Psalm 43-45

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

Psalm 43

¹ Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead and defend my cause against an ungodly nation. O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

² For You are the God of my strength [my Stronghold—in Whom I take refuge]; why have You cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³ O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling.

⁴ Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy; yes, with the lyre will I praise You, O God, my God!

⁵ Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my [sad] countenance, and my God.

Psalm 44

To the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem.

¹ We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us [what] work You did in their days, in the days of old.

² You drove out the nations with Your hand and it was Your power that gave [Israel] a home by rooting out the [heathen] peoples, but [Israel] You spread out.

³ For they got not the land [of Canaan] in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your countenance [did it], because You were favorable toward and did delight in them.

⁴ You are my King, O God; command victories and deliverance for Jacob (Israel).

⁵ Through You shall we push down our enemies; through Your name shall we tread them under who rise up against us.

⁶ For I will not trust in and lean on my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

⁷ But You have saved us from our foes and have put them to shame who hate us.

⁸ In God we have made our boast all the day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁹ But now You have cast us off and brought us to dishonor, and You go not out with our armies.

¹⁰ You make us to turn back from the enemy, and they who hate us take spoil for themselves.

¹¹ You have made us like sheep intended for mutton and have scattered us in exile among the nations.

¹² You sell Your people for nothing, and have not increased Your wealth by their price.

¹³ You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are round about us.

¹⁴ You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the heads among the people.

¹⁵ My dishonor is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face

¹⁶ At the words of the taunter and reviler, by reason of the enemy and the revengeful.

¹⁷ All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten You, neither have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].

¹⁸ Our hearts are not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Your path,

¹⁹ Though You have distressingly broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with deep darkness, even with the shadow of death.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange god,

²¹ Would not God discover this? For He knows the secrets of the heart.

²² No, but for Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.^(A)

²³ Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arouse Yourself, cast us not off forever!

²⁴ Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression?

²⁵ For our lives are bowed down to the dust; our bodies cleave to the ground.

²⁶ Rise up! Come to our help, and deliver us for Your mercy’s sake and because of Your steadfast love!

Psalm 45

To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Lilies” [probably a popular air. A Psalm] of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem. A song of love.

¹ My heart overflows with a ^[a]goodly theme; I address my psalm to a King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.

² You are fairer than the children of men; graciousness is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.

³ Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O mighty One, in Your glory and Your majesty!

⁴ And in Your majesty ride on triumphantly for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); and let Your right hand guide You to tremendous things.

⁵ Your arrows are sharp; the peoples fall under You; Your darts pierce the hearts of the King’s enemies.

⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁷ You love righteousness, uprightness, and right standing with God and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.^(B)

⁸ Your garments are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia; stringed instruments make You glad.

⁹ Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women; at Your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰ Hear, O daughter, consider, submit, and consent to my instruction: forget also your own people and your father’s house;

¹¹ So will the King desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, be submissive and reverence and honor Him.

¹² And, O daughter of Tyre, the richest of the people shall entreat your favor with a gift.

¹³ The King’s daughter in the inner part [of the palace] is all glorious; her clothing is inwrought with gold.^(C)

¹⁴ She shall be brought to the King in raiment of needlework; with the virgins, her companions that follow her, she shall be brought to You.

¹⁵ With gladness and rejoicing will they be brought; they will enter into the King’s palace.

¹⁶ Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, whom You will make princes in all the land.

¹⁷ I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore shall the people praise and give You thanks forever and ever.