save him in a day of adversity.
2 The Lord will keep him and preserve him;
he will be blessed in the land.
You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed;
you will heal him on the bed where he lies.

4 I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies speak maliciously about me:
“When will he die and be forgotten?”
6 When one of them comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully;
he stores up evil in his heart;
he goes out and talks.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they plan to harm me.
8 “Something awful has overwhelmed him,
and he won’t rise again from where he lies!”
9 Even my friend in whom I trusted,
one who ate my bread,
has raised his heel against me.

10 But you, Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up;
then I will repay them.
11 By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 You supported me because of my integrity
and set me in your presence forever.

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

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 40

Thanksgiving and a Cry for Help
For the choir director. A psalm of David.

40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord,
and he turned to me and heard my cry for help.
2 He brought me up from a desolate pit,
out of the muddy clay,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and they will trust in the Lord.

4 How happy is anyone
who has put his trust in the Lord
and has not turned to the proud
or to those who run after lies!
5 Lord my God, you have done many things—
your wondrous works and your plans for us;
none can compare with you.
If I were to report and speak of them,
they are more than can be told.

6 You do not delight in sacrifice and offering;
you open my ears to listen.
You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering.
7 Then I said, “See, I have come;
in the scroll it is written about me.
8 I delight to do your will, my God,
and your instruction is deep within me.”

9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
see, I do not keep my mouth closed—
as you know, Lord.
10 I did not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I spoke about your faithfulness and salvation;
I did not conceal your constant love and truth
from the great assembly.

11 Lord, you do not withhold your compassion from me.
Your constant love and truth will always guard me.
12 For troubles without number have surrounded me;
my iniquities have overtaken me; I am unable to see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my courage leaves me.
13 Lord, be pleased to rescue me;
hurry to help me, Lord.

14 Let those who intend to take my life
be disgraced and confounded.
Let those who wish me harm
be turned back and humiliated.
15 Let those who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
be appalled because of their shame.

16 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
let those who love your salvation continually say,
“The Lord is great!”
17 I am oppressed and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my helper and my deliverer;
my God, do not delay.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 39

The Fleeting Nature of Life
For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

39:1 I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.
3 My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.
I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, make me aware of my end
and the number of my days
so that I will know how short-lived I am.
5 In fact, you have made my days just inches long,
and my life span is as nothing to you.
Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor.Selah
6 Yes, a person goes about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.

7 “Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
8 Rescue me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.
9 I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what you have done.
10 Remove your torment from me.
Because of the force of your hand I am finished.
11 You discipline a person with punishment for iniquity,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;
yes, every human being is only a vapor.Selah

12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry for help;
do not be silent at my tears.
For I am here with you as an alien,
a temporary resident like all my ancestors.
13 Turn your angry gaze from me
so that I may be cheered up
before I die and am gone.”

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 38

Prayer of a Suffering Sinner
A psalm of David to bring remembrance.

38:1 Lord, do not punish me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has pressed down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my body
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.
5 My wounds are foul and festering
because of my foolishness.
6 I am bent over and brought very low;
all day long I go around in mourning.
7 For my insides are full of burning pain,
and there is no soundness in my body.
8 I am faint and severely crushed;
I groan because of the anguish of my heart.

9 Lord, my every desire is in front of you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart races, my strength leaves me,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.
11 My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction,
and my relatives stand at a distance.
12 Those who intend to kill me set traps,
and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me;
they plot treachery all day long.

13 I am like a deaf person; I do not hear.
I am like a speechless person
who does not open his mouth.
14 I am like a man who does not hear
and has no arguments in his mouth.
15 For I put my hope in you, Lord;
you will answer me, my Lord, my God.
16 For I said, “Don’t let them rejoice over me—
those who are arrogant toward me when I stumble.”
17 For I am about to fall,
and my pain is constantly with me.
18 So I confess my iniquity;
I am anxious because of my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous and powerful;
many hate me for no reason.
20 Those who repay evil for good
attack me for pursuing good.

21 Lord, do not abandon me;
my God, do not be far from me.
22 Hurry to help me,
my Lord, my salvation.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 37:21-40

37:21 The wicked person borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous one is gracious and giving.
22 Those who are blessed by the Lord will inherit the land,
but those cursed by him will be destroyed.

23 A person’s steps are established by the Lord,
and he takes pleasure in his way.
24 Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
because the Lord supports him with his hand.

25 I have been young and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned
or his children begging for bread.
26 He is always generous, always lending,
and his children are a blessing.

27 Turn away from evil, do what is good,
and settle permanently.
28 For the Lord loves justice
and will not abandon his faithful ones.
They are kept safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will be destroyed.
29 The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it permanently.

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;
his tongue speaks what is just.
31 The instruction of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not falter.

32 The wicked one lies in wait for the righteous
and intends to kill him;
33 the Lord will not leave him
in the power of the wicked one
or allow him to be condemned when he is judged.

34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land.
You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.

35 I have seen a wicked, violent person
well-rooted, like a flourishing native tree.
36 Then I passed by and noticed he was gone;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.

37 Watch the blameless and observe the upright,
for the person of peace will have a future.
38 But transgressors will all be eliminated;
the future of the wicked will be destroyed.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
their refuge in a time of distress.
40 The Lord helps and delivers them;
he will deliver them from the wicked and will save them
because they take refuge in him.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 37:1-20

Instruction in Wisdom
Of David.

37:1 Do not be agitated by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.
2 For they wither quickly like grass
and wilt like tender green plants.

3 Trust in the Lord and do what is good;
dwell in the land and live securely.[Or and cultivate faithfulness, or and befriend faithfulness]

4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act,
6 making your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like the noonday.

7 Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him;
do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,
by the person who carries out evil plans.

8 Refrain from anger and give up your rage;
do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.
9 For evildoers will be destroyed,
but those who put their hope in the Lord
will inherit the land.

10 A little while, and the wicked person will be no more;
though you look for him, he will not be there.
11 But the humble will inherit the land
and will enjoy abundant prosperity.

12 The wicked person schemes against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him.
13 The Lord laughs at him
because he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the bow
to bring down the poor and needy
and to slaughter those whose way is upright.
15 Their swords will enter their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

16 The little that the righteous person has is better
than the abundance of many wicked people.
17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord supports the righteous.

18 The Lord watches over the blameless all their days,
and their inheritance will last forever.
19 They will not be disgraced in times of adversity;
they will be satisfied in days of hunger.

20 But the wicked will perish;
the Lord’s enemies, like the glory of the pastures,
will fade away—
they will fade away like smoke.

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Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 36

Human Wickedness and God’s Love
For the choir director. Of David, the Lord’s servant.

36:1 An oracle within my heart
concerning the transgression of the wicked person:
Dread of God has no effect on him.
2 For with his flattering opinion of himself,
he does not discover and hate his iniquity.
3 The words from his mouth are malicious and deceptive;
he has stopped acting wisely and doing good.
4 Even on his bed he makes malicious plans.
He sets himself on a path that is not good,
and he does not reject evil.

5 Lord, your faithful love reaches to heaven,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your judgments like the deepest sea.
Lord, you preserve people and animals.
7 How priceless your faithful love is, God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They are filled from the abundance of your house.
You let them drink from your refreshing stream.
9 For the wellspring of life is with you.
By means of your light we see light.

10 Spread your faithful love over those who know you,
and your righteousness over the upright in heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant come near me
or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There! The evildoers have fallen.
They have been thrown down and cannot rise.

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