Psalms 36-66

Psalms 36-66

PSALMS 36—66

PSALM 36

To the Chief Musician. Of the servant of Jehovah, [even] of David

1 Ungodliness saith to the wicked man in the midst of my heart, There is no fear of God before his eyes.

2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, Until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit, He teaseth to understand that he may do good.

4 Iniquity he meditates upon his bed; He setteth himself in a way not good; Evil he doth not abhor.

5 O Jehovah! unto the heavens is thy mercy, Thy truth even unto the clouds.

6 Thy justice is like the great mountains, Thy judgments are a great deep. Man and beast, thou preservest, O Jehovah!

7 How precious is thy loving-kindness, O God! Therefore the sons of men in the shadow of thy wings shall trust.

8 They shall be fully satisfied with the fatness of thy house; And of the river of thy pleasures thou shalt cause them to drink.

9 For with thee is the fountain of life, And in thy light shall we see light.

10 Extend thy mercy to those who know thee, And thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me; And the hand of the ungodly let it not remove me.

12 There fallen are the workers of iniquity; They are thrust down and shall not be able to stand.

Note 323. In the French version it is “rise.”

PSALM 37

Of David

1 Vex not thyself because of the wicked, Nor be envious on account of the workers of iniquity.

2 For like the grass quickly shall they be cut down; And as the green herb they shall wither.

3 Trust thou in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and be fed in truth.

4 And delight in Jehovah, And he will grant thee the request of thy heart.

5 Devolve upon Jehovah thy ways, And trust in him, and he will bring it to pass.

6 And he will bring forth as the light thy righteousness, And thy judgments as the noonday.

7 Be silent to Jehovah, and wait for him; Vex not thyself at him who prospereth in his way, At the man who committeth wickedness.

8 Cease from anger, forsake wrath, Vex not thyself so as to commit sin.

9 For the wicked shall be cut off; But those who wait for Jehovah shall inherit the earth.

10 Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall not be; And thou shalt give attention to his place, and shalt not find him

11 But the meek ones shall inherit the earth, And shall be delighted in the abundance of peace.

12 Plot doth the ungodly against the righteous, And gnasheth against him with his teeth.

13 The Lord shall laugh at him, For he seeth that coming is his day.

14 Their sword draw do the ungodly, And their bow they bend, To lay prostrate the poor and needy, To slay those who are upright in the way.

15 But their sword shall enter into their own heart, And their bow shall be broken.

16 Better is a little to the righteous man, Than the wealth of the ungodly who are great.

17 For the arms of the ungodly shall be broken; But Jehovah sustaineth the righteous.

18 Know doth Jehovah the days of the upright, And their inheritance for ever shall be.

19 They shall not be put to shame in the time of adversity; And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

20 For the ungodly shall perish, And the enemies of Jehovah like the fattest of lambs shall be consumed; Into smoke they shall be consumed.;

21 Borrow doth the ungodly man, and doth not repay; But the righteous man is compassionate and giveth.

22 For those who are blessed of him shall inherit the earth, And those who are cursed of him shall be cut off.

23 By Jehovah the steps of a man are directed, And his way he will love.

24 When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, For Jehovah putteth under [him] his hand.

25 Young I have been, I have also grown old; And yet I have not seen the righteous man forsaken, Nor his seed begging for bread.

26 Daily he is compassionate and lendeth, And his seed is for blessing.

27 Depart from evil and do good, And dwell for ever.

28 For Jehovah loveth judgment, And doth not forsake his meek ones; For ever shall they be preserved: And the seed of the ungodly shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the earth, And shall dwell for ever upon it.

30 The mouth of the righteous shall speak wisdom;

31 The law of his God is in his heart; Slide not shall his steps.

32 Watch doth the ungodly the righteous man, And seeketh to put him to death.

33 Jehovah will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged.

34 Wait for Jehovah, and keep his way, And he shall exalt thee to inherit the earth: When the ungodly shall be cut off thou shalt see it.

35 I have seen the ungodly man robust, And spreading himself like a green bay tree;

Note 324. In French version the word is “terrible,” which is the idea of the original Hebrew term.

36 And he passed away, and to I he was not; And I sought for his place, and he was not found.

37 Mark the perfect man, and consider the upright; For the end of such a man is peace.

38 But transgressors shall be destroyed together: The end of the ungodly shall be cut off.

39 But the salvation of the righteous is from Jehovah: He will be their strength in the time of trouble.

40 And help them shall Jehovah, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked: He shall save them, because they trust in him.

PSALM 38

A Psalm of David: to bring to remembrance

1 O Jehovah! do not in thy fury rebuke me, And in thy wrath do not chasten me.

2 For thy arrows go down in me, And descend upon me doth thy hand.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh, because of thy wrath, Nor peace in my bones because of my sin.

4 For my iniquities have passed over my head, Like a burden that is weighty, they are too heavy for me.

5 Putrid [and] corrupt have my wounds become, Because of my foolishness.

6 I am bowed down, I am brought low exceedingly; Day by day a mourner I do walk:

7 For my reins are filled with a burning heat; Nor is there soundness in my flesh.

8 I am enfeebled and broken exceedingly: I have roared through the disquietude of my heart.

9 O Lord! before thee is all my desire, And my groaning from thee is not hidden,

10 My heart hath throbbed, forsaken me hath my strength; And the light of my eyes, it also is gone from me.

11 My friends and my companions aloof from my stroke have stood, And my kinsmen afar off have stood.

12 And they have laid snares who sought for my soul; Arid those who sought my hurt have threatened mischiefs; And deceits daily do they meditate.

13 But as for me, like a deaf man I hear not; And I am like a dumb man who openeth not his mouth.

14 And I was as a man who doth not hear, And in whose mouth there are no reproofs.

15 For on thee, O Jehovah! do I wait: Thou wilt answer me, O Lord, my God!

16 For I said, “Lest they should rejoice over me:” At the slipping of my foot against me they magnified themselves,

17 Surely as for me I am ready to halt; And my sorrow is before me continually.

18 Surely my iniquity I declare; I am in consternation because of my sin.

19 But my enemies are living; they are strong; And those are become mighty who hate me wrongfully.

Note 325. Calvin has inadvertently omitted in his Latin version to translate the word חיים “living.” But he translates it in his French version.

20 And they who requite me evil for good are against me, Because I follow [what is] good.

21 Forsake me not, O Jehovah, my God! Be not far from me.

22 Hasten to my help, O Lord, my salvation!

PSALM 39

To the Chief Musician, Jeduthun. A Psalm of David

1 I said “I will take heed to my ways, “That I sin not with my tongue: “I will keep my mouth with a muzzle, “While the ungodly man standeth before me.”

2 I was dumb not uttering a word; I held my peace [even] from good; And my sorrow was stirred.

3 My heart became hot within me; In my musing a fire did burn; I spake with my tongue.

4 Cause me to know, O Jehovah! my end, And the number of my days, That I may know of what duration I am.

5 Behold! as an handbreadth thou hast made my days, And my duration is as nothing before thee: Surely altogether vanity is every mart while he standeth.

6 Surely in a shadow man walketh; [Selah. Surely in vain is he disquieted: They heap together, and know not who shall gather.

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

8 From all my sins deliver thou me: The reproach of the foolish make me not.

9 I was dumb; I will not open my mouth, Because thou hast done it.

10 Remove from me thy stroke: By the blow of thy hand I have failed.

11 With rebukes for iniquity thou chastisest man; And causest to waste away as a moth his beauty: Surely vanity is every man. Selah.

12 Hear my prayer, O Jehovah! And to my cry give ear; At my tears be not silent; For a stranger am I before thee, A sojourner like all my fathers.

13 Let me alone, that I may recover strength, Before I depart and be no more.

PSALM 40

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David

1 I have patiently waited for Jehovah, And he inclined to me, and heard my cry.

2 And he drew me out of the roaring pit, Out of the mire of clay, And set upon a rock my feet; He hath established my steps.

3 And he hath put in my mouth a song [that is] new, Even praise to our God: See shall many and shall fear, And shall trust in Jehovah.

4 Blessed is the man who maketh Jehovah his confidence, And hath not respected the proud, Nor those who turn aside to lying.

5 Many, O Jehovah, my God! are thy wonderful works which thou hast done; And thy thoughts towards us it is impossible to reckon up in order to thee: I will declare and speak [of them;] [But] they are more than can be told.

6 Sacrifice and oblation thou hast not taken pleasure in: But my ears hast thou made fit: Burnt-offering and sin-offering thou hast not required.

Note 326. In the Latin version it is “aptasti;” and in the French, “tu as perce.”

7 Then I said, “Behold! I come; “In the volume of the book it is written of me,

8 “That I may do thy pleasure, O my God! “I have desired to do it, “And thy law is in the midst of my bowels.”

9 I have proclaimed thy righteousness in the assembly great: Behold my lips I will not restrain; O Jehovah! thou knowest it.

10 Thy righteousness I have not hidden within my heart; Thy truth and thy salvation I have declared: I have not concealed thy goodness and thy truth in the assembly great.

11 O thou, Jehovah! withhold not thy compassions from me; Let thy goodness and thy truth continually preserve me.

12 For encompassed me have evils innumerable; Laid hold upon me have my iniquities, yea in so great number that I cannot see them: They are more in number than the hairs of my head; And my heart hath failed me.

13 Let it please thee, O Jehovah! to deliver me; O Jehovah! to my aid make haste.

14 Let them be put to shame and confounded together Who seek after my soul to destroy it; Let them be turned backward and put to shame Who seek after my hurt.

15 Let them be destroyed for a reward of their shame, Who have said to me, “Aha! aha!”

16 Let all those exult and rejoice in thee who seek thee; And let those say continually, “May Jehovah be magnified” — “Those who love thy salvation.

17 But as for me I am poor and needy. Jehovah hath regarded me; My help and my deliverer art thou: O thou, my God! delay not.

PSALM 41

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David

1 Blessed is he who judgeth wisely of the poor: In the day of evil Jehovah will deliver him.

2 Jehovah will keep him, and preserve him alive: He shall be blessed upon the earth: And thou will not give him up to the desire of his enemies.

3 Jehovah will support him upon the bed of sorrow: All his bed thou hast turned in his sickness.

4 I have said, “O Jehovah! have mercy upon me; ” “Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.”

5 My enemies have spoken evil of me, “When will he die, and perish shall his name?“

6 And if he come to see me falsely doth he speak; His heart gathereth iniquity to itself’: When he goeth abroad he speaketh [it.]

7 Together against me do all my haters whisper; Against me do they devise evil for me, [saying,]

8 “An evil deed of Belial cleaveth fast to him; “And he who lieth shall not rise again.”

9 Even the man of my peace in whom I trusted, Who eateth of my bread, hath lifted up against me the heel.

10 Do thou then, O Jehovah! have mercy upon me; Raise me up, and I will recompense them.

11 By this I have known that I have been acceptable to thee, Because my enemy shall not triumph over me.

12 And as for me, in my integrity thou wilt uphold me, And wilt establish me before thy face for ever.

13 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, For ever and ever. Amen and Amen.

PART SECOND.

Note 327. According to the Hebrew division, Part 2 extends from Psalm 42 to Psalm 72 inclusive.

PSALM 42

To the Chief Musician. A lesson of instruction to the Sons of Korah

1 As the hart crieth for the fountains of waters, So my soul crieth for thee, O God!

2 Thirsted hath my soul for God, for the living God: When shall I come to appear before the face of God?

3 To me have my tears been for bread, by day and night, While it is said to me daily, “Where is thy God?“

4 When these things I remember, I pour out within me my soul, Because I had gone with the procession, Leading them even to the house of God, With the voice of exultation and praise, — The multitude dancing for joy.

5 ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul! And why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for God; for I shall yet give him thanks, [For] the salvations of his countenance.

6 O my God! my soul within me is cast down, When I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of Hermonim, From the mountain Mizar.

7 Deep unto deep calleth at the noise of thy waterspouts: All thy waves and all thy billows over me have gone.

8 By day command will Jehovah his loving-kindness, And by night his song shall be with me, And prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God, my Rock, “Why hast thou forgotten me? “Why mourning do I go because of the oppression of my enemy?”

10 [It is as] a wound in my bones when my enemies reproach me, Saying to me daily, “Where is thy God?“

11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet give thanks to him, The salvations of my countenance, and my God.

PSALM 43

1 Judge me, O God! and plead my cause: From a people without mercy, from a man deceitful and wicked deliver me.

2 For thou art the God of my strength; Why art thou estranged from me? Why mourning do I go because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 Send forth thy light and thy truth; Let them direct me, let them conduct me, To the mountain of thy holiness, and to thy tabernacles.

4 And I will go to the altar of God, To the God of the joy of my rejoicing; And I will celebrate thee upon the harp, O God, my God!

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul! And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet celebrate him, Who is the salvation of my countenance and my God.

PSALM 44

To the Chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. Giving instruction

1 O God! with our ears we have heard, Our fathers have told us, The work which thou hast done in their days, In the days of old.

2 Thou with thy hand hast expelled the heathen, and planted them: Thou hast wasted the peoples and multiplied them:

3 For not by their own sword acquired they the land, And their own arm did not save them; But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance, Because thou wast favorable to them.

4 Thou, even thou, art my King; O God! command salvations for Jacob.

5 Through thee our adversaries with the horn we have pushed; In thy name we have trampled under foot those who rise up against us.

6 For not in my bow will I trust, And my sword will not save me.

7 Surely thou hast saved us from our enemies, And our haters thou hast put to shame.

8 In God we will boast all the day, And thy name for ever shall we praise. Selah.

9 Nevertheless thou hast abhorred us and put us to shame, And thou goest not forth any more with our armies.

10 Thou hast made us to turn back from him that afflicteth us, And our haters have spoiled us for themselves.

11 Thou hast given us as sheep for food; And among the heathen thou hast scattered us.

12 Thou hast sold thy people, and not become rich, And thou hast not increased the price of them.

13 Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and derision to those who are round about us.

14 Thou hast made us a byword among the heathen, A shaking of the head among the peoples.

15 Daily is my reproach before me, And the shame of my face hath quite covered me,

16 Because of the voice of him who reproacheth and revileth, Because of the face of the adversary and avenger.

17 All this is come upon us, and we have not forgotten thee, Nor dealt perfidiously in thy covenant;

18 Not turned back hath our heart, Nor declined have our steps from thy path.

19 Although thou hast crushed us in the place of dragons, And covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, And have spread forth our hands to a God that is strange;

21 Shall not God search out this? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

22 Surely for thy sake we are killed daily; We are accounted as sheep [appointed] for slaughter.

23 Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Awake, do not forget us for ever.

24 Wherefore thy face dost thou hide? Wilt thou forget our misery and our affliction?

25 For humbled to the dust is our soul; Cleave to the earth doth our belly.

26 Arise for our help, And redeem us for the sake of thy loving-kindness.

PSALM 45

To the Chief Musician. Upon the lilies. Of the sons of Korah. Giving instruction. A Song of loves

1 Boiling over is my heart to speak a goodly theme, Speak shall I myself of my works concerning the King: My tongue is as the pen of a swift writer.

2 Thou art fair above the sons of men; Diffused is grace on thy lips; Because God hath blessed thee for ever.

3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one! With majesty and glory.

4 And in thy majesty prosper thou; Ride forth upon the word of truth, and meekness and righteousness; And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things:

5 Thy arrows are sharp (so that the people fall under thee) In the hearts of the enemies of the king.

6 Thy throne, O God! is for ever and ever; The scepter of rectitude is the scepter of thy kingdom.

7 Thou lovest righteousness and hatest impiety; Because anointed thee hath God, thy God, With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

8 Myrrh, and aloes and cassia [are] in all thy garments, Out of the ivory palaces, whence they have made thee glad.

9 The daughters of kings [were] among thy maids of honor; Stand did thy consort at thy right hand in gold of Ophir.

10 Hearken, O daughter! and consider and incline thy ear; And forget thy people, and the house of thy father.

11 And enamored shall be the King with thy beauty; For he is thy Lord, and thou shalt worship him.

12 And the daughter of Tyre [shall come] with a present; Thy favor entreat shall the rich among the people.

13 All glorious is the daughter of the King within; Of garments embroidered with gold is her clothing.

14 In raiment of needle-work she shall be brought to the King; Her virgins that follow her, her companions shall be brought to thee.

15 They shall be brought with joy and exultation; They shall enter into the palace of the King.

16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children; Thou shalt make them princes in all the earth.

17 I will make thy name to be remembered throughout all generation; Therefore celebrate thee shall the peoples for ever and ever.

PSALM 46

To the Chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. Upon Alamoth. A Song

1 God is to us a protection and strength; A help in troubles he is found exceedingly.

2 Therefore we will not fear when moved shall be the earth, And fall shall the mountains into the heart of the sea.

3 [When] roar and rage tempestuously shall the waters thereof; [When] shake shall the mountains with the swelling thereof. Selah.

4 The streams of her river shall make glad the city of God, The Sanctuary of the tabernacles of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: Help her will God at the dawn of the morning.

6 Rage did the peoples, moved were the kingdoms: He uttered his voice, melt did the earth.

7 Jehovah of armies is with us; A fortress for us is the God of Jacob. Selah.

8 Come ye, consider the works of Jehovah, What desolations he hath wrought in the earth.

9 He maketh to cease battles, even to the ends of the earth; He breaketh the bow, he shattereth in pieces the arms; The chariot he burneth with fire.

10 Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth.

11 Jehovah of armies is with us; A fortress for us is the God of Jacob. Selah.