The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, page 259
While they continually say to me,
d“Where is your God?”
4When I remember these things,
eI pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
fI went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5gWhy are you 4cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
hHope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
5For the help of His countenance.
66O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From 7the Hill Mizar.
7Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
iAll Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8The LORD will jcommand His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And kin the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
9I will say to God my Rock,
l“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10As with a 8breaking of my bones,
My enemies 9reproach me,
mWhile they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11nWhy are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The 10help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 43
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
1Vindicate ame, O God,
And bplead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
cWhy do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3dOh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to eYour holy hill
And to Your 1tabernacle.
4Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And on the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God.
5fWhy are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The 2help of my countenance and my God. Anointing of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
Psalm 44
Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor
To the Chief Musician. A aContemplation1 of the sons of Korah.
1We have heard with our ears, O God,
bOur fathers have told us,
The deeds You did in their days,
In days of old:
2cYou drove out the 2nations with Your hand,
But them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.
3For dthey 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,
eBecause You favored them.
4fYou are my King, 3O God;
4Command victories for Jacob.
5Through You gwe will push down our enemies;
Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
6For hI will not trust in my bow,
Nor shall my sword save me.
7But You have saved us from our enemies,
And have put to shame those who hated us.
8iIn God we boast all day long,
And praise Your name forever. Selah
9But jYou have cast us off and put us to shame,
And You do not go out with our armies.
10You make us kturn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken 5spoil for themselves.
11lYou have given us up like sheep intended for food,
And have mscattered us among the nations.
12nYou sell Your people for next to nothing,
And are not enriched by selling them.
13oYou make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and a derision to those all around us.
14pYou make us a byword among the nations,
qA shaking of the head among the peoples.
15My dishonor is continually before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,
16Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
rBecause of the enemy and the avenger.
17sAll this has come upon us;
But we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18Our heart has not turned back,
tNor have our steps departed from Your way;
19But You have severely broken us in uthe place of jackals,
And covered us vwith the shadow of death.
20If we had forgotten the name of our God,
Or wstretched6 out our hands to a foreign god,
21xWould not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22yYet for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23zAwake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise! Do not cast us off forever.
24aWhy do You hide Your face,
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
25For bour soul is bowed down to the 7dust;
Our body clings to the ground.
26Arise for our help,
And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.
Psalm 45
The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride
To the Chief Musician. aSet to 1“The Lilies.” A 2Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
1My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a 3ready writer.
2You are fairer than the sons of men;
bGrace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
34Gird Your csword upon Your thigh, dO Mighty One,
With Your eglory and Your majesty.
4fAnd in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;
And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.
5Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;
The peoples fall under You.
6gYour throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A hscepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has ianointed You
With the oil of jgladness more than Your companions.
8All Your garments are kscented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,
Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.
9lKings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;
mAt Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
10Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
nForget your own people also, and your father’s house;
11So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
oBecause He is your Lord, worship Him.
12And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
pThe rich among the people will seek your favor.
13The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;
Her clothing is woven with gold.
14qShe shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.
15With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;
They shall enter the King’s palace.
16Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,
rWhom You shall make princes in all the earth.
17sI will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.
Psalm 46
God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song afor Alamoth.
1God is our brefuge and strength,
cA1 very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the 2midst of the sea;
3dThough its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
4There is a eriver whose streams shall make glad the fcity of God,
The holy place of the 3tabernacle of the Most High.
5God is gin the midst of her, she shall not be 4moved;
God shall help her, just 5at the break of dawn.
6hThe nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
7The iLORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8Come, behold the works of the LORD,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
9jHe makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
kHe breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
lHe burns the chariot in the fire.
10Be still, and know that I am God;
mI will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
11The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Psalm 47
Praise to God, the Ruler of the Earth
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
2For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great aKing over all the earth.
3bHe will subdue the peoples under us,
And the nations under our feet.
4He will choose our cinheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
5dGod has gone up with a shout,
The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7eFor God is the King of all the earth;
fSing praises with understanding.
8gGod reigns over the nations;
God hsits on His iholy throne.
9The princes of the people have gathered together,
jThe people of the God of Abraham.
kFor the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.
Psalm 48
The Glory of God in Zion
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised
In the acity of our God,
In His holy mountain.
2bBeautiful in 1elevation,
The joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
The city of the great King.
3God is in her palaces;
He is known as her refuge.
4For behold, cthe kings assembled,
They passed by together.
5They saw it, and so they marveled;
They were troubled, they hastened away.
6Fear dtook hold of them there,
And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,
7As when You break the eships of Tarshish
With an east wind.
8As we have heard,
So we have seen
In the city of the LORD of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God will festablish it forever. Selah
9We have thought, O God, on gYour lovingkindness,
In the midst of Your temple.
10According to hYour name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
11Let Mount Zion rejoice,
Let the daughters of Judah be glad,
Because of Your judgments.
12Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;
13Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may itell it to the generation following.
14For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
jHe will be our guide
2Even to death.
Psalm 49
The Confidence of the Foolish
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
3My mouth shall speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.
4I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will disclose my 1dark saying on the harp.
5Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
6Those who atrust in their wealth
And boast in the multitude of their riches,
7None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor bgive to God a ransom for him—
8For cthe redemption of their souls is costly,
And it shall cease forever—
9That he should continue to live eternally,
And dnot 2see the Pit.
10For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
113Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,
Their dwelling places to all generations;
They ecall their lands after their own names.
12Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not 4remain;
He is like the beasts that perish.
13This is the way of those who are ffoolish,
And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah
14Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
Death shall feed on them;
gThe upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
hAnd their beauty shall be consumed in 5the grave, far from their dwelling.
15But God iwill redeem my soul from the power of 6the grave,
For He shall jreceive me. Selah
16Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,
When the glory of his house is increased;
17For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
18Though while he lives khe blesses himself
(For men will praise you when you do well for yourself),
19He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never see llight.7
20A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,
mIs like the beasts that perish.
Psalm 50
God the Righteous Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
1The aMighty One, God the LORD,
Has spoken and called the earth
From the rising of the sun to its going down.
2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
bGod will shine forth.
3Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
cA fire shall devour before Him,
And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
4dHe shall call to the heavens from above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
5“Gather eMy saints together to Me,
fThose who have 1made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6Let the gheavens declare His righteousness,
For hGod Himself is Judge. Selah
7“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
iI am God, your God!
8jI will not 2rebuke you kfor your sacrifices
Or your burnt offerings,
Which are continually before Me.
9lI will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your folds.
10For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
11I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
12“If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
mFor the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
13nWill I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14oOffer to God thanksgiving,
And ppay your vows to the Most High.
15qCall upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
16But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
17rSeeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?
18When you saw a thief, you sconsented3 with him,
And have been a tpartaker with adulterers.
19You give your mouth to evil,
And uyour tongue frames deceit.
20You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21These things you have done, and I kept silent;
vYou thought that I was altogether like you;
But I will rebuke you,
And wset them in order before your eyes.
22“Now consider this, you who xforget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces,
And there be none to deliver:
23Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And yto him who orders his conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God.”
Psalm 51
A Prayer of Repentance
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David awhen Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
bBlot out my transgressions.
2cWash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions,
