Psalms 5; Psalms 38; Psalms 41; Psalms 42

Psalms 5

1 Listen to my words, LORD, consider my lament.

2 Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.

3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome.

5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong;

6 you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, LORD, detest.

7 But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple.

8 Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make your way straight before me.

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies.

10 Declare them guilty, O God! Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Psalms 38

1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.

2 Your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down on me.

3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.

4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.

5 My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.

6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.

7 My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.

8 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.

9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.

11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.

12 Those who want to kill me set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they scheme and lie.

13 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear, like the mute, who cannot speak;

14 I have become like one who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.

15 LORD, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.

16 For I said, “Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

17 For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.

18 I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

19 Many have become my enemies without cause ; those who hate me without reason are numerous.

20 Those who repay my good with evil lodge accusations against me, though I seek only to do what is good.

21 LORD, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God.

22 Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.

Psalms 41

1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.

2 The LORD protects and preserves them— they are counted among the blessed in the land— he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.

3 The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.

4 I said, “Have mercy on me, LORD; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

5 My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die and his name perish?”

6 When one of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it around.

7 All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying,

8 “A vile disease has afflicted him; he will never get up from the place where he lies.”

9 Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.

10 But may you have mercy on me, LORD; raise me up, that I may repay them.

11 I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.

12 Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.

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

Psalms 42

1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty Onewith shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

8 By day the LORD directs his love, 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 must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.