Psalms 43; Psalms 44; Psalms 49; Psalms 84

1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

2 For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places.

4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

1 O God, we have heard with our ears, Our fathers have told us The work that You did in their days, In the days of old.

2 You with Your own hand drove out the nations; Then You planted them; You afflicted the peoples, Then You spread them abroad.

3 For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them.

4 You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob.

5 Through You we will push back our adversaries; Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.

6 For I will not trust in my bow, Nor will my sword save me.

7 But You have saved us from our adversaries, And You have put to shame those who hate us.

8 In God we have boasted all day long, And we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.

9 Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor, And do not go out with our armies.

10 You cause us to turn back from the adversary; And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.

11 You give us as sheep to be eaten And have scattered us among the nations.

12 You sell Your people cheaply , And have not profited by their sale.

13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, A scoffing and a derision to those around us.

14 You make us a byword among the nations, A laughingstock among the peoples.

15 All day long my dishonor is before me And my humiliation has overwhelmed me,

16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles, Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.

17 All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.

18 Our heart has not turned back, And our steps have not deviated from Your way,

19 Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals And covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God Or extended our hands to a strange god,

21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.

22 But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord ? Awake, do not reject us forever.

24 Why do You hide Your face And forget our affliction and our oppression?

25 For our soul has sunk down into the dust; Our body cleaves to the earth.

26 Rise up, be our help, And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.

1 Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

2 Both low and high , Rich and poor together.

3 My mouth will speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart will be understanding.

4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle on the harp.

5 Why should I fear in days of adversity, When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,

6 Even those who trust in their wealth And boast in the abundance of their riches?

7 No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him-

8 For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever -

9 That he should live on eternally, That he should not undergo decay.

10 For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish And leave their wealth to others.

11 Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names.

12 But man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the way of those who are foolish, And of those after them who approve their words. Selah.

14 As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall rule over them in the morning, And their form shall be for Sheol to consume So that they have no habitation.

15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah.

16 Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased;

17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him.

18 Though while he lives he congratulates himself - And though men praise you when you do well for yourself-

19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light.

20 Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.

1 How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!

2 My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD ; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

3 The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.

4 How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.

5 How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion!

6 Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings.

7 They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion.

8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.

9 Behold our shield, O God, And look upon the face of Your anointed.

10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

12 O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!