Psalm 44-47

Psalm 44-47 New King James Version (NKJV)

Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor

To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation^[a] of the sons of Korah.

44 We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old:
² You drove out the ^[b]nations with Your hand,
But them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.
³ For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them;
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,
Because You favored them.

⁴ You are my King, ^[c]O God;
^[d]Command victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through You we will push down our enemies;
Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
⁶ For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor shall my sword save me.
⁷ But You have saved us from our enemies,
And have put to shame those who hated us.
⁸ In God we boast all day long,
And praise Your name forever. Selah

⁹ But You have cast us off and put us to shame,
And You do not go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken ^[e]spoil for themselves.
¹¹ You have given us up like sheep intended for food,
And have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sell Your people for next to nothing,
And are not enriched by selling them.

¹³ You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and a derision to those all around us.
¹⁴ You make us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the peoples.
¹⁵ My dishonor is continually before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,
¹⁶ Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
Because of the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷ All this has come upon us;
But we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
Nor have our steps departed from Your way;
¹⁹ But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or stretched^[f] out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ Would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
²² Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

²³ Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
²⁴ Why do You hide Your face,
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
²⁵ For our soul is bowed down to the ^[g]dust;
Our body clings to the ground.
²⁶ Arise for our help,
And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.

The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[h]“The Lilies.” A ^[i]Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

45 My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ^[j]ready writer.

² You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
^3 [k]Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One,
With Your glory and Your majesty.
⁴ And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;
And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.
⁵ Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;
The peoples fall under You.

⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
⁸ All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,
Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.
⁹ Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

¹⁰ Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;
¹¹ So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, worship Him.
¹² And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.

¹³ The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;
Her clothing is woven with gold.
¹⁴ She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.
¹⁵ With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;
They shall enter the King’s palace.

¹⁶ Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,
Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.
¹⁷ I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.

God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song for Alamoth.

46 God is our refuge and strength,
A^[l] very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the ^[m]midst of the sea;
³ Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the ^[n]tabernacle of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be ^[o]moved;
God shall help her, just ^[p]at the break of dawn.
⁶ The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.

¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Praise to God, the Ruler of the Earth

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

47 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
² For the Lord Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
³ He will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
⁴ He will choose our inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

⁵ God has gone up 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 understanding.

⁸ God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.
⁹ The princes of the people have gathered together,
The people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.