Psalm 12; Psalm 22; Psalm 32; Psalm 42; Psalm 43; Psalm 79; Psalm 80; Psalm 88; Psalm 140; Psalm 142

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Psalm 12

The Faithful Have Vanished

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.

Save, O Lord, for mthe godly one is gone;

for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

Everyone nutters lies to his neighbor;

with oflattering lips and pa double heart they speak.

May the Lord cut off all oflattering lips,

the tongue that makes qgreat boasts,

those who say, With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?

Because rthe poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

sI will now arise, says the Lord;

I will place him in the tsafety for which he longs.

uThe words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

You, O Lord, will keep them;

you will guard us2 from this generation forever.

On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.


Psalm 22

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so vfar from saving me, from the words of my wgroaning?

O my God, I cry by xday, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are yholy,

zenthroned on athe praises1 of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they bcried and were rescued;

in you they ctrusted and were not put to shame.

But I am da worm and not a man,

escorned by mankind and fdespised by the people.

All who see me gmock me;

they make mouths at me; they hwag their heads;

iHe trusts in the Lord; let him jdeliver him;

let him rescue him, for he kdelights in him!

Yet you are he who ltook me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.

10  On you was I cast from my birth,

and from mmy mother’s womb you have been my God.

11  Be not nfar from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is onone to help.

12  Many bulls encompass me;

pstrong bulls of qBashan surround me;

13  they ropen wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14  I am spoured out like water,

and all my bones are tout of joint;

my uheart is like vwax;

it is melted within my breast;

15  my strength is wdried up like a potsherd,

and my xtongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16  For ydogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers zencircles me;

they have apierced my hands and feet2

17  I can count all my bones

they bstare and gloat over me;

18  cthey divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

19  But you, O Lord, ndo not be far off!

O you my help, dcome quickly to my aid!

20  Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of ethe dog!

21  Save me from fthe mouth of the lion!

You have rescued3 me from the horns of gthe wild oxen!

22  hI will tell of your name to my ibrothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23  You who jfear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, kglorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24  For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of lthe afflicted,

and he has not mhidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he ncried to him.

25  From you comes my praise in the great ocongregation;

my pvows I will qperform before those who fear him.

26  rThe afflicted4 shall seat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts tlive forever!

27  All uthe ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all vthe families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28  For wkingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29  All xthe prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall ybow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not zkeep himself alive.

30  Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ageneration;

31  they shall bcome and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet cunborn,

that he has done it.


Psalm 32

Blessed Are the Forgiven

A Maskil1 of David.

jBlessed is the one whose ktransgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord lcounts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit mthere is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my nbones wasted away

through my ogroaning all day long.

For day and night your phand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up2 as by the heat of summer. Selah

I qacknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, I rwill confess my transgressions to the Lord,

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Therefore let everyone who is sgodly

offer prayer to you at a time when you tmay be found;

surely in the rush of ugreat waters,

they shall not reach him.

You are a vhiding place for me;

you preserve me from wtrouble;

you surround me with xshouts of deliverance. Selah

I will yinstruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will zcounsel you with my eye upon you.

aBe not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,

which must be curbed with bbit and bridle,

or it will not stay near you.

10  cMany are the sorrows of the wicked,

but steadfast love surrounds the one who dtrusts in the Lord.

11  eBe glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,

and fshout for joy, all you gupright in heart!


Psalm 42

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of sthe Sons of Korah.

tAs a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

uMy soul thirsts for God,

for vthe living God.

When shall I come and wappear before God?2

xMy tears have been my food

day and night,

ywhile they say to me all the day long,

Where is your God?

These things I remember,

as I zpour out my soul:

ahow I would go bwith the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

ca multitude keeping festival.

dWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you ein turmoil within me?

fHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation3 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I gremember you

hfrom the land of Jordan and of iHermon,

from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep

at the roar of your waterfalls;

jall your breakers and your kwaves

have gone over me.

By day the Lord lcommands his steadfast love,

and at mnight his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God, nmy rock:

Why have you forgotten me?

oWhy do I go mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

pwhile they say to me all the day long,

Where is your God?

11  qWhy 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.


Psalm 43

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

rVindicate me, O God, and sdefend my cause

against an ungodly people,

from tthe deceitful and unjust man

deliver me!

For you are uthe God in whom I take refuge;

why have you vrejected me?

Why do I wgo about mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

xSend out your light and your truth;

let them lead me;

let them bring me to your yholy hill

and to your zdwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.

aWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

bHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.


Psalm 79

How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of yAsaph.

O God, zthe nations have come into your ainheritance;

they have defiled your bholy temple;

they have claid Jerusalem in ruins.

They have given dthe bodies of your servants

to the birds of the heavens for food,

the flesh of your efaithful to fthe beasts of the earth.

They have poured out their blood like water

all around Jerusalem,

and there was gno one to bury them.

We have become ha taunt to our neighbors,

hmocked and derided by those around us.

iHow long, O Lord? Will you be angry jforever?

Will your kjealousy lburn like fire?

mPour out your anger on the nations

that ndo not know you,

and on the kingdoms

that odo not call upon your name!

For they have devoured Jacob

and laid waste his habitation.

pDo not remember against us qour former iniquities;1

let your compassion come speedily to meet us,

for we are rbrought very low.

sHelp us, O God of our salvation,

for the glory of your name;

deliver us, and tatone for our sins,

for your uname’s sake!

10  vWhy should the nations say,

Where is their God?

Let wthe avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants

be known among the nations before our eyes!

11  Let xthe groans of the prisoners come before you;

according to your great power, preserve those ydoomed to die!

12  Return zsevenfold into the alap of our neighbors

the btaunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!

13  But we your people, the csheep of your pasture,

will dgive thanks to you forever;

from generation to generation we will recount your praise.


Psalm 80

Restore Us, O God

To the choirmaster: according to eLilies. A Testimony. Of fAsaph, a Psalm.

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead gJoseph like ha flock.

You who are ienthroned upon the cherubim, jshine forth.

Before kEphraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,

lstir up your might

and mcome to save us!

nRestore us,1 O God;

olet your face shine, that we may be saved!

O pLord God of hosts,

qhow long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with rthe bread of tears

and given them tears to drink in full measure.

sYou make us an object of contention for our sneighbors,

and our enemies laugh among themselves.

nRestore us, O God of hosts;

let your face shine, that we may be saved!

You brought ta vine out of Egypt;

you udrove out the nations and planted it.

You vcleared the ground for it;

it took deep root and filled the land.

10  The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

11  It sent out its branches to wthe sea

and its shoots to wthe River.2

12  Why then have you xbroken down its walls,

so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

13  yThe boar from the forest ravages it,

and all that move in the field feed on it.

14  Turn again, O God of hosts!

zLook down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

15  the stock that your right hand planted,

and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

16  They have aburned it with fire; they have acut it down;

may they perish at bthe rebuke of your face!

17  But clet your hand be on the man of your right hand,

the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

18  Then we shall not turn back from you;

dgive us life, and we will call upon your name!

19  eRestore us, O Lord God of hosts!

Let your face shine, that we may be saved!


Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of zthe Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to aMahalath Leannoth. A Maskil1 of bHeman the Ezrahite.

O Lord, cGod of my salvation,

I dcry out day and night before you.

Let my prayer come before you;

eincline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,

and fmy life draws near to gSheol.

I am counted among those who hgo down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom iyou remember no more,

for they are jcut off from your hand.

You have put me in kthe depths of the pit,

in the lregions dark and mdeep.

Your wrath nlies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with oall your waves. Selah

You have caused pmy companions to shun me;

you have made me qa horror2 to them.

I am rshut in so that I cannot escape;

smy eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O Lord;

I tspread out my hands to you.

10  Do you work wonders for the dead?

uDo the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12  Are your vwonders known in wthe darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of xforgetfulness?

13  But I, O Lord, cry yto you;

zin the morning my prayer comes before you.

14  O Lord, why ado you cast my soul away?

Why bdo you hide your face from me?

15  Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.3

16  Your wrath has swept over me;

your cdreadful assaults destroy me.

17  They dsurround me like a flood eall day long;

they fclose in on me together.

18  You have caused gmy beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.4


Psalm 140

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

yDeliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

preserve me from zviolent men,

who plan evil things in their heart

and astir up wars continually.

They make btheir tongue sharp as ca serpent’s,

and dunder their lips is the evenom of asps. Selah

Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from zviolent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet.

The arrogant have fhidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread ga net;1

beside the way they have set hsnares for me. Selah

iI say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to jthe voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!

O Lord, my Lord, kthe strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

lGrant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their2 evil plot, or mthey will be exalted! Selah

As for the head of those who surround me,

let nthe mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

10  Let oburning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits, no more to rise!

11  Let not the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

12  I know that the Lord will pmaintain the cause of the afflicted,

and qwill execute justice for the needy.

13  Surely rthe righteous shall give thanks to your name;

sthe upright shall dwell in your presence.


Psalm 142

You Are My Refuge

A Maskil1 of David, when he was in kthe cave. A Prayer.

With my voice I lcry out to the Lord;

with my voice I mplead for mercy to the Lord.

I npour out my complaint before him;

I tell my trouble before him.

When my spirit ofaints within me,

you know my way!

In the path where I walk

they have phidden a trap for me.

qLook to the rright and see:

sthere is none who takes notice of me;

tno refuge remains to me;

no one cares for my soul.

I cry to you, O Lord;

I say, You are my urefuge,

my vportion in wthe land of the living.

xAttend to my cry,

for yI am brought very low!

Deliver me from my persecutors,

zfor they are too strong for me!

aBring me out of prison,

that I may give thanks to your name!

The righteous will surround me,

for you will bdeal bountifully with me.