A Prayer for Vindication and Deliverance

431 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from deceitful and unjust men deliver me! 2 For thou art the God in whom I take refuge; why hast thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3 Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy dwelling! 4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise thee with the lyre, O God, my God. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

Former Deliverances and Present Troubles

441 To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what deeds thou didst perform in their days, in the days of old: 2 thou with thy own hand didst drive out the nations, but them thou didst plant; thou didst afflict the peoples, but them thou didst set free; 3 for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but thy right hand, and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance; for thou didst delight in them. 4 Thou art my King and my God, who ordainest victories for Jacob. 5 Through thee we push down our foes; through thy name we tread down our assailants. 6 For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. 7 But thou hast saved us from our foes, and hast put to confusion those who hate us. 8 In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to thy name for ever. [Selah]

9 Yet thou hast cast us off and abased us, and hast not gone out with our armies. 10 Thou hast made us turn back from the foe; and our enemies have gotten spoil. 11 Thou hast made us like sheep for slaughter, and hast scattered us among the nations. 12 Thou hast sold thy people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. 13 Thou hast made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those about us. 14 Thou hast made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. 15 All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face, 16 at the words of the taunters and revilers, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

17 All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten thee, or been false to thy covenant. 18 Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from thy way, 19 that thou shouldst have broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with deep darkness. 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, or spread forth our hands to a strange god, 21 would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. 22 Nay, for thy sake we are slain all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Rouse thyself! Why sleepest thou, O Lord? Awake! Do not cast us off for ever! 24 Why dost thou hide thy face? Why dost thou forget our affliction and oppression? 25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body cleaves to the ground. 26 Rise up, come to our help! Deliver us for the sake of thy steadfast love!

A Song for the King's Marriage

451 To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah a love song. My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. 2 You are the fairest of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you for ever. 3 Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty! 4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds! 5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; the peoples fall under you.

6 Your divine throne endures for ever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; 7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows; 8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; 9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10 Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house; 11 and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him; 12 the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts, the richest of the people 13 with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes; 14 in many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train. 15 With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. 16 Instead of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. 17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever.

The Folly of Trusting in Riches

491 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 2 both low and high, rich and poor together! 3 My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. 5 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,

6 men who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? 7 Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life, 8 for the ransom of his life is costly, and can never suffice, 9 that he should continue to live on for ever, and never see the Pit. 10 Yea, he shall see that even the wise die, the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own. 12 Man cannot abide in his pomp, he is like the beasts that perish. 13 This is the fate of those who have foolish confidence, the end of those who are pleased with their portion. [Selah] 14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home.

15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. [Selah] 16 Be not afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. 17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. 18 Though, while he lives, he counts himself happy, and though a man gets praise when he does well for himself, 19 he will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never more see the light. 20 Man cannot abide in his pomp, he is like the beasts that perish.

Longing for God's House

841 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yea, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. 3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in thy house, ever singing thy praise! [Selah] 5 Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6 As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! [Selah] 9 Behold our shield, O God; look upon the face of thine anointed! 10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in thee!

A Prayer for God's Mercy on Israel

851 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Lord, thou wast favorable to thy land; thou didst restore the fortunes of Jacob. 2 Thou didst forgive the iniquity of thy people; thou didst pardon all their sin. [Selah] 3 Thou didst withdraw all thy wrath; thou didst turn from thy hot anger. 4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away thy indignation toward us! 5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou prolong thy anger to all generations? 6 Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee? 7 Show us thy steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. 9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. 10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. 12 Yea, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. 13 Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.

The Privileges of Dwelling in Zion

871 A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song. On the holy mount stands the city he founded; 2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. [Selah]

4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia--"this one was born there," they say. 5 And of Zion it shall be said, "This one and that one were born in her"; for the Most High himself will establish her. 6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples, "This one was born there." [Selah] 7 Singers and dancers alike say, "All my springs are in you."