Psalms 42-46 - ESV Online

PSALMS 42-46

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Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
42:1

As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God. 2

My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God? 3

My tears have been my food

day and night,

while they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?” 4

These things I remember,

as I pour out my soul:

how I would go with the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

a multitude keeping festival.
5

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
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;

all your breakers and your waves

have gone over me. 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. 9

I say to God, my rock:

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go 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. Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43:1

Vindicate 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 I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.
5

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. Come to Our Help

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
44:1

O God, we have heard with our ears,

our fathers have told us,

what deeds you performed in their days,

in the days 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 not 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 light 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 not 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 boasted continually,

and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9

But you have rejected us and disgraced us

and have 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 like sheep for slaughter

and have scattered us among the nations. 12

You have sold your people for a trifle,

demanding no high price for them. 13

You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,

the derision and scorn of those around us. 14

You have made us a byword among the nations,

a laughingstock 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 forgotten you,

and we have not been false to your covenant. 18

Our heart has not turned back,

nor 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

If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 21

would not God discover this?

For he knows the secrets of the heart. 22

Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23

Awake! 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 our soul is bowed down to the dust;

our belly clings to the ground. 26

Rise up; come to our help!

Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! Your Throne, O God, Is Forever

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.
45:1

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

Your 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 oil 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 people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,

the richest of the people.
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. God Is Our Fortress

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
46:1

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble. 2

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High. 5

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns. 6

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire. 10

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!” 11

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

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