THE PSALMS OF DAVID

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM I

The happiness of the just and the evil state of the wicked.

Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper. Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth. Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLIX

The coming of Christ: who prefers virtue and inward purity before the blood of victims

A psalm for Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken: and he hath called the earth. From the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof: Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty. God shall come manifestly: our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before him: and a mighty tempest shall be round about him. He shall call heaven from above, and the earth, to judge his people.  Gather ye together his saints to him:who set his covenant before sacrifices.And the heavens shall declare his justice: for God is judge.  Hear, O my people, and I will speak: O Israel, and I will testify to thee: I am God, thy God.  I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices: and thy burnt offerings are always in my sight.  I will not take calves out of thy house: nor he goats out of thy flocks. For all the beasts of the woods are mine: the cattle on the hills, and the oxen. I know all the fowls of the air: and with me is the beauty of the field.  If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.  Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? or shall I drink the blood of goats?

Offer to God the sacrifice of praise: and pay thy vows to the most High. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.But to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hast hated discipline: and hast cast my words behind thee.  If thou didst see a thief thou didst run with him: and with adulterers thou hast been a partaker.

Thy mouth hath abounded with evil, and thy tongue framed deceits.  Sitting thou didst speak against thy brother, and didst lay a scandal against thy mother' s son:These things hast thou done, and I was silent. Thou thoughtest unjustly that I should be like to thee: but I will reprove thee, and set before thy face.

Understand these things, you that forget God; lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver you. The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way by which I will shew him the salvation of God.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLVIII

The folly of worldlings, who live on in sin, without thinking of death or hell.

 

 

Unto the end, a psalm for the sons of Core. Hear these things, all ye nations: give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world. All you that are earthborn, and you sons of men: both rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak wisdom: and the meditation of my heart understanding. I will incline my ear to a parable; I will open my proposition on the psaltery.

 

 

Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me.  They that trust in their own strength, and glory in the multitude of their riches, No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not give to God his ransom, Nor the price of the redemption of his soul: and shall labour for ever, And shall still live unto the end.

 

 

He shall not see destruction, when he shall see the wise dying: the senseless and the fool shall perish together: And they shall leave their riches to strangers: And their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever. Their dwelling places to all generations: they have called their lands by their names. And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them.  This way of theirs is a stumblingblock to them: and afterwards they shall delight in their mouth.  They are laid in hell like sheep: death shall feed upon them. And the just shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their help shall decay in hell from their glory.

 

But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when he shall receive me.  Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and when the glory of his house shall be increased. For when he shall die he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him. For in his lifetime his soul will be blessed: and he will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him. He shall go in to the generations of his fathers: and he shall never see light.

 

Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them.

 

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLVII

God is greatly to be praised for the establishment of his church.

A psalm of a canticle, for the sons of Core, on the second day of the week. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.  In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her. For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves: they gathered together.

So they saw, and they wondered, they were troubled, they were moved:  Trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman in labour. With a vehement wind thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis.  As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God hath founded it for ever. We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice. Let mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Juda be glad; because of thy judgments, O Lord.  Surround Sion, and encompass her: tell ye in her towers. Set your hearts on her strength; and distribute her houses, that ye may relate it in another generation. For this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever: he shall rule us for evermore.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLVI

The Gentiles are invited to praise God for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ.

 

Unto the end, for the sons of Core. O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of Joy, For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth. He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet. He hath chosen for us his inheritance the beauty of Jacob which he hath loved.

 

God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet. Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye. For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely. God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne. The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham: for the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted. 

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLV

The church in persecution trusteth in the protection of God.

Unto the end, for the sons of Core, for the hidden. Our God is our refuge and strength: a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly. Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled; and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea. Their waters roared and were troubled: the mountains were troubled with his strength. The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle.

God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: God will help it in the morning early. Nations were troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down: he uttered his voice, the earth trembled. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector. Come and behold ye the works of the Lord: what wonders he hath done upon earth, Making wars to cease even to the end of the earth. He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons: and the shield he shall burn in the fire.

Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLIV

The excellence of Christ's kingdom, and the endowments of his church.

 

 

Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved. My heart hath uttered a good word I speak my works to the king; My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly. Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty. With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.

 

Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, into the hearts of the king' s enemies. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: out of which The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory. The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.

 

Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father' s house. And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore. And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, yea, all the rich among the people, shall entreat thy countenance. All the glory of the king' s daughter is within in golden borders, Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.

 

They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the temple of the king. Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth. They shall remember thy name throughout all generations. Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, for ever and ever.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLIII

The church commemorates former favours, and present afflictions; under which she prays for succour.

Unto the end, for the sons of Core, to give understanding. We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us, The work, thou hast wrought in their days, and in the days of old. Thy hand destroyed the Gentiles, and thou plantedst them: thou didst afflict the people and cast them out. For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword: neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with them. Thou art thyself my king and my God, who commandest the saving of Jacob.

Through thee we will push down our enemies with the horn: and through thy name we will despise them that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow: neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us. In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will give praise for ever. But now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame: and thou, O God, wilt not go out with our armies.

Thou hast made us turn our back to our enemies: and they that hated us plundered for themselves. Thou hast given us up like sheep to be eaten: thou hast scattered us among the nations. Thou hast sold thy people for no price: and there was no reckoning in the exchange of them. Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and derision to them that are round about us. Thou hast made us a byword among the Gentiles: a shaking of the head among the people.

All the day long my shame is before me: and the confusion of my face hath covered me, [At the voice of him that reproacheth and detracteth me: at the face of the enemy and persecutor. All these things have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten thee: and we have not done wickedly in they covenant. And our heart hath not turned back: neither hast thou turned aside our steps from thy way. For thou hast humbled us in the place of affliction: and the shadow of death hath covered us.

If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread forth our hands to a strange god: Shall not God search out these things: for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Because for thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end. Why turnest thou face away? and forgettest our want and our trouble? For our soul is humbled down to the dust: our belly cleaveth to the earth.

Arise, O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name' s sake.

 

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLII

The Prophet Aspireth After the Temple and Altar of God.

Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. For thou art God my strength: why hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me? Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles. And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth. To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me?

Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XLI

The fervent desire of the just after God: hope in afflictions.

As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God? My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God? These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God: With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting.

 

Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, And my God. My soul is troubled within myself: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim, from the little hill. Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me. In the daytime the Lord hath commanded his mercy; and a canticle to him in the night. With me is prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God: Thou art my support. Why hast thou forgotten me? and why go I mourning, whilst my enemy afflicteth me?

 

Whilst my bones are broken, my enemies who trouble me have reproached me; Whilst they say to me day be day: Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

[Dawn Marie]

PSALM XL (Psalm 40)

The happiness of him that shall believe in Christ; notwithstanding the humility and poverty in which he shall come: the malice of his enemies, especially of the traitor Judas.

Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day. The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth: and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. The Lord help him on his bed of sorrow: thou hast turned all his couch in his sickness. I said: O Lord, be thou merciful to me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.

My enemies have spoken evils against me: when shall he die and his name perish? And if he came in to see me, he spoke vain things: his heart gathered together iniquity to itself. He went out and spoke to the same purpose. All my enemies whispered together against me: they devised evils to me. They determined against me an unjust word: shall he that sleepeth rise again no more? For even the man of peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, hath greatly supplanted me.

But thou, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up again: and I will requite them. By this I know, that thou hast had a good will for me: because my enemy shall not rejoice over me. But thou hast upheld me by reason of my innocence: and hast established me in thy sight for ever. Blessed by the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity. So be it. So be it.