Psalms 5; Psalms 38; Psalms 41; Psalms 42

1 Listen to my words, O Lord, and hear my sighs.

2 Listen to my cry for help, my God and king! I pray to you, O Lord;

3 you hear my voice in the morning; at sunrise I offer my prayer and wait for your answer.

4 You are not a God who is pleased with wrongdoing; you allow no evil in your presence.

5 You cannot stand the sight of the proud; you hate all wicked people.

6 You destroy all liars and despise violent, deceitful people.

7 But because of your great love I can come into your house; I can worship in your holy Temple and bow down to you in reverence.

8 Lord, I have so many enemies! Lead me to do your will; make your way plain for me to follow.

9 What my enemies say can never be trusted; they only want to destroy. Their words are flattering and smooth, but full of deadly deceit.

10 Condemn and punish them, O God; may their own plots cause their ruin. Drive them out of your presence because of their many sins and their rebellion against you.

11 But all who find safety in you will rejoice; they can always sing for joy. Protect those who love you; because of you they are truly happy.

12 You bless those who obey you, Lord; your love protects them like a shield.

1 O Lord, don't punish me in your anger!

2 You have wounded me with your arrows; you have struck me down.

3 Because of your anger, I am in great pain; my whole body is diseased because of my sins.

4 I am drowning in the flood of my sins; they are a burden too heavy to bear.

5 Because I have been foolish, my sores stink and rot.

6 I am bent over, I am crushed; I mourn all day long.

7 I am burning with fever and I am near death.

8 I am worn out and utterly crushed; my heart is troubled, and I groan with pain.

9 O Lord, you know what I long for; you hear all my groans.

10 My heart is pounding, my strength is gone, and my eyes have lost their brightness.

11 My friends and neighbors will not come near me, because of my sores; even my family keeps away from me.

12 Those who want to kill me lay traps for me, and those who want to hurt me threaten to ruin me; they never stop plotting against me.

13 I am like the deaf and cannot hear, like the dumb and cannot speak.

14 I am like those who do not answer, because they cannot hear.

15 But I trust in you, O Lord; and you, O Lord my God, will answer me.

16 Don't let my enemies gloat over my distress; don't let them boast about my downfall!

17 I am about to fall and am in constant pain.

18 I confess my sins; they fill me with anxiety.

19 My enemies are healthy and strong; there are many who hate me for no reason.

20 Those who pay back evil for good are against me because I try to do right.

21 Do not abandon me, O Lord; do not stay away, my God!

22 Help me now, O Lord my savior!

1 Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the Lord will help them when they are in trouble.

2 The Lord will protect them and preserve their lives; he will make them happy in the land; he will not abandon them to the power of their enemies.

3 The Lord will help them when they are sick and will restore them to health.

4 I said, "I have sinned against you, Lord; be merciful to me and heal me."

5 My enemies say cruel things about me. They want me to die and be forgotten.

6 Those who come to see me are not sincere; they gather bad news about me and then go out and tell it everywhere.

7 All who hate me whisper to each other about me, they imagine the worst about me.

8 They say, "He is fatally ill; he will never leave his bed again."

9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted most, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.

10 Be merciful to me, Lord, and restore my health, and I will pay my enemies back.

11 They will not triumph over me, and I will know that you are pleased with me.

12 You will help me, because I do what is right; you will keep me in your presence forever.

13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! Praise him now and forever! Amen! Amen!

1 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God.

2 I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence?

3 Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food; all the time my enemies ask me, "Where is your God?"

4 My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.

5 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

6 Here in exile my heart is breaking, and so I turn my thoughts to him. He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul; chaos roars at me like a flood, like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar.

8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life.

9 To God, my defender, I say, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies?"

10 I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, "Where is your God?"

11 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.