Psalm 40-41

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Psalm 40

Faith Persevering in Trial

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

3 He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

4 Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,

And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works

Which You have done;

And Your thoughts toward us

Cannot be recounted to You in order;

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;

My ears You have opened.

Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;

In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

8 I delight to do Your will, O my God,

And Your law is within my heart.”

9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness

In the great assembly;

Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,

O Lord, You Yourself know.

10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;

I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth

From the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord;

Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me;

My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;

They are more than the hairs of my head;

Therefore my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

O Lord, make haste to help me!

14 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion

Who seek to destroy my life;

Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor

Who wish me evil.

15 Let them be confounded because of their shame,

Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

Let such as love Your salvation say continually,

“The Lord be magnified!”

17 But I am poor and needy;

Yet the Lord thinks upon me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

Do not delay, O my God.

Psalm 41

The Blessing and Suffering of the Godly

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1 Blessed is he who considers the poor;

The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

2 The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,

And he will be blessed on the earth;

You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

3 The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;

You will sustain him on his sickbed.

4 I said, “Lord, be merciful to me;

Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

5 My enemies speak evil of me:

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

6 And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies;

His heart gathers iniquity to itself;

When he goes out, he tells it.

7 All who hate me whisper together against me;

Against me they devise my hurt.

8 “An evil disease,” they say, “clings to him.

And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.”

9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,

Who ate my bread,

Has lifted up his heel against me.

10 But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up,

That I may repay them.

11 By this I know that You are well pleased with me,

Because my enemy does not triumph over me.

12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,

And set me before Your face forever.

13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel

From everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

 The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 40–41:13.