June 6 Psalms 44-50

Psalm 44
National Lament and Prayer for HelpTo the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.
1We have heard with our ears, O God,
our ancestors have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
2you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm give them victory;
but your right hand, and your arm,
and the light of your countenance,
for you delighted in them.


4You are my King and my God;
you command* victories for Jacob.
5Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down our assailants.
6For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7But you have saved us from our foes,
and have put to confusion those who hate us.
8In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name for ever.
Selah


9Yet you have rejected us and abased us,
and have not gone out with our armies.
10You made us turn back from the foe,
and our enemies have taken spoil for themselves.
11You have made us like sheep for slaughter,
and have scattered us among the nations.
12You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.


13You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
the derision and scorn of those around us.
14You have made us a byword among the nations,
a laughing-stock* among the peoples.
15All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face
16at the words of the taunters and revilers,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.


17All this has come upon us,
yet we have not forgotten you,
or been false to your covenant.
18Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way,
19yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals,
and covered us with deep darkness.


20If we had forgotten the name of our God,
or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22Because of you we are being killed all day long,
and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.


23Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Awake, do not cast us off for ever!
24Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25For we sink down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
26Rise up, come to our help.
Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.
Psalm 45
Ode for a Royal WeddingTo the leader: according to Lilies. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. A love song.
1My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.


2You are the most handsome of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you for ever.
3Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your glory and majesty.


4In your majesty ride on victoriously
for the cause of truth and to defend* the right;
let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
5Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.


6Your throne, O God,* endures for ever and ever.
Your royal sceptre is a sceptre of equity;
7 you love righteousness and hate 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 honour;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.


10Hear, O daughter, 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 favour with gifts,
the richest of the people 13with all kinds of wealth.


The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;*
14 in many-coloured robes she is led to the king;
behind her the virgins, her companions, follow.
15With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.


16In the place of ancestors you, O king,* shall have sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
17I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations;
therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever.
Psalm 46
God’s Defence of His City and PeopleTo the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.
1God is our refuge and strength,
a very present* help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
Selah


4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5God is in the midst of the city;* it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
Selah


8Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10‘Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.’
11The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.*
Selah
Psalm 47
God’s Rule over the NationsTo the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
2For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
3He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
4He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
Selah


5God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.*


8God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
9The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted.
Psalm 48
The Glory and Strength of ZionA Song. A Psalm of the Korahites.
1Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, 2beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
3Within its citadels God
has shown himself a sure defence.


4Then the kings assembled,
they came on together.
5As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic, they took to flight;
6trembling took hold of them there,
pains as of a woman in labour,
7as when an east wind shatters
the ships of Tarshish.
8As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God establishes for ever.
Selah


9We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10Your name, O God, like your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the towns* of Judah rejoice
because of your judgements.


12Walk about Zion, go all around it,
count its towers,
13consider well its ramparts;
go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God for ever and ever.
He will be our guide for ever.
Psalm 49
The Folly of Trust in RichesTo the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.


5Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
6those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life,*
there is no price one can give to God for it.
8For the ransom of life is costly,
and can never suffice,
9that one should live on for ever
and never see the grave.*


10When we look at the wise, they die;
fool and dolt perish together
and leave their wealth to others.
11Their graves* are their homes for ever,
their dwelling-places to all generations,
though they named lands their own.
12Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.


13Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
the end of those* who are pleased with their lot.
Selah
14Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,*
and their form shall waste away;
Sheol shall be their home.*
15But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.
Selah


16Do not be afraid when some become rich,
when the wealth of their houses increases.
17For when they die they will carry nothing away;
their wealth will not go down after them.
18Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
—for you are praised when you do well for yourself—
19they* will go to the company of their ancestors,
who will never again see the light.
20Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.
Psalm 50
The Acceptable SacrificeA Psalm of Asaph.
1The mighty one, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.


3Our God comes and does not keep silence,
before him is a devouring fire,
and a mighty tempest all around him.
4He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5‘Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!’
6The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge.
Selah


7‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt-offerings are continually before me.
9I will not accept a bull from your house,
or goats from your folds.
10For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11I know all the birds of the air,*
and all that moves in the field is mine.


12‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all that is in it is mine.
13Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,*
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’


16But to the wicked God says:
‘What right have you to recite my statutes,
or take my covenant on your lips?
17For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
18You make friends with a thief when you see one,
and you keep company with adulterers.


19‘You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20You sit and speak against your kin;
you slander your own mother’s child.
21These things you have done and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.


22‘Mark this, then, you who forget God,
or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.
23Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me;
to those who go the right way*
I will show the salvation of God.’