38  ^cO Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath!

2  For your ^darrows have sunk into me,

and your hand has come down on me.

3  There is no soundness in my flesh

because of your indignation;

there is no health in my bones

because of my sin.

4  For ^emy iniquities have gone over my head;

like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5  My wounds stink and fester

because of my foolishness,

6  I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;

all the day I ^fgo about mourning.

7  For my sides are filled with burning,

and there is no soundness in my flesh.

8  I am feeble and crushed;

I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

9  O Lord, all my longing is before you;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

10  My heart throbs; my strength fails me,

and ^gthe light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.

11  My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,

and ^hmy nearest kin stand far off.

12  Those who seek my life lay their snares;

those who seek my hurt speak of ruin

and meditate treachery all day long.

13  But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,

like a ⁱmute man who does not open his mouth.

14  I have become like a man who does not hear,

and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

15  But for you, O Lord, do I wait;

it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

16  For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,

who boast against me when my foot slips!”

17  For I am ready to fall,

and my pain is ever before me.

18  I confess my iniquity;

I am sorry for my sin.

19  But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,

and many are those who hate me wrongfully.

20  Those who ^jrender me evil for good

accuse me because I follow after good.

21  ^kDo not forsake me, O Lord!

O my God, ^lbe not far from me!

22  ^mMake haste to help me,

O Lord, my salvation!

39  I said, “I will guard my ways,

that I may not sin with my tongue;

I will ^oguard my mouth with a muzzle,

so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

2  I was ^pmute and silent;

I held my peace to no avail,

and my distress grew worse.

3  My heart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

4  “O Lord, ^qmake me know my end

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting I am!

5  ^rBehold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and my lifetime is as nothing ^sbefore you.

Surely all mankind stands as a mere ^tbreath! Selah

6  Surely a man goes about as a ^ushadow!

Surely for nothing¹ they are in turmoil;

^vman heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

7  “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in you.

8  Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

9  I am mute; I do not open my mouth,

for it is you who have done it.

10  Remove your stroke from me;

I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

11  When you discipline a man

with rebukes for sin,

you consume like a moth what is dear to him;

surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

12  “Hear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

^whold not your peace at my tears!

For I am a ^xsojourner with you,

a guest, like all my fathers.

13  Look away from me, that I may smile again,

before I depart and am no more!”

40  I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

2  He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the ^ymiry bog,

and set my feet ^zupon a rock,

making my steps secure.

3  He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the Lord.

4  Blessed is the man who makes

the Lord his ^atrust,

who does not turn to the proud,

to those who go astray after a lie!

5  You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

yet ^bthey are more than can be told.

6  ^cIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open ear.¹

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 of me:

8  I ^ddelight to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.”

9  I have told the glad news of deliverance²

in the great congregation;

behold, I have not restrained my lips,

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 ^esteadfast love and your faithfulness will

ever preserve me!

12  For evils have encompassed me

beyond number;

^fmy iniquities have overtaken me,

and I cannot see;

they are more than the hairs of my head;

my heart fails me.

13  ^gBe pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!

O Lord, ^hmake haste to help me!

14  ⁱLet those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who seek to snatch away my life;

let those be turned back and brought to dishonor

who delight in my hurt!

15  Let those be appalled because of their shame

who say to me, ^j“Aha, Aha!”

16  But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

say continually, “Great is the Lord!”

17  As for me, I am poor and needy,

but ^kthe Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

41  ^lBlessed is the one who considers the poor!¹

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 do not ^mgive 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.²

4  As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;

ⁿheal me,³ for ^oI 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, 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.⁴

8  They say, “A deadly thing is poured out⁵ on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.”

9  Even my close friend in whom I trusted,

^pwho 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 you delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But you have upheld me because of my integrity,

and set me in your presence forever.

13  ^qBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

^rAmen and Amen.

42  As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

2  ^tMy soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and ^uappear before God?²

3  ^vMy tears have been my food

day and night,

while they ^wsay to me all the day long,

^x“Where is your God?”

4  These things I remember,

as I ^ypour out my soul:

how I would go ^zwith the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

a multitude keeping festival.

5  ^aWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation³ 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 roar of your waterfalls;

^ball your breakers and your waves

have gone over me.

8  By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

and at ^cnight his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

9  I say to God, my rock:

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I ^dgo mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

11  Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.