Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
49 Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both clow and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my driddle to the music of the lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
10 For he sees that eeven the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,1
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is flike the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.2 Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will gransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will hreceive me. Selah
16 iBe not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies jhe will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, khe counts himself blessed—
and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see llight.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 mThe Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the nperfection of beauty,
God oshines forth.
3 Our God comes; he does not pkeep silence;1
qbefore him is a rdevouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 He scalls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my tfaithful ones,
uwho made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The vheavens declare his righteousness,
for wGod himself is judge! Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
xI am God, your God.
8 yNot for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For zevery beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 aI know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for bthe 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 csacrifice of thanksgiving,2
and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall dglorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline,
and you ecast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, fyou are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I3 was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who gforget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will hshow the salvation of God!”
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, iwhen Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
kaccording to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
lblot out my transgressions.
2 mWash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and ncleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 oAgainst you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
pso that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was qbrought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth rin the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with shyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be twhiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken urejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right2 spirit within me.
11 vCast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from wbloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For xyou will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
18 aDo good to Zion in your good pleasure;
bbuild up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A cMaskil1 of David, dwhen Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your tongue plots destruction,
like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
3 You elove evil more than good,
and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall see and fear,
and shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but ftrusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”2
8 But I am like a ggreen olive tree
in the house of God.
I htrust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ifor it is good,
in the presence of the godly.
There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to jMahalath. A Maskil1 of David.
53 kThe fool says in his heart, l“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
mthere is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,2
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
nthere is none who does good,
not even one.
4 oHave those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God prestores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
