Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.
A Psalm of David, for a memorial.
O Lord, arebuke me not in Your wrath,
And chasten me not in Your burning anger.
2 For Your aarrows have sunk deep into me,
And bYour hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is ano soundness in my flesh bbecause of Your indignation;
There is no health cin my bones because of my sin.
4 For my ainiquities are gone over my head;
As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
5 My wounds grow foul and fester
Because of amy folly.
6 I am bent over and agreatly bowed down;
I bgo mourning all day long.
7 For my loins are filled with aburning,
And there is bno soundness in my flesh.
8 I am abenumbed and badly crushed;
I bgroan because of the agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all amy desire is before You;
And my bsighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart throbs, amy strength fails me;
And the blight of my eyes, even that has gone from me.
11 My aloved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen bstand afar off.
12 Those who aseek my life blay snares for me;
And those who cseek to injure me have threatened destruction,
And they ddevise treachery all day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
And I am like a amute man who does not open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
15 For aI hope in You, O Lord;
You bwill answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, awould magnify themselves against me.”
17 For I am aready to fall,
And bmy sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I aconfess my iniquity;
I am full of banxiety because of my sin.
19 But my aenemies are vigorous and strong,
And many are those who bhate me wrongfully.
20 And those who arepay evil for good,
They boppose me, because I follow what is good.
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, ado not be far from me!
22 Make ahaste to help me,
O Lord, bmy salvation!
The Vanity of Life.
For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will aguard my ways
That I bmay not sin with my tongue;
I will guard cmy mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was amute and silent,
I refrained even from good,
And my sorrow grew worse.
3 My aheart was hot within me,
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, make me to know amy end
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how btransient I am.
5 “Behold, You have made amy days as handbreadths,
And my blifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Surely every man at his best is a mere cbreath. Selah.
6 “Surely every man awalks about as a phantom;
Surely they make an buproar for nothing;
He camasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My ahope is in You.
8 “aDeliver me from all my transgressions;
Make me not the breproach of the foolish.
9 “I have become amute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is bYou who have done it.
10 “aRemove Your plague from me;
Because of bthe opposition of Your hand I am perishing.
11 “With areproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;
You bconsume as a moth what is precious to him;
Surely cevery man is a mere breath. Selah.
12 “aHear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent bat my tears;
For I am ca stranger with You,
A dsojourner like all my fathers.
13 “aTurn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again
Before I depart and am no more.”
God Sustains His Servant.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
I awaited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and bheard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the apit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And bHe set my feet upon a rock cmaking my footsteps firm.
3 He put a anew song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will bsee and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How ablessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And bhas not turned to the proud, nor to those who clapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are athe wonders which You have done,
And Your bthoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They cwould be too numerous to count.
6 aSacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 aI delight to do Your will, O my God;
bYour Law is within my heart.”
9 I have aproclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will bnot restrain my lips,
O Lord, cYou know.
10 I have anot hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have bspoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your alovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
12 For evils beyond number have asurrounded me;
My biniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are cmore numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my dheart has failed me.
13 aBe pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make bhaste, O Lord, to help me.
14 Let those be aashamed and humiliated together
Who bseek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
15 Let those abe appalled because of their shame
Who bsay to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 aLet all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation bsay continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17 Since aI am afflicted and needy,
bLet the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
How blessed is he who aconsiders the helpless;
The Lord will deliver him bin a day of trouble.
2 The Lord will aprotect him and keep him alive,
And he shall be called bblessed upon the earth;
And cdo not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
aHeal my soul, for bI have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies aspeak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when he comes to see me, he aspeaks falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they adevise my hurt, saying,
8 “A wicked thing is poured out upon him,
That when he lies down, he will anot rise up again.”
9 Even my aclose friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and araise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that aYou are pleased with me,
Because bmy enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, aYou uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me bin Your presence forever.
13 aBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.