Psalms 37-41

Psalm 37

¹Of David. Do not be angry because of the wrongdoers, or have envy of the workers of evil.

²For they will quickly be cut down like grass, and become dry like the green plants.

³Have faith in the Lord, and do good; be at rest in the land, and go after righteousness.

⁴So will your delight be in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires.

⁵Put your life in the hands of the Lord; have faith in him and he will do it.

⁶And he will make your righteousness be seen like the light, and your cause like the shining of the sun.

⁷Take your rest in the Lord, waiting quietly for him; do not be angry because of the man who does well in his evil ways, and gives effect to his bad designs.

⁸Put an end to your wrath and be no longer bitter; do not give way to angry feeling which is a cause of sin.

⁹For the evil-doers will be cut off: but those who have faith in the Lord will have the earth for their heritage.

¹⁰For in a short time the evil-doer will be gone: you will go searching for his place, and it will not be there.

¹¹But the gentle will have the earth for their heritage; they will take their delight in peace without measure.

¹²The sinner has evil designs against the upright, lifting up the voice of wrath against him.

¹³He will be laughed at by the Lord, who sees that his day is coming.

¹⁴The evil-doers have taken out their swords, their bows are bent; for crushing the poor, and to put to death those who are upright in their ways.

¹⁵But their swords will be turned into their hearts, and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶The little which the good man has is better than the wealth of evil-doers.

¹⁷For the arms of the evil-doers will be broken: but the Lord is the support of the good.

¹⁸The days of the upright are numbered by the Lord, and their heritage will be for ever.

¹⁹They will not be shamed in the evil time, and in the days when all are in need of food they will have enough.

²⁰But the wrongdoers will come to destruction, and the haters of the Lord will be like the fat of lambs, they will be burned up; they will go up in smoke, and never again be seen.

²¹The sinner takes money and does not give it back; but the upright man has mercy, and gives to others.

²²Those who have his blessing will have the earth for their heritage; but those who are cursed by him will be cut off.

²³The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he takes delight in his way.

²⁴Even if he has a fall he will not be without help: for the hand of the Lord is supporting him.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old, but I have not seen the good man without help, or his children looking for bread.

²⁶All the day he is ready to have mercy and to give; his children are a blessing.

²⁷Be turned from evil, and do good; and your place will be for ever.

²⁸For the Lord is a lover of righteousness, and takes care of his saints; they will be kept safe for ever; but the seed of the evil-doers will be cut off.

²⁹The upright will have the earth for their heritage, and will go on living there for ever.

³⁰The mouth of the good man says words of wisdom; the talk of his tongue is of righteousness.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart; he will never make a false step.

³²The sinners are watching the upright man, desiring to put him to death.

³³The Lord will not give him into their hands, or be against him when he is judged.

³⁴Be waiting for the Lord, and keep his way; and you will be lifted up, and have the land for your heritage: when the evil-doers are cut off, you will see it.

³⁵I have seen the evil-doer in great power, covering the earth like a great tree.

³⁶But he came to an end, and there was no sign of him; I made a search for him and he was not there.

³⁷Give attention to the good man, and take note of the upright; because the end of that man is peace.

³⁸But as for the sinners, they will be cut off together; the end of the wrongdoers is destruction.

³⁹But the Lord is the saviour of the upright: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰And the Lord will be their help, and keep them safe: he will take them out of the hands of the evil-doers, and be their saviour, because they had faith in him.

Psalm 38

¹A Psalm. Of David. To keep in memory. O Lord, be not bitter with me in your wrath; let not your hand be on me in the heat of your passion.

²For your arrows have gone into my flesh, and I am crushed under the weight of your hand.

³My flesh is wasted because of your wrath; and there is no peace in my bones because of my sin.

⁴For my crimes have gone over my head; they are like a great weight which is more than my strength.

⁵My wounds are poisoned and evil-smelling, because of my foolish behaviour.

⁶I am troubled, I am made low; I go weeping all the day.

⁷For my body is full of burning; all my flesh is unhealthy.

⁸I am feeble and crushed down; I gave a cry like a lion because of the grief in my heart.

⁹Lord, all my desire is before you; my sorrow is not kept secret from you.

¹⁰My heart goes out in pain, my strength is wasting away; as for the light of my eyes, it is gone from me.

¹¹My lovers and my friends keep away from my disease; my relations keep far away.

¹²Those who have a desire to take my life put nets for me; those who are designing my destruction say evil things against me, all the day their minds are full of deceit.

¹³But I kept my ears shut like a man without hearing; like a man without a voice, never opening his mouth.

¹⁴So I was like a man whose ears are shut, and in whose mouth there are no sharp words.

¹⁵In you, O Lord, is my hope: you will give me an answer, O Lord, my God.

¹⁶I said, Let them not be glad over me; when my foot is moved, let them not be lifted up with pride against me.

¹⁷My feet are near to falling, and my sorrow is ever before me.

¹⁸I will make clear my wrongdoing, with sorrow in my heart for my sin.

¹⁹But they are strong who have hate for me without cause: those who are against me falsely are increased in numbers.

²⁰They give me back evil for good; they are my haters because I go after the thing which is right.

²¹Do not give me up, O Lord; O my God, be near to me.

²²Come quickly to give me help, O Lord, my salvation.

Psalm 39

¹To the chief music-maker. Of Jeduthun. A Psalm. Of David. I said, I will give attention to my ways, so that my tongue may do no wrong; I will keep my mouth under control, while the sinner is before me.

²I made no sound, I said no word, even of good; and I was moved with sorrow.

³My heart was burning in my breast; while I was deep in thought the fire was lighted; then I said with my tongue,

⁴Lord, give me knowledge of my end, and of the measure of my days, so that I may see how feeble I am.

⁵You have made my days no longer than a hand's measure; and my years are nothing in your eyes; truly, every man is but a breath. (Selah.)

⁶Truly, every man goes on his way like an image; he is troubled for no purpose: he makes a great store of wealth, and has no knowledge of who will get it.

⁷And now, Lord, what am I waiting for? my hope is in you.

⁸Make me free from all my sins; do not let me be shamed by the man of evil behaviour.

⁹I was quiet, and kept my mouth shut; because you had done it.

¹⁰No longer let your hand be hard on me; I am wasted by the blows of your hand.

¹¹By the weight of your wrath against man's sin, the glory of his form is wasted away; truly every man is but a breath. (Selah.)

¹²Let my prayer come to your ears, O Lord, and give attention to my cry, make an answer to my weeping: for my time here is short before you, and in a little time I will be gone, like all my fathers.

¹³Let your wrath be turned away from me, so that I may be comforted, before I go away from here, and become nothing.

Psalm 40

¹To the chief music-maker. Of David. A Psalm. When I was waiting quietly for the Lord, his heart was turned to me, and he gave ear to my cry.

²He took me up out of a deep waste place, out of the soft and sticky earth; he put my feet on a rock, and made my steps certain.

³And he put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God; numbers have seen it with fear, and put their faith in the Lord.

⁴Happy is the man who has faith in the Lord, and does not give honour to the men of pride or to those who are turned away to deceit.

⁵O Lord my God, great are the wonders which you have done in your thought for us; it is not possible to put them out in order before you; when I would give an account of them, their number is greater than I may say.

⁶You had no desire for offerings of beasts or fruits of the earth; ears you made for me: for burned offerings and sin offerings you made no request.

⁷Then I said, See, I come; it is recorded of me in the roll of the book,

⁸My delight is to do your pleasure, O my God; truly, your law is in my heart.

⁹I have given news of righteousness in the great meeting; O Lord, you have knowledge that I have not kept back my words.

¹⁰Your righteousness has not been folded away in my heart; I have made clear your true word and your salvation; I have not kept secret your mercy or your faith from the great meeting.

¹¹Take not away your gentle mercies from me, O Lord; let your mercy and your faith keep me safe for ever.

¹²For unnumbered evils are round about me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I am bent down with their weight; they are more than the hairs of my head, my strength is gone because of them.

¹³Be pleased, O Lord, to take me out of danger; O Lord, come quickly and give me help.

¹⁴Let those who go after my soul for its destruction have shame and trouble together; let them be turned back and made foolish who take pleasure in my trouble.

¹⁵Let those who say to me, Aha, aha! be surprised because of their shame.

¹⁶Let all those who are looking for you be glad and have joy in you; let the lovers of your salvation ever say, May the Lord be great.

¹⁷Though I am poor and in need, the Lord has me in mind; you are my help and my saviour; let there be no waiting, O my God.

Psalm 41

¹To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble.

²The Lord will keep him safe, and give him life; the Lord will let him be a blessing on the earth, and will not give him into the hand of his haters.

³The Lord will be his support on his bed of pain: by you will all his grief be turned to strength.

⁴I said, Lord, have mercy on me; make my soul well, because my faith is in you.

⁵My haters say evil against me, When will he be dead, and his name come to an end?

⁶If one comes to see me, deceit is in his heart; he keeps a store of evil, which he makes public in every place.

⁷All my haters are talking secretly together against me; they are designing my downfall.

⁸They say, He has an evil disease, which will not let him go: and now that he is down he will not get up again.

⁹Even my dearest friend, in whom I had faith, who took bread with me, is turned against me.

¹⁰But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, lifting me up, so that I may give them their punishment.

¹¹By this I see that you have pleasure in me, because my hater does not overcome me.

¹²And as for me, you are my support in my righteousness, giving me a place before your face for ever.

¹³May the Lord God of Israel be praised, through eternal days and for ever. So be it. So be it.