Psalms Of Peace And Poise

Psalm 49

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

To the choirmaster.

1 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 forever,

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 In their graves are their bones,

In the dwelling places for corpses,

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.

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.

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 A righteous man goes to God his Father,

in heaven the region of brightness.

But, the wicked go to hell,

a place full of darkness and torments

20 Man cannot abide in his pomp,

he is like the beasts that perish.

(Verse 9 edited and changed to fit realities of life.

The following is unfit:

he will go to the generation of his fathers,

who will never more see the light.)

Psalm 73

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 Truly God is good to the upright,

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had well nigh slipped.

3 For I was envious of the arrogant,

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no pangs;

their bodies are sound and sleek.

5 They are not in trouble as other men are;

they are not stricken like other men.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;

violence covers them as a garment.

7 Their eyes swell out with fatness,

their hearts overflow with follies.

8 They scoff and speak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

9 They set their mouths against the heavens,

and their tongue struts through the earth.

10 Therefore the people turn and praise them;

and find no fault in them.

11 And they say, "How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?"

12 Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands in innocence.

14 For all the day long I have been stricken,

and chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"

I would have been untrue to the generation

of thy children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I perceived their end.

18 Truly thou dost set them in slippery places;

thou dost make them fall to ruin.

19 How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!

20 They are like a dream when one awakes,

on awaking you despise their phantoms.

21 When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

22 I was stupid and ignorant,

I was like a beast toward thee.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee;

thou dost hold my right hand.

24 Thou dost guide me with thy counsel,

and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is nothing upon earth

that I desire besides thee.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and

my portion forever .

27 For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish;

thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.

28 But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

that I may tell of all thy works.

Psalm 131

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

too great and too marvelous for me.

2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a child quieted at its mother's breast;

like a child that is quieted is my soul.

3 O Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time forth and forever more.

Psalm 133

A Song of Ascents.

1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,

running down upon the beard,

upon the beard of Aaron,

running down on the collar of his robes!

3 It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion!

For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,

and life forever more.