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.

43  ^eVindicate me, O God, and defend my cause

against an ungodly people,

from the deceitful and unjust man

deliver me!

2  For you are the God in whom I take refuge;

why have you rejected me?

Why do I go about mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

3  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 I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy,

and ^fI will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.

5  ^gWhy 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.

44  O God, we have heard with our ears,

^hour fathers have told us,

what deeds you performed in their days,

in the ⁱdays of old:

2  you with your own hand drove out the nations,

but them you planted;

you afflicted the peoples,

but them you set free;

3  for ^jnot by their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm save them,

but your right hand and your arm,

and the ^klight of your face,

for you delighted in them.

4  You are my King, O God;

ordain salvation for Jacob!

5  Through you we push down our foes;

through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.

6  For ^lnot in my bow do I trust,

nor can my sword save me.

7  But you have saved us from our foes

and have put to shame those who hate us.

8  In God we have ^mboasted continually,

and ⁿwe will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

9  But you have ^orejected us and disgraced us

and ^phave not gone out with our armies.

10  You have made us turn back from the foe,

and those who hate us have gotten spoil.

11  You have made us ^qlike sheep for slaughter

and have ^rscattered us among the nations.

12  You have ^ssold your people for a trifle,

demanding no high price for them.

13  You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,

the ^tderision and scorn of those around us.

14  You have made us a byword among the nations,

a laughingstock² among the peoples.

15  All day long my disgrace is before me,

and shame has covered my face

16  at the sound of the taunter and reviler,

at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

17  All this has come upon us,

though we have not ^uforgotten you,

and we have not been false to your covenant.

18  Our heart has not turned back,

^vnor have our steps departed from your way;

19  yet you have broken us in the place of jackals

and covered us with the shadow of death.

20  ^wIf we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a ^xforeign god,

21  would not God discover this?

For he ^yknows the secrets of the heart.

22  Yet ^zfor your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

23  ^aAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!

24  Why do you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

25  For ^bour soul is bowed down to the dust;

our belly clings to the ground.

26  Rise up; come to our help!

Redeem us ^cfor the sake of your steadfast love!

45  My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

2  You are the most handsome of the sons of men;

grace is poured upon your lips;

therefore God has blessed you forever.

3  Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,

in your splendor and majesty!

4  In your majesty ride out victoriously

for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!

5  Your arrows are sharp

in the heart of the king’s enemies;

the peoples fall under you.

6  ^eYour throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

7  you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the ^foil of gladness beyond your companions;

8  your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;

9  daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;

at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10  Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:

forget your people and your father’s house,

11  and the king will desire your beauty.

Since he is your lord, bow to him.

12  The people² of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,

the richest of the people.³

13  All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.

14  In many-colored robes she is led to the king,

with her virgin companions following behind her.

15  With joy and gladness they are led along

as they enter the palace of the king.

16  In place of your fathers shall be your sons;

you will make them princes in all the earth.

17  I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.