Psalms 43:1--45:17

Psalm 43

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me from deceitful and evil men!

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me.

Why do you reject me?

Why must I walk around mourning

because my enemies oppress me?

43:3 Reveal your light and your faithfulness!

They will lead me,

they will escort me back to your holy hill,

and to the place where you live.

43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,

so that I express my thanks to you, O God, my God, with a harp.

43:5 Why are you depressed, O my soul?

Why are you upset?

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention.

Psalm 44

For the music director; by the Korahites, a well-written song.

44:1 O God, we have clearly heard;

our ancestors have told us

what you did in their days,

in ancient times.

44:2 You, by your power, defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land;

you crushed the people living there and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.

44:3 For they did not conquer the land by their swords,

and they did not prevail by their strength,

but rather by your power, strength and good favor,

for you were partial to them.

44:4 You are my king, O God!

Decree Jacob’s deliverance!

44:5 By your power we will drive back our enemies;

by your strength we will trample down our foes!

44:6 For I do not trust in my bow,

and I do not prevail by my sword.

44:7 For you deliver us from our enemies;

you humiliate those who hate us.

44:8 In God I boast all day long,

and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)

44:9 But you rejected and embarrassed us!

You did not go into battle with our armies.

44:10 You made us retreat from the enemy.

Those who hate us take whatever they want from us.

44:11 You handed us over like sheep to be eaten;

you scattered us among the nations.

44:12 You sold your people for a pittance;

you did not ask a high price for them.

44:13 You made us an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.

44:14 You made us an object of ridicule among the nations;

foreigners treat us with contempt.

44:15 All day long I feel humiliated

and am overwhelmed with shame,

44:16 before the vindictive enemy

who ridicules and insults me.

44:17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you

or violated your covenant with us.

44:18 We have not been unfaithful,

nor have we disobeyed your commands.

44:19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs;

you have covered us with darkness.

44:20 If we had rejected our God,

and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,

44:21 would not God discover it,

for he knows one’s thoughts?

44:22 Yet because of you we are killed all day long;

we are treated like sheep at the slaughtering block.

44:23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?

Wake up! Do not reject us forever!

44:24 Why do you look the other way,

and ignore the way we are oppressed and mistreated?

44:25 For we lie in the dirt,

with our bellies pressed to the ground.

44:26 Rise up and help us!

Rescue us because of your loyal love!

Psalm 45

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” by the Korahites, a well-written poem, a love song.

45:1 My heart is stirred by a beautiful song.

I say, “I have composed this special song for the king;

my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.”

45:2 You are the most handsome of all men!

You speak in an impressive and fitting manner!

For this reason God grants you continual blessings.

45:3 Strap your sword to your thigh, O warrior!

Appear in your majestic splendor!

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious!

Ride forth for the sake of what is right,

on behalf of justice!

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts!

45:5 Your arrows are sharp

and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.

Nations fall at your feet.

45:6 Your throne, O God, is permanent.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

45:7 You love justice and hate evil.

For this reason God, your God has anointed you

with the oil of joy, elevating you above your companions.

45:8 All your garments are perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cassia.

From the luxurious palaces comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy.

45:9 Princesses are among your honored guests,

your bride stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir.

45:10 Listen, O princess!

Observe and pay attention!

Forget your homeland and your family!

45:11 Then the king will be attracted by your beauty.

After all, he is your master! Submit to him!

45:12 Rich people from Tyre

will seek your favor by bringing a gift.

45:13 The princess looks absolutely magnificent,

decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold.

45:14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.

Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,

are led before you.

45:15 They are bubbling with joy as they walk in procession

and enter the royal palace.

45:16 Your sons will carry on the dynasty of your ancestors;

you will make them princes throughout the land.

45:17 I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years,

then the nations will praise you forever.