New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Vanity of Life.

For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

1 I said, “I will guard my ways

That I may not sin with my tongue;

I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle

While the wicked are in my presence.”

2 I was mute and silent,

# Irefrainedevenfrom good,

# And mysorrow grew worse.

3 My heart was hot within me,

While I was musing the fire burned;

ThenI spoke with my tongue:

4 “Lord, make me to know my end

And what is the extent of my days;

Let me know how transient I am.

5 “Behold, You have made my daysashandbreadths,

And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;

Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.

6 “Surely every man walks about asa phantom;

Surely they make an uproar for nothing;

He amassesrichesand does not know who will gather them.

7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in You.

8 “Deliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the reproach of the foolish.

9 “I have become mute, I do not open my mouth,

Because it is You who have doneit.

10 “Remove Your plague from me;

Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.

11 “With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;

You consume as a moth what is precious to him;

Surely every man is a mere breath. Selah.

12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;

Do not be silent at my tears;

For I am a stranger with You,

A sojourner like all my fathers.

13 “Turn Your gaze away from me, that I maysmileagain

Before I depart and am no more.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/39-a16b43a1d34abbd958791f03a4bba69c.mp3?version_id=100—

God Sustains His Servant.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

1 I waitedpatiently for the Lord;

And He inclined to me and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,

And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.

3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;

Many will see and fear

And will trust in the Lord.

4 How blessed is the man who has made the Lordhis trust,

And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

5 Many, O Lordmy God, are the wonders which You have done,

And Your thoughts toward us;

There is none to compare with You.

If I would declare and speak of them,

They would be too numerous to count.

6 Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;

# My ears You haveopened;

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 I delight to do Your will, O my God;

Your Law is within my heart.”

9 I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;

Behold, I will not restrain my lips,

O Lord, You know.

10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;

I have spoken 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 lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.

12 For evils beyond number have surrounded me;

My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;

They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,

And my heart has failed me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

Make haste, O Lord, to help me.

14 Let those be ashamed and humiliated together

# Who seek mylife to destroy it;

Let those be turned back and dishonored

# Who delightin my hurt.

15 Let those be appalled because of their shame

Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

16 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

Let those who love Your salvation say continually,

“The Lordbe magnified!”

17 Since I am afflicted and needy,

Let the Lord be mindful of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

Do not delay, O my God.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/40-65bf5599e069f1b8c8cf280e0f71e470.mp3?version_id=100—

The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

1 How blessed is he who considers the helpless;

The Lordwill deliver him in a day of trouble.

2 The Lordwill protect him and keep him alive,

And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;

And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.

3 The Lordwill sustain him upon his sickbed;

# In his illness, Yourestore him to health.

4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;

Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

5 My enemies speak evil against me,

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

6 And when he comes to seeme,he speaks 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 devise my hurt,saying,

8 “A wicked thing is poured out upon him,

That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”

9 Even my close 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 raise me up,

That I may repay them.

11 By this I know that You are pleased with me,

Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.

12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,

And You set me in Your presence forever.

13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

From everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/41-e59b66e71ce3bf3ccbb7c558a7cd1853.mp3?version_id=100—

BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

1 As the deerpants for the water brooks,

So my soul pants for You, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;

When shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night,

Whiletheysay to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go along with the throngandlead them in procession to the house of God,

With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul?

Andwhyhave you become disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him

Forthe help of His presence.

6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me;

Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan

And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;

All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

8 The Lordwill command His lovingkindness in the daytime;

And His song will be with me in the night,

A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,

While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why have you become disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/42-718d9eee5388f6e3b5af7a8e5bc4c5d1.mp3?version_id=100—

Prayer for Deliverance.

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.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/43-21b002f3f7ec6331162afb01f2ed34b5.mp3?version_id=100—

Former Deliverances and Present Troubles.

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

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 rejectedusand 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 notprofited 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

Andforget 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.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/44-22d3bb2b1cc6883ec7dc15fa447c7e00.mp3?version_id=100—

A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.

For the choir director; according to the #Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

1 My heartoverflows with a good theme;

I address my verses to the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

2 You are fairer than the sons of men;

Grace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever.

3 Gird Your sword onYourthigh, O Mighty One,

InYour splendor and Your majesty!

4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,

For the cause of truth and meeknessandrighteousness;

Let Your right hand teach You awesome things.

5 Your arrows are sharp;

The peoples fall under You;

Your arrows arein the heart of the King’s enemies.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

8 All Your garments arefragrant withmyrrh and aloesandcassia;

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.

9 Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;

At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

10 Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:

Forget your people and your father’s house;

11 Then the King will desire your beauty.

Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.

12 The daughter of Tyrewill comewith a gift;

The rich among the people will seek your favor.

13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within;

Her clothing is interwoven with gold.

14 She will be led to the King in embroidered work;

The virgins, her companions who follow her,

Will be brought to You.

15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;

They will enter into the King’s palace.

16 In place of your fathers will be your sons;

You shall make them princes in all the earth.

17 I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/45-375462d6af1c306ea1bb9ac0923121c5.mp3?version_id=100—

God the Refuge of His People.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, #set to Alamoth. A Song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,

# A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change

And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

3 Though its waters roarandfoam,

Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered;

He raised His voice, the earth melted.

7 The Lordof hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,

Who has wrought desolations in the earth.

9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;

He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

He burns the chariots with fire.

10 “Ceasestrivingand know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The Lordof hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/46-7dfdd0465cb69d164805ebf38c92b8f8.mp3?version_id=100—

God the King of the Earth.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 O clap your hands, all peoples;

Shout to God with the voice of joy.

2 For the LordMost High is to be feared,

A great King over all the earth.

3 He subdues peoples under us

And nations under our feet.

4 He chooses our inheritance for us,

The glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.

5 God has ascended with a shout,

The Lord, with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;

Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

7 For God is the King of all the earth;

Sing praises with a skillful psalm.

8 God reigns over the nations,

God sits on His holy throne.

9 The princes of the people have assembled themselvesasthe people of the God of Abraham,

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

He is highly exalted.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/47-48c820ef70146e6df299255ec9b6b43b.mp3?version_id=100—

The Beauty and Glory of Zion.

A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

In the city of our God, His holy mountain.

2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,

Is Mount Zioninthe far north,

The city of the great King.

3 God, in her palaces,

Has made Himself known as a stronghold.

4 For, lo, the kings assembled themselves,

They passed by together.

5 They sawit,then they were amazed;

They were terrified, they fled in alarm.

6 Panic seized them there,

Anguish, as of a woman in childbirth.

7 With the east wind

You break the ships of Tarshish.

8 As we have heard, so have we seen

In the city of the Lordof hosts, in the city of our God;

God will establish her forever. Selah.

9 We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God,

In the midst of Your temple.

10 As is Your name, O God,

So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;

Your right hand is full of righteousness.

11 Let Mount Zion be glad,

Let the daughters of Judah rejoice

Because of Your judgments.

12 Walk about Zion and go around her;

Count her towers;

13 Consider her ramparts;

Go through her palaces,

That you may tellitto the next generation.

14 For such is God,

Our God forever and ever;

# He will guide usuntil death.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/PSA/48-06290a039911abee0d89a77bf64a5614.mp3?version_id=100—