Psalm 39-41
English Standard Version
What Is the Measure of My Days?
To the choirmaster: to (A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
39 I said, “I will (B)guard my ways,
that I (C)may not sin with my tongue;
I will (D)guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was (E)mute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My (F)heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, (G)make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and (H)my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely (I)all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man (J)goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing[a] they are in turmoil;
man (K)heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
(L)My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
(M)Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 (N)I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
(O)for it is you who have done it.
10 (P)Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with (Q)rebukes for sin,
you (R)consume like a (S)moth what is dear to him;
(T)surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 (U)“Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am (V)a sojourner with you,
(W)a guest, like all my fathers.
13 (X)Look away from me, that I may smile again,
(Y)before I depart and (Z)am no more!”
My Help and My Deliverer
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
40 I (AA)waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and (AB)heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from (AC)the pit of destruction,
out of (AD)the miry bog,
and (AE)set my feet upon a rock,
(AF)making my steps secure.
3 He put (AG)a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will (AH)see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man who (AI)makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who (AJ)go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your (AK)wondrous deeds and your (AL)thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are (AM)more than can be told.
6 (AN)In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open (AO)ear.[b]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written (AP)of me:
8 (AQ)I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is (AR)within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance[c]
in (AS)the great congregation;
behold, I have not (AT)restrained my lips,
(AU)as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your (AV)steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have (AW)encompassed me
beyond number;
my (AX)iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot (AY)see;
they are (AZ)more than the hairs of my head;
my heart (BA)fails me.
13 (BB)Be pleased, O Lord, to (BC)deliver me!
O Lord, (BD)make haste to help me!
14 (BE)Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be (BF)turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who (BG)say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
(BH)say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am (BI)poor and needy,
but (BJ)the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
41 (BK)Blessed is the one who considers the poor![d]
(BL)In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you (BM)do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.[e]
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, (BN)be gracious to me;
(BO)heal me,[f] for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, (BP)he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.[g]
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out[h] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my (BQ)close friend in whom I trusted,
who (BR)ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that (BS)you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But (BT)you have upheld me because of (BU)my integrity,
and (BV)set me in your presence (BW)forever.
13 (BX)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Footnotes
- Psalm 39:6 Hebrew Surely as a breath
- Psalm 40:6 Hebrew ears you have dug for me
- Psalm 40:9 Hebrew righteousness; also verse 10
- Psalm 41:1 Or weak
- Psalm 41:3 Hebrew you turn all his bed
- Psalm 41:4 Hebrew my soul
- Psalm 41:7 Or they devise evil against me
- Psalm 41:8 Or has fastened
Psalm 53
English Standard Version
There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to (A)Mahalath. A Maskil[a] of David.
53 (B)The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,[b]
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
(C)where there is no terror!
For God (D)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Footnotes
- Psalm 53:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
- Psalm 53:2 Or who act wisely
Psalm 55
English Standard Version
Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with (A)stringed instruments. A Maskil[a] of David.
55 (B)Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless (C)in my complaint and I (D)moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they (E)drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
(F)the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and (G)horror (H)overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 (I)yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from (J)the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, (K)divide their tongues;
for I see (L)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and (M)iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
(N)oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who (O)deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 (P)But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God's house we walked in (Q)the throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol (R)alive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16 But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 (S)Evening and (T)morning and at (U)noon
I (V)utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for (W)many are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is (X)enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not (Y)change
and do not fear God.
20 My companion[b] (Z)stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21 His (AA)speech was (AB)smooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were (AC)drawn swords.
22 (AD)Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
(AE)he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, (AF)will cast them down
into (AG)the pit of destruction;
men of (AH)blood and treachery
shall not (AI)live out half their days.
But I will (AJ)trust in you.
Footnotes
- Psalm 55:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 55:20 Hebrew He
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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