Psalm 43-48

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Help.

43 ^(A)Vindicate me, God, and ^(B)plead my case against an ungodly nation;
^[a]Save me from ^(C)the deceitful and unjust person!
²For You are the ^(D)God of my strength; why have You ^(E)rejected me?
Why do I go about ^(F)mourning ^[b]because of the oppression of the enemy?

³Send out Your ^(G)light and Your truth, they shall lead me;
They shall bring me to Your ^(H)holy hill
And to Your ^(I)dwelling places.
⁴Then I will go to ^(J)the altar of God,
To God ^[c]my exceeding ^(K)joy;
And I will praise You on the ^(L)lyre, God, my God.

⁵^(M)Why are you ^[d]in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will ^[e]again praise ^[f]Him
For the ^[g]help of His presence, my God.

Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.

For the music director. A ^[h]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

44 God, we have heard with our ears,
Our ^(N)fathers have told us
The ^(O)work that You did in their days,
In the ^(P)days of old.
²You with Your own hand ^(Q)drove out the nations;
Then You ^(R)planted them;
You ^(S)afflicted the peoples,
Then You ^(T)let them go free.
³For by their own sword they ^(U)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your ^(V)arm and the ^(W)light of Your presence,
For You ^(X)favored them.

⁴You are ^(Y)my King, God;
^(Z)Command ^[i]victories for Jacob.
⁵Through You we will ^(AA)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will ^(AB)trample down those who rise up against us.
⁶For I will ^(AC)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
⁷But You ^(AD)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have ^(AE)put to shame those who hate us.
⁸In God we have ^(AF)boasted all day long,
And we will ^(AG)give thanks to Your name forever. Selah

⁹Yet You ^(AH)have rejected us and brought us to ^(AI)dishonor,
And ^(AJ)do not go out with our armies.
¹⁰You cause us to ^(AK)turn back from the enemy;
And those who hate us ^(AL)have taken spoils for themselves.
¹¹You turn us over ^[j]to be eaten like ^(AM)sheep,
And have ^(AN)scattered us among the nations.
¹²You ^(AO)sell Your people ^[k]cheaply,
And have not ^[l]profited by their sale.
¹³You make us an object of ^(AP)reproach to our neighbors,
Of scoffing and ^(AQ)ridicule to those around us.
¹⁴You make us ^(AR)a proverb among the nations,
A ^[m]^(AS)laughingstock among the peoples.
¹⁵All day long my dishonor is before me
And ^[n]I am covered with my ^(AT)humiliation,
¹⁶Because of the voice of one who ^(AU)taunts and reviles,
Because of the presence of the ^(AV)enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷All this has come upon us, but we have ^(AW)not forgotten You,
And we have not ^(AX)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
¹⁸Our heart has not ^(AY)turned back,
And our steps ^(AZ)have not deviated from Your way,
¹⁹Yet You have ^(BA)crushed us in a place of ^(BB)jackals
And covered us with ^[o]^(BC)deep darkness.

²⁰If we had ^(BD)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our ^[p]hands to ^(BE)a strange god,
²¹Would God not ^(BF)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
²²But ^(BG)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are regarded as ^(BH)sheep to be slaughtered.
²³^(BI)Wake Yourself up, why ^(BJ)do You sleep, Lord?
Awake, ^(BK)do not reject us forever.
²⁴Why do You ^(BL)hide Your face
And ^(BM)forget our affliction and oppression?
²⁵For our ^(BN)souls have sunk down into the dust;
Our bodies cling to the earth.
²⁶^(BO)Rise up, be our help,
And ^(BP)redeem us because of Your mercy.

A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.

For the music director; according to the ^[q]Shoshannim. A ^[r]Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

45 My heart is moved with a good theme;
I ^[s]address my ^[t]verses to the ^[u]King;
My tongue is the pen of ^(BQ)a ready writer.
²You are the most handsome of the sons of mankind;
^(BR)Grace is poured ^[v]upon Your lips;
Therefore God has ^(BS)blessed You forever.

³Strap ^(BT)Your sword on Your thigh, ^[w]^(BU)Mighty One,
In Your splendor and majesty!
⁴And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth, ^(BV)humility, and righteousness;
Let Your ^(BW)right hand teach You ^[x]awesome things.
⁵Your ^(BX)arrows are sharp;
The ^(BY)peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are ^(BZ)in the heart of the King’s enemies.

⁶^(CA)Your throne, God, is forever and ever;
^(CB)The scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
⁷You have ^(CC)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has ^(CD)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your companions.
⁸All Your garments are fragrant with ^(CE)myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
From ivory palaces ^(CF)stringed instruments have made You joyful.
⁹Kings’ daughters are among ^(CG)Your noble women;
At Your ^(CH)right hand stands the queen in ^(CI)gold from Ophir.

¹⁰Listen, daughter, look and incline your ear:
^(CJ)Forget your people and your father’s house;
¹¹Then the King will crave your beauty.
Because He is your ^(CK)Lord, ^(CL)bow down to Him.
¹²The daughter of ^(CM)Tyre will come with a gift;
The ^(CN)wealthy among the people will seek your favor.

¹³The King’s daughter is all glorious within;
Her clothing is ^(CO)interwoven with gold.
¹⁴She will be ^(CP)brought to the King ^(CQ)in colorful garments;
The ^(CR)virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
¹⁵They will be brought with joy and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.

¹⁶In place of your fathers will be your sons;
You shall make them princes in all the earth.
¹⁷I will make ^(CS)Your name known among all generations;
Therefore the peoples ^(CT)will praise You forever and ever.

God, the Refuge of His People.

For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, ^[y]set to Alamoth. A Song.

46 God is our ^(CU)refuge and strength,
A ^[z]very ^(CV)ready help ^(CW)in ^[aa]trouble.
²Therefore we will ^(CX)not fear, though ^(CY)the earth shakes
And ^(CZ)the mountains slip into the heart of the ^[ab]sea;
³Though its ^(DA)waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah

⁴There is a ^(DB)river whose streams make the ^(DC)city of God happy,
The holy ^(DD)dwelling places of the Most High.
⁵God is ^(DE)in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will ^(DF)help her ^[ac]when morning dawns.
⁶The ^[ad]nations ^(DG)made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;
He ^[ae]^(DH)raised His voice, the earth ^(DI)quaked.
⁷The Lord of armies ^(DJ)is with us;
The God of Jacob is ^(DK)our stronghold. Selah

⁸Come, ^(DL)behold the works of the Lord,
^[af]Who has inflicted ^(DM)horrific events on the earth.
⁹He ^(DN)makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He ^(DO)breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He ^(DP)burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰“^[ag]Stop striving and ^(DQ)know that I am God;
I will be ^(DR)exalted among the ^[ah]nations, I will be exalted on the earth.”
¹¹The Lord of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah

God, the King of the Earth.

For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

47 ^(DS)Clap your hands, all you peoples;
^(DT)Shout to God with a voice of joy.
²For the Lord Most High is to be ^(DU)feared,
A ^(DV)great King over all the earth.
³He ^(DW)subdues peoples under us
And nations under our feet.
⁴He chooses our ^(DX)inheritance for us,
The ^(DY)pride of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

⁵God has ^(DZ)ascended ^[ai]with a shout,
The Lord, ^[aj]with the ^(EA)sound of a trumpet.
⁶^(EB)Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to ^(EC)our King, sing praises.
⁷For God is the ^(ED)King of all the earth;
Sing praises ^(EE)with a psalm of wisdom.
⁸God ^(EF)reigns over the nations,
God ^[ak]sits on ^(EG)His holy throne.
⁹The ^[al]^(EH)princes of the people have assembled as the ^(EI)people of the God of Abraham,
For the ^(EJ)shields of the earth belong to God;
He is ^(EK)highly exalted.

The Beauty and Glory of Zion.

A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

48 ^(EL)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the ^(EM)city of our God, His ^(EN)holy mountain.
²^(EO)Beautiful in elevation, ^(EP)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The ^(EQ)city of the great King.
³In its palaces,
God has made Himself known as a ^(ER)stronghold.

⁴For, behold, the ^(ES)kings arrived,
They passed by together.
⁵They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were ^(ET)terrified, they fled in a hurry.
⁶^[am]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as that of ^(EU)a woman in childbirth.
⁷With the ^(EV)east wind
You ^(EW)smash the ^(EX)ships of Tarshish.
⁸Just as we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of armies, in the city of our God;
God will ^(EY)establish her forever. Selah

⁹We have thought over ^(EZ)Your goodness, God,
In the midst of Your temple.
¹⁰As is Your ^(FA)name, God,
So is Your ^(FB)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your ^(FC)right hand is full of righteousness.
¹¹Mount ^(FD)Zion shall be glad,
The ^(FE)daughters of Judah shall rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
¹²Walk around Zion and encircle her;
Count her ^(FF)towers;
¹³Consider her ^(FG)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
So that you may ^(FH)tell of her to the next generation.
¹⁴For ^[an]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will ^(FI)lead us ^[ao]until death.