Beginning
God Provides for and Protects His People
For the music director. Of the sons of Korah.
According to Alamoth. A song.[a]
46 God is our refuge and strength,
a very sufficient help in troubles.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth change,
and though the mountains totter into the midst[b] of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though mountains shake with its surging water. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God,
the holiest of the dwellings of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her;
she will not be made to totter.
God will help her at daybreak.[c]
6 Nations roar, kingdoms shake;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 Yahweh of hosts is with us;
our high stronghold is the God of Jacob. Selah
8 Come, see the works of Yahweh,
who has placed desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and cuts off the spear.
The wagons of war he burns with fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations;
I will be exalted in the earth.
11 Yahweh of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our high stronghold.
God Is King over All the Earth
For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[d]
47 All you peoples, clap your hands.[e]
Shout to God with a voice of rejoicing.
2 For Yahweh Most High is awesome,[f]
a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.
4 He chooses for us our inheritance,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
5 God has gone up with a shout,
Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises.
Sing praises to our king, sing praises.
7 For God is king of all the earth.
Sing praises with understanding.[g]
8 God reigns over nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together
with the people of Abraham’s God.
For the shields of the earth belong to God.
He is very exalted.
The Greatness of God in Zion
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.[h]
48 Yahweh is great and very worthy of praise
in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.[i]
2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
is Mount Zion,[j] in the far north,[k]
the city of the great king.
3 God is in her citadels;
he is known as a high stronghold.
4 For see, the kings assembled;[l]
they advanced together.
5 They themselves saw[m] it, so they were astonished.
They were terrified; they ran off.
6 Trembling seized them there—
pain as of a woman in labor.
7 With an east wind
you shatter[n] the ships of Tarshish.[o]
8 As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God.
God will establish her forever. Selah
9 We have pondered your loyal love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 As is your name, O God, so is your praise
to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion[p] rejoice;
let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion and circle it;
count her towers.
13 Consider well[q] her ramparts.
Go through her citadels
so that you can tell the next generation
14 that this is God, our God forever and ever.
He himself[r] will guide us until death.
Wealth and the Fate of the Wicked
For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[s]
49 Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will speak wisdom,
and the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will propound[t] my riddle on a lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of calamity,[u]
when iniquity surrounds me at my heels,
6 those who trust their wealth
and boast about the abundance of their riches?
7 Surely a man cannot redeem a brother.
He cannot give to God his ransom
8 (since[v] the redemption price for their life is costly
and it always fails),
9 so that he may stay alive forever
and not see the pit.
10 For he sees that the wise die,
together with the fool and brute they perish,
and leave their wealth to the next generation.
11 Within them they think their houses are forever,
their dwelling places from generation to generation.
They name[w] their lands by their own names.
12 But man cannot continue in his pomp.
He is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the journey[x] of those who have foolish confidence,
and those after them who accept their sayings. Selah
14 Like sheep they are destined to Sheol;
death will shepherd them.
But the upright will rule over them in the morning,
and their forms will be for Sheol to consume,
far from his lofty abode.
15 Surely God will ransom my life
from the power[y] of Sheol,
because he will receive me. Selah
16 Do not fear when a man becomes rich,
when the wealth[z] of his house increases,
17 because when he dies he will not take away any of it.
His wealth will not follow down after him.
18 Though he congratulated his soul while he was living
—and people will praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 it[aa] will go to the generation of his fathers.
Never will they see light.
20 Humankind in its pomp, but does not understand,
is like the beasts that perish.
An Oracle Concerning Sacrifices
A psalm of Asaph.[ab]
50 The Supreme God, God, Yahweh, has spoken
and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun
to its setting.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and he is not silent.
Before him fire devours,
and around him it is very tempestuous.
4 He summons the heavens above
and the earth that he might judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my loyal ones,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens declare his righteousness,
because God himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 It is not concerning a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you,
and your burnt offerings are before me continually.
9 I will not take from your house a bull
or from your stalls a he-goat,
10 because every animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
and every moving creature in the field is mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
because the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a thank offering
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 And call me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recite my statutes
and mention my covenant with your mouth,[ac]
17 while you yourself hate discipline,
and cast my words behind you?
18 When you see a thief, then you are pleased with him,
and your association is with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and you harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
You imagined that I was just like you.
I will rebuke you and present an argument before your eyes.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there will be none to deliver.
23 He who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he who orders his way;
I will show him the salvation of God.”
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software