Chronological
Psalm 5
Trust in God for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, O Lord;
attend to my sighing.(A)
2 Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.(B)
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you and watch.(C)
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil will not sojourn with you.(D)
5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.(E)
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.(F)
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house;
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.(G)
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.(H)
9 For there is no truth in their mouths;
their hearts are destruction;
their throats are open graves;
they flatter with their tongues.(I)
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions, cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.(J)
Psalm 38
A Penitent Sufferer’s Plea for Healing
A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.(A)
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.(B)
3 There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.(C)
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.(D)
5 My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness;(E)
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all day long I go around mourning.(F)
7 For my loins are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.(G)
8 I am utterly spent and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.(H)
9 O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.(I)
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me;
as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and my neighbors stand far off.(J)
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin
and meditate on treachery all day long.(K)
13 But I am like the deaf; I do not hear;
like the mute, who cannot speak.(L)
14 Truly, I am like one who does not hear
and in whose mouth is no retort.
15 But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.(M)
16 For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me,
those who boast against me when my foot slips.”(N)
Psalm 41
Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;[a]
the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.(A)
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are called happy in the land.
You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.(B)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[b](C)
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.”(D)
5 My enemies wonder in malice
when I will die and my name perish.(E)
6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words
while their hearts gather mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.(F)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.(G)
8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,
that I will not rise again from where I lie.(H)
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.(I)
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.(J)
11 By this I know that you are pleased with me:
because my enemy has not triumphed over me.(K)
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity
and set me in your presence forever.(L)
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.(M)
Book II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God and His Help in Distress
To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.(N)
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?(O)
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”(P)
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng[c]
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.(Q)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help(R) 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your torrents;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.(S)
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.(T)
9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?”(U)
10 As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”(V)
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.(W)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.