Psalm 45

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.

My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

Psalm 53

For the director of music. According to mahalath. A maskil of David.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.

My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.

His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.

My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Surely they intend to topple me from my lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse.

Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

They plot injustice and say, “We have devised a perfect plan!” Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.

The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.

The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!

BOOK III

Psalms 73–89

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph.

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence.

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!” They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.

their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.

And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.

So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.

Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,

For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’

Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.

The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.

My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food.

wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.

Psalm 108

A song. A psalm of David.

My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul.

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

Psalm 111

Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—

I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.

Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.

Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.

Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.

Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.

My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

ק Qoph

I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord, and I will obey your decrees.

ש Sin and Shin

Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.

Lord, do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart.

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

Psalm 138

Of David.

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.

Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.

So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.

And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord.

turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.

Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!

who plots evil with deceit in his heart— he always stirs up conflict.

a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,

Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck.

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths.

You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.

The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.

The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.

Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.

Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.

Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning and even among fools she lets herself be known.

The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of fools are not upright.

Death and Destruction lie open before the Lord— how much more do human hearts!

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.

To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.

The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction.

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.

One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.

A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.

A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.

Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.

One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

Thirty Sayings of the Wise

Saying 1

Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,

for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.

for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

Saying 12

Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

Saying 14

My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed;

Saying 15

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

Saying 16

Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path:

Saying 18

My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,

for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.

If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

Saying 28

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:

As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.

Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit.

Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.

Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.

I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.

God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.

Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.

Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.

Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.

The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.

All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.

I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him.

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”

Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me.

come out, and look, you daughters of Zion. Look on King Solomon wearing a crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

She

I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”

My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.

I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone. My heart sank at his departure. I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer.

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.

Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.

All the people will know it— Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria— who say with pride and arrogance of heart,

When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.

Because of this, all hands will go limp, every heart will melt with fear.

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.

My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.

My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.

A Prophecy Against Egypt

A prophecy against Egypt: See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.

The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border.

My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth.

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”

And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.

say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

“Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.

Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are now far from my righteousness.

Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’”

“Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults.

The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.

“Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?

For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.

Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance.

My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit.

When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.

In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the Lord.

Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.

At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “the king and the officials will lose heart, the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled.”

Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

“Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”

Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.

But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.

But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

You who are my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me.

Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.

Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.”

Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’”

But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.

You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.

These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!

Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.

But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me.

“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’”

But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.

“But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.”

Lying Prophets

Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble. I am like a drunken man, like a strong man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and his holy words.

They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’ And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’