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Prayer for protection from the wicked.

For the Chief Musician; with the [a]Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.

Give ear to my words, O Jehovah,
Consider my meditation.
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God;
For unto thee do I pray.
O Jehovah, in the morning shalt thou hear my voice;
In the morning will I order my prayer unto thee, and will keep watch.
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:
[b]Evil shall not sojourn with thee.
[c]The arrogant shall not stand in thy sight:
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Thou wilt destroy them that speak lies:
Jehovah abhorreth the blood-thirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness will I come into thy house:
In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
Lead me, O Jehovah, in thy righteousness because of [d]mine enemies;
Make thy way [e]straight before my face.
For there is no [f]faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is [g]very wickedness;
Their throat is an open sepulchre;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Hold them guilty, O God;
Let them fall [i]by their own counsels;
Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions;
For they have rebelled against thee.
11 [j]But let all those that take refuge in thee rejoice,
Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou wilt bless the righteous;
O Jehovah, thou wilt compass him with favor as with a shield.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 5:1 Or, wind instruments
  2. Psalm 5:4 Or, The evil man
  3. Psalm 5:5 Or, Fools
  4. Psalm 5:8 Or, them that lie in wait for me
  5. Psalm 5:8 Or, level
  6. Psalm 5:9 Or, stedfastness
  7. Psalm 5:9 Or, a yawning gulf
  8. Psalm 5:9 Hebrew make smooth their tongue.
  9. Psalm 5:10 Or, from their counsels
  10. Psalm 5:11 Or, So shall all those . . . rejoice, They shall ever shout . . . and thou shalt defend them: They also . . . shall be joyful in thee.

Prayer of a suffering penitent.

A Psalm of David, [a]to bring to remembrance.

38 O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath;
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
For thine arrows [b]stick fast in me,
And thy hand [c]presseth me sore.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation;
Neither is there any [d]health in my bones because of my sin.
For mine iniquities are gone over my head:
As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
My wounds are loathsome and corrupt,
Because of my foolishness.
I am [e]pained and bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
For my loins are filled with burning;
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am faint and sore bruised:
I have [f]groaned by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before thee;
And my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart throbbeth, my strength faileth me:
As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me;
And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things,
And meditate deceits all the day long.
13 But I, as a deaf man, hear not;
And I am as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14 Yea, I am as a man that heareth not,
And in whose mouth are no [g]reproofs.
15 For in thee, O Jehovah, do I hope:
Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, Lest they rejoice over me:
When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
17 For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I will declare mine iniquity;
I will be sorry for my sin.
19 But mine enemies are lively, and are strong;
And they that hate me [h]wrongfully are multiplied.
20 They also that render evil for good
Are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good.
21 Forsake me not, O Jehovah:
O my God, be not far from me.
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 38:1 Or, to make memorial
  2. Psalm 38:2 Hebrew lighted on me.
  3. Psalm 38:2 Hebrew lighted on me.
  4. Psalm 38:3 Or, rest
  5. Psalm 38:6 Hebrew bent.
  6. Psalm 38:8 Hebrew roared.
  7. Psalm 38:14 Or, arguments
  8. Psalm 38:19 Hebrew falsely.

The psalmist in sickness complains of enemies and false friends.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

41 Blessed is he that considereth [a]the poor:
Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.
Jehovah will preserve him, and keep him alive,
And he shall be blessed [b]upon the earth;
And deliver not thou him unto the will of his enemies.
Jehovah will support him upon the couch of languishing:
Thou [c]makest all his bed in his sickness.
I said, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me:
Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
Mine enemies speak evil against me, saying,
When will he die, and his name perish?
And if he come to see me, he speaketh falsehood;
His heart gathereth iniquity to itself:
When he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
All that hate me whisper together against me;
Against me do they devise my hurt.
[d]An evil disease, say they, [e]cleaveth fast unto him;
And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
Who did eat of my bread,
Hath lifted up his heel against me.
10 But thou, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me, and raise me up,
That I may requite them.
11 By this I know that thou delightest in me,
Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,
And settest me before thy face for ever.

13 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,
From everlasting and to everlasting.
Amen, and Amen.

Book II

Thirsting for God in trouble and exile.

For the Chief Musician. Maschil of the sons of Korah.

42 As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth 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 [f]continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
These things I remember, and pour out my soul [g]within me,
How I went with the throng, and [h]led them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday.
Why art thou [i]cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him
For the help of his countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me:
Therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan,
And the Hermons, from [j]the hill Mizar.
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls:
All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day-time;
And in the night his song shall be with me,
Even a prayer unto the God of my life.
I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning [k]because of the oppression of the enemy?
10 As with [l]a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me,
While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him,
Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 41:1 Or, the weak
  2. Psalm 41:2 Or, in the land
  3. Psalm 41:3 Hebrew turnest, or, changest.
  4. Psalm 41:8 Or, Some wicked thing
  5. Psalm 41:8 Or, is poured out upon him
  6. Psalm 42:3 Hebrew all the day.
  7. Psalm 42:4 Hebrew upon.
  8. Psalm 42:4 Or, went in procession with them
  9. Psalm 42:5 Hebrew bowed down.
  10. Psalm 42:6 Or, the little mountain
  11. Psalm 42:9 Or, while the enemy oppresseth
  12. Psalm 42:10 Or, crushing