Psalm 38

Prayer of a Suffering Sinner

A Davidic psalm for remembrance.(A)

Lord, do not punish me in Your anger
or discipline me in Your wrath.(B)
For Your arrows have sunk into me,
and Your hand has pressed down on me.(C)

There is no health in my body
because of Your indignation;
there is no strength[a] in my bones
because of my sin.(D)
For my sins have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.(E)
My wounds are foul and festering
because of my foolishness.(F)
I am bent over and brought low;
all day long I go around in mourning.(G)
For my loins are full of burning pain,
and there is no health in my body.(H)
I am faint and severely crushed;
I groan because of the anguish of my heart.(I)

Lord, my every desire is known to[b] You;
my sighing is not hidden from You.(J)
10 My heart races, my strength leaves me,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.[c](K)
11 My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction,
and my relatives stand at a distance.(L)
12 Those who seek my life set traps,
and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me;
they plot treachery all day long.(M)

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

21 Lord, do not abandon me;
my God, do not be far from me.(V)
22 Hurry to help me,
Lord, my Savior.(W)

Psalm 39

The Fleeting Nature of Life

For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Davidic psalm.

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.”(X)
I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.(Y)
My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.(Z)
I spoke with my tongue:
Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short-lived I am.(AA)
You, indeed, have made my days short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.(AB)Selah

“Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.(AC)
Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.(AD)
Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.(AE)
I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.(AF)
10 Remove Your torment from me;
I fade away because of the force of Your hand.(AG)
11 You discipline a man with punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;(AH)
every man is only a vapor.(AI)Selah

12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry for help;
do not be silent at my tears.(AJ)
For I am a foreigner residing with You,
a temporary resident like all my fathers.(AK)
13 Turn Your angry gaze from me
so that I may be cheered up
before I die and am gone.”(AL)

Psalm 40

Thanksgiving and a Cry for Help

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.(AM)
He brought me up from a desolate[e] pit,
out of the muddy clay,(AN)
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.(AO)
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.(AP)
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.(AQ)

How happy is the man
who has put his trust in the Lord
and has not turned to the proud
or to those who run after lies!(AR)
Lord my God, You have done many things—
Your wonderful 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.(AS)

You do not delight in sacrifice and offering;
You open my ears to listen.[f]
You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering.(AT)
Then I said, “See, I have come;
it is written about me in the volume of the scroll.(AU)
I delight to do Your will, my God;(AV)
Your instruction lives within me.”[g](AW)

I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
see, I do not keep my mouth closed[h]
as You know, Lord.(AX)
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.(AY)

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

14 Let those who seek to take my life
be disgraced and confounded.
Let those who wish me harm
be driven back and humiliated.(BC)
15 Let those who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
be horrified because of their shame.(BD)

16 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
let those who love Your salvation continually say,
“The Lord is great!”(BE)
17 I am afflicted and needy;
the Lord thinks of me.
You are my helper and my deliverer;
my God, do not delay.(BF)

Psalm 41

Victory in Spite of Betrayal

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

Happy is one who cares for the poor;
the Lord will save him in a day of adversity.(BG)
The Lord will keep him and preserve him;
he will be blessed in the land.(BH)
You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies.(BI)
The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed;
You will heal him on the bed where he lies.(BJ)

I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against You.”(BK)
My enemies speak maliciously about me:
“When will he die and be forgotten?”(BL)
When one of them comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully;
he stores up evil in his heart;
he goes out and talks.(BM)
All who hate me whisper together about me;
they plan to harm me.(BN)
“Lethal poison has been poured into him,
and he won’t rise again from where he lies!”(BO)
Even my friend[i] in whom I trusted,
one who ate my bread,
has raised his heel against me.(BP)

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

13 May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen.(BV)

BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)

Psalm 42

Longing for God

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.(BW)
I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?(BX)
My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”(BY)
I remember this as I pour out my heart:(BZ)
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.(CA)

Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(CB)
I[j] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.(CC)
Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.(CD)
The Lord will send His faithful love by day;(CE)
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God, my rock,(CF)
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”(CG)
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”(CH)
11 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(CI)

Psalm 43[k]

Vindicate me, God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.(CJ)
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?(CK)

Send Your light and Your truth; let them lead me.(CL)
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,
to Your dwelling place.(CM)
Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.(CN)
I will praise You with the lyre,
God, my God.(CO)

Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(CP)

Psalm 44

Israel’s Complaint

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

God, we have heard with our ears—
our ancestors have told us—
the work You accomplished in their days,
in days long ago:(CQ)
to plant them,
You drove out the nations with Your hand;
to settle them,
You crushed the peoples.(CR)
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,
for You were pleased with them.(CS)

You are my King, my God,
who ordains[l] victories for Jacob.(CT)
Through You we drive back our foes;
through Your name we trample our enemies.(CU)
For I do not trust in my bow,
and my sword does not bring me victory.(CV)
But You give us victory over our foes
and let those who hate us be disgraced.(CW)
We boast in God all day long;
we will praise Your name forever.(CX)Selah

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

17 All this has happened to us,
but we have not forgotten You
or betrayed Your covenant.(DG)
18 Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from Your path.(DH)
19 But You have crushed us in a haunt of jackals
and have covered us with deepest darkness.(DI)
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
and spread out our hands to a foreign god,(DJ)
21 wouldn’t God have found this out,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?(DK)
22 Because of You we are slain all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.(DL)

23 Wake up, Lord! Why are You sleeping?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever!(DM)
24 Why do You hide Yourself
and forget our affliction and oppression?(DN)
25 For we have sunk down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.(DO)
26 Rise up! Help us!
Redeem us because of Your faithful love.(DP)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 38:3 Hb shalom
  2. Psalm 38:9 Lit is in front of
  3. Psalm 38:10 Or and the light of my eyes—even that is not with me
  4. Psalm 38:19 Or numerous
  5. Psalm 40:2 Or watery
  6. Psalm 40:6 Lit You hollow out ears for me
  7. Psalm 40:8 Lit instruction within my inner being
  8. Psalm 40:9 Lit not restrain my lips
  9. Psalm 41:9 Lit Even a man of my peace
  10. Psalm 42:6 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr; other Hb mss read Him, the salvation of His presence. My God, I
  11. Psalm 43:1 Many Hb mss connect Pss 42–43
  12. Psalm 44:4 LXX, Syr, Aq; MT reads King, God; ordain
  13. Psalm 44:14 Lit shaking of the head

Bible Gateway Recommends