Psalm 42-50

The Voice

⁴ With a broken heart,
    I remember times before
When I was with Your people. Those were better days.
    I used to lead them happily into the True God’s house,
Singing with joy, shouting thanksgivings with abandon,
    joining the congregation in the celebration.
⁵ Why am I so overwrought?
    Why am I so disturbed?
Why can’t I just hope in God?
    Despite all my emotions, I will believe and praise the One
    who saves me and is my life.
⁶ My God, my soul is so traumatized;
    the only help is remembering You wherever I may be;
From the land of the Jordan to Hermon’s high place
    to Mount Mizar.
⁷ In the roar of Your waterfalls,
    ancient depths surge, calling out to the deep.
All Your waves break over me;
    am I drowning?
⁸ Yet in the light of day, the Eternal shows me His love.
    When night settles in and all is dark, He keeps me company—
    His soothing song, a prayerful melody to the True God of my life.

⁹ Even still, I will say to the True God, my rock and strength:
    “Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I live my life so depressed, crying endlessly
    while my enemies have the upper hand?”
¹⁰ My enemies taunt me.
    They shatter my soul the way a sword shatters a man’s bones.
They keep taunting all the day long,
    “Where is He, your True God?”

¹¹ Why am I so overwrought,
    Why am I so disturbed?
Why can’t I just hope in God?
    Despite all my emotions, I will believe and praise the One
    who saves me, my God.

³ O my God, shine Your light and truth
    to help me see clearly,
To lead me to Your holy mountain,
    to Your home.
⁴ Then I will go to God’s altar with nothing to hide.
    I will go to God, my rapture;
I will sing praises to You and play my strings,
    unloading my cares, unleashing my joys, to You, God, my God.

⁵ O my soul, why are you so overwrought?
    Why are you so disturbed?
Why can’t I just hope in God? Despite all my emotions, I will hope in God again.
    I will believe and praise the One
    who saves me and is my life,
My Savior and my God.

⁴ You are my King, my God!
    You ordained victories for Jacob and his people!
⁵ You are our victory, pushing back the enemy;
    at the sound of Your name, we crush the opposition.
⁶ I don’t trust in my weapons
    or in my strength to win me victory.
⁷ But You rescue us from our foes;
    You shame our enemies.
⁸ We shout Your name all day long;
    we will praise Your name forever!

[pause]^[e]

⁹ But wait, God, where have You gone? Why have You shamed us?
    Why do our armies stand alone?
¹⁰ Without Your help we must retreat from our enemy,
    and the very ones who despise us pillage us.
¹¹ You have offered us up to our enemies,
    like sheep to the slaughter, meat for their feast,
    and You have dispersed us among the nations.
¹² You sold Your people for mere pennies,
    and You gained nothing from the deal.

¹³ You have made us a joke to our friends and neighbors,
    mocked and ridiculed by all those around us.
¹⁴ You have brought us infamy among the nations
    and made us an object of scorn and laughter to our neighbors.
¹⁵ Disgrace follows me everywhere I go; I am constantly embarrassed.
    Shame is written across my face
¹⁶ Because of the taunting and berating of those who are against me,
    because the enemy seeks revenge against me.

¹⁷ All this has happened to us,
    yet we have never forgotten You;
    we have not broken Your covenant with us.
¹⁸ Our hearts stayed true to You;
    we have never left Your path;
    we follow on.
¹⁹ Yet You have tested us, left us defeated in a land of jackals,
    and shrouded us with the veil of death.

²⁰ Even if we had forgotten the name of our God
    or offered praise to another god,
²¹ Would not the True God have known it?
    For He can see the hidden places of our hearts.
²² On Your behalf, our lives are endangered constantly;
    we are like sheep awaiting slaughter.^[f]

²³ Wake up, Lord! Why do You slumber?
    Get up! Do not reject us any longer!
²⁴ Why are You still hiding from us?
    Why are You still ignoring our suffering and trouble?
²⁵ Look and You will see our souls now dwell in the dust;
    our bodies hug the earth.
²⁶ Rise up and help us;
    restore us for the sake of Your boundless love.

² Better by far are you than all others, my king;
    gracious words flow from your lips;
    indeed, God has blessed you forever.

³ With your sword at your side,
    you are glorious, majestic,
    a mighty warrior.

⁴ Ride on in splendor; ride into battle victorious,
    for the sake of truth, humility, and justice.
    Perform awesome acts, trained by your powerful right hand.
⁵ Razor-sharp arrows leap from your bow
    to pierce the heart of the king’s foes;
    they lie, defeated, before you.

⁶ O God, Your throne is eternal;
    You will rule your kingdom with a scepter of justice.
⁷     You have loved what is right and hated what is evil.

That is why God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of gladness and lifted you above your companions.^[i]
8 All of your clothing is drenched in the rich scent of myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
    In palaces decked out with ivory, beautiful stringed instruments play for your pleasure.
⁹ At a royal wedding with the daughters of kings among the guests of honor,
    your bride-queen stands at your right, adorned in gold from Ophir.

¹⁰ Hear this, daughter; pay close attention to what I am about to say:
    you must forget your people and even your father’s house.
¹¹ Because the king yearns for your beauty,
    humble yourself before him, for he is now your lord.
¹² The daughter of Tyre arrives with a gift;
    the wealthy will bow and plead for your favor.
¹³ A stunning bride, the king’s daughter waits within;
    her clothing is skillfully woven with gold.
¹⁴ She, in her richly embroidered gown, is carried to the king,
    her virgin companions following close behind.

¹⁵ They walk in a spirit of celebration and gratefulness.
    In delight, they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ O king, in this place where your ancestors reigned, you will have sons;
    you will make them princes throughout all the land.
¹⁷ I will make sure your name is remembered by all future generations
    so that the people will offer you thanks and praise now and forever.

¹ God is our shelter and our strength.
    When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He’s ready to help.
So why run and hide?
² No fear, no pacing, no biting fingernails.
    When the earth spins out of control, we are sure and fearless.
    When mountains crumble and the waters run wild, we are sure and fearless.
³ Even in heavy winds and huge waves,
    or as mountains shake, we are sure and fearless.

[pause]^[k]

⁴ A pure stream flows—never to be cut off—
    bringing joy to the city where God makes His home,
    the sacred site where the Most High chooses to live.
⁵ The True God never sleeps and always resides in the city of joy;
    He makes it unstoppable, unshakable.
    When it awakes at dawn, the True God has already been at work.
⁶ Trouble is on the horizon for the outside nations, not long until kingdoms will fall;
    God’s voice thunders and the earth shakes.
⁷ You know the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, surrounds us and protects us;
    the True God of Jacob is our shelter, close to His heart.

[pause]

⁸ Come, gaze, fix your eyes on what the Eternal can do.
    Amazing, He has worked desolation here on this battlefield, earth.
⁹ God can stop wars anywhere in the world.
    He can make scrap of all weapons: snap bows, shatter spears,
    and burn shields.
¹⁰ “Be still, be calm, see, and understand I am the True God.
    I am honored among all the nations.
    I am honored over all the earth.”
¹¹ You know the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, surrounds us and protects us;
    the True God of Jacob is our shelter, close to His heart.

[pause]

[pause]^[l]

⁵ The True God ascends the throne acclaimed by shouts of the people.
    The Eternal is announced by the blast of a trumpet.
⁶ Sing! Shout! Play instruments!
    Praise our God and King; sing praises to Him who is worthy.
⁷ For He is the King of all the earth. Sing praise, all who can.
    Put words to music, and then sing praises
⁸ At the feet of the God who sits on His holy throne,
    ruling over all the nations.
⁹ All those with influence in this world—princes, kings, and satraps—
    gather with those who follow Abraham’s God.
For these defenders belong to God
    who reigns over the nations!

⁴ Not long ago, enemy kings gathered together
    and moved forward as one to attack the city.
⁵ When they saw Mount Zion, they were amazed;
    amazement became fear, then panic. They fled for their lives.
⁶ They were overtaken by terror, trembling in anguish
    like a woman in childbirth.
⁷ God, You shattered the ships of Tarshish
    with the mighty east wind.
⁸ As we have heard stories of Your greatness,
    now we have also seen it with our own eyes
    right here, in the city of the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies.
Right here, in our God’s city,
    the True God will preserve her forever.

[pause]^[n]

⁹ We have meditated upon Your loyal love, O God,
    within Your holy temple.
¹⁰ Just as Your name reaches to the ends of the earth, O God,
    so Your praise flows there too;
Your right hand holds justice.
¹¹ So because of Your judgments,
    may Mount Zion be delighted!
    May the villages of Judah celebrate!

¹² Explore Zion; make an accounting,
    note all her towers;
¹³ Reflect upon her defenses;
    stroll through her palaces
So that you can tell the coming generation all about her.
¹⁴ For so is God,
    our True God, forever and ever;
    He will be our guide till the end.

¹ Listen up, everyone!
    All you who reside in this world, give an ear!
² Everyone—rich and poor,
    young and old, wise and foolish, humble and mighty—
³ My mouth will overflow with wisdom;
    the reflections of my heart will guide you to understand the nature of life.
⁴ I will tune my ear to the words of a proverb;
    to the sounds of a harp, I will reveal my riddle.

⁵ Why should I be afraid when dark evils swirl about me,
    when I am walking among the sin of evildoers—
⁶ Those who depend on their own fortunes,
    who boast about their earthly riches?
⁷ One person can’t grant salvation to another
    or make a payment to the True God for another.
⁸ Redeeming a life is costly;
    no premium is enough, ever enough,
⁹ That one’s body might live on forever
    and never fear the grave’s decay.

¹⁰ Everyone knows that even the wisest ones die,
    perishing together with the foolish and the stupid.
For all die—beggars and kings, fools and wise men.
    Their wealth remains behind for others.
¹¹ Although they wish to dwell in fine houses forever,
    their graves are their real resting places.
    Their homes are for all future generations,
    yet for a while they have named lands after themselves.
¹² [No one, regardless of how rich or important, can live forever;
    he is]^[o] just like the animals that perish and decay.

¹³ This is the destiny of those foolish souls who have faith only in themselves;
    this will be the end of those happy to follow in their ways.

[pause]^[p]

¹⁴ The fate of fools is the grave, and just like sheep,
    death will feast on them.
The righteous will rule over them at dawn,
    their bodies, their outward forms, rotting in the grave
    far away from their great mansions.
¹⁵ But God will reach into the grave and save my life from its power.
    He will fetch me and take me into His eternal house.

[pause]

¹⁶ Do not be afraid of the rich and powerful
    as their prestige and honor grow,
¹⁷ For they cannot take anything with them when they die.
    Their fame and glory will not follow them into the grave.
¹⁸ During their lives, they seek every blessing and advantage
    because others praise you when you’ve done well.
¹⁹ But they will soon join their ancestors, for all of time,
    among the tombs of the faithless—a place of no light.
²⁰ Anyone who is rich or important without understanding
    is just like the animals that perish and decay.

³ Our God will come, and He will not enter on a whisper.
    A fire will devour the earth before Him;
    the wind will storm wildly about Him.
⁴ He calls heaven above and earth below
    to assist in bringing judgment on His people.
⁵ “Gather up those who are aligned with Me; bring them to Me;
    bring everyone who belongs to Me who have made covenant sacrifice.”
⁶ And the heavens shout of His justice,
    for He is the True God, an honest judge.

[pause]^[q]

⁷ “Listen, My people, I have something to say:
    O Israel, My testimony comes against you;
    I am God, your God.
⁸ I am not going to scold you because of your sacrifices;
    your burnt offerings are always before Me.
⁹ I will not accept the best bull from your fields
    or goats from your meadow,
¹⁰ For they are already Mine, just as the forest beast
    and the cattle grazing over a thousand hills are Mine.
¹¹ Every bird flying over the mountains I know;
    every animal roaming over the fields belongs to Me.

¹² I would not come to you if I were hungry,
    for the world and all it contains are Mine.
¹³ Do you really think I eat bull meat?
    Or drink goat’s blood?
¹⁴ Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness.
    Be true to your word to the Most High.
¹⁵ When you are in trouble, call for Me.
    I will come and rescue you,
    and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶ But to those acting against Him, God says,
    “Who do you think you are?
    Listing off My laws,
    acting as if your life is in alignment with My ways?
¹⁷ For it’s clear that you despise My guidance;
    you throw My wise words over your shoulder.
¹⁸ You play with thieves,
    spend your time with adulterers.

¹⁹ Evil runs out of your mouth;
    your tongue is wrapped in deceit.
²⁰ You sit back and gossip about your brother;
    you slander your mother’s son.
²¹ While you did these things, I kept silent;
    somehow you got the idea that I was like you.
But now My silence ends, and I am going to indict you.
    I’ll state the charge against you clearly, face-to-face.

²² All you who have forgotten Me, your God, should think about what I have said,
    or I will tear you apart and leave no one to save you.
²³ Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness.
    Do this, and you will honor Me.
    Those who straighten up their lives
    will know the saving grace of God.”