Psalm 41-42

English Standard Version

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

41 ^(A)Blessed is the one who considers the poor!^[a]
    ^(B)In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
²the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you ^(C)do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health.^[b]

⁴As for me, I said, “O Lord, ^(D)be gracious to me;
    ^(E)heal me,^[c] for I have sinned against you!”
⁵My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶And when one comes to see me, ^(F)he utters empty words,
    while his heart gathers iniquity;
    when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
⁷All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me.^[d]

⁸They say, “A deadly thing is poured out^[e] on him;
    he will not rise again from where he lies.”
⁹Even my ^(G)close friend in whom I trusted,
    who ^(H)ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
¹⁰But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!

¹¹By this I know that ^(I)you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
¹²But ^(J)you have upheld me because of ^(K)my integrity,
and ^(L)set me in your presence ^(M)forever.

¹³^(N)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[f] of ^(O)the Sons of Korah.

42 ^(P)As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
²^(Q)My soul thirsts for God,
    for ^(R)the living God.
When shall I come and ^(S)appear before God?^[g]
³^(T)My tears have been my food
    day and night,
^(U)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴These things I remember,
    as I ^(V)pour out my soul:
^(W)how I would go ^(X)with the throng
    and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
    ^(Y)a multitude keeping festival.

⁵^(Z)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you ^(AA)in turmoil within me?
^(AB)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation^[h] ⁶and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I ^(AC)remember you
^(AD)from the land of Jordan and of ^(AE)Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
^(AF)all your breakers and your ^(AG)waves
    have gone over me.
⁸By day the Lord ^(AH)commands his steadfast love,
    and at ^(AI)night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹I say to God, ^(AJ)my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
^(AK)Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
^(AL)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”