Psalms 39-41

Psalm 39

¹For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”

²I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.

³My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.

⁵You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

⁶Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

⁷And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.

⁹I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

¹⁰Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.

¹¹You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah

¹²Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.

¹³Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”

Psalm 40

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.

²He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.

³He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

⁴Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

⁵Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us— none can compare to You— if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.

⁶Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.

⁷Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll:

⁸I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

⁹I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.

¹⁰I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation; I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness from the great assembly.

¹¹O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me; Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.

¹²For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.

¹³Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; hurry, O LORD, to help me.

¹⁴May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.

¹⁵May those who say to me, “Aha, aha!” be appalled at their own shame.

¹⁶May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, “The LORD be magnified!”

¹⁷But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

Psalm 41

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.

²The LORD will protect and preserve him; He will bless him in the land and refuse to surrender him to the will of his foes.

³The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.

⁴I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You.”

⁵My enemies say with malice: “When will he die and be forgotten?”

⁶My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁷All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:

⁸“A vile disease has been poured into him; he will never get up from where he lies!”

⁹Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹By this I know that You delight in me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹²In my integrity You uphold me and set me in Your presence forever.

¹³Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.