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For the shields of the earth belong unto God:
He is greatly exalted.

PSALM XLVIII.

A Song and Psalm 3 for the sons of Korah.

GREAT is the LORD, and greatly to be praised

In the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 2 Beautiful for situation,

The joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion,

On the sides of the north, the city of the great King. 3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

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In the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God:

God will establish it for ever.

Selah.

We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God,

In the midst of thy temple.

10 According to thy name, O God,

So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth:

Thy right hand is full of righteousness.

11 Let mount Zion rejoice,

2 Both low and high,

Rich and poor, together.

3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom;

And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. 4 I will incline mine ear to a parable:

5

I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,

When the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? 6 They that trust in their wealth,

And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him:

8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, And it ceaseth for ever:)

9 That he should still live for ever,

And not see corruption.

10 For he seeth that wise men die,

Likewise the fool and the brutish person perish,

And leave their wealth to others.

11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, And their dwelling places to all generations;

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They call their lands after their own names.

12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not:

He is like the beasts that perish.

13 This their way is their folly:

Yet their posterity 2 approve their sayings. Selah.

14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave;

Death shall feed on them;

And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
And their beauty shall consume 4 in the grave from their dwelling.
15 But God will redeem my soul 5 from the power of the grave:
For he shall receive me. Selah.

16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich,

When the glory of his house is increased;

17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away:

His glory shall not descend after him.

18 Though 7 while he lived he blessed his soul:

And men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.

19 8 He shall go to the generation of his fathers;

They shall never see light.

20 Man that is in honour, and understandeth not,

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Is like the beasts that perish.

PSALM L.

A Psalm 9of Asaph.

THE mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken,

And called the earth

From the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God hath shined.

3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence :

A fire shall devour before him,

And it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

4 He shall call to the heavens from above,

And to the earth, that he may judge his people.

5 Gather my saints together unto me;

Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

1 Heb. to generation and generation.

2 Heb. delight in their mouth.

3 Or, strength.

4 Or, the grave being an habitation to

every one of them

5 Heb. from the hand of the grave.

6 Or, hell.

7 Heb. in his life.

8 Heb. The soul shall go.

9 Or, for Asaph.

6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness:

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For God is judge himself. Selah.

Hear, O my people, and I will speak ;

O Israel, and I will testify against thee:

I am God, even thy God.

8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices

Or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

9 I will take no bullock out of thy house,

Nor he goats out of thy folds.

10 For every beast of the forest is mine,

And the cattle upon a thousand hills.

11 I know all the fowls of the mountains:

And the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,

Or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer unto God thanksgiving;

And pay thy vows unto the Most High:

15 And call upon me in the day of trouble:

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I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

But unto the wicked God saith,

What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,

Or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

17 Seeing thou hatest instruction,

And castest my words behind thee.

18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, And hast been partaker with adulterers.

19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil,

And thy tongue frameth deceit.

20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; Thou slanderest thine own mother's son.

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These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;

Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself:

But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

22 Now consider this, ye that forget God,

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Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me:

And to him 4 that ordereth his conversation aright

Will I show the salvation of God.

PSALM LI.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.

HAVE mercy upon me, O God,

According to thy lovingkindness:

According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies
Blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,

3

And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in thy sight:

That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
And be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;

And in sin did my mother conceive me.

1 Heb. with me.

2 Heb. thy portion was with
adulterers.

3 Heb. Thou sendest.

4 Heb. that disposeth his way.

5 Heb. warm me.

6

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:

And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness;

That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins,

And blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;
And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from 2 bloodguiltiness,

O God, thou God of my salvation :

And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips;

And my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; 3 else would I give it :

Thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:

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A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:

Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,

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With burnt offering and whole burnt offering:

Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

PSALM LII.

To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told

Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.

WHY boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?

The goodness of God endureth continually.

2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs;

Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

3 Thou lovest evil more than good;

And lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

4 Thou lovest all devouring words,

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40 thou deceitful tongue.

God shall likewise 5 destroy thee for ever,

He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place,

And root thee out of the land of the living.

6 The righteous also shall see, and fear,

And shall laugh at him:

Selah.

7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; But trusted in the abundance of his riches,

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And strengthened himself in his 6 wickedness.

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God:

I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it : And I will wait on thy name;

For it is good before thy saints.

1 Or, a constant spirit.
2 Heb. bloods.

3 Or, that I should give it.

4 Or, and the deceitful tongue.

5 Heb. beat thee down.

6 Or, substance.

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PSALM LIII.

To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.

THE fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity:
There is none that doeth good.

2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there were any that did understand,

That did seek God.

3 Every one of them is gone back :

They are altogether become filthy;

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread:

They have not called upon God.

5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was:

For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee:
Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them..

62 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!

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When God bringeth back the captivity of his people,

Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

PSALM LIV.

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?

SAVE me, O God, by thy name,

And judge me by thy strength.

2 Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers are risen up against me,

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And oppressors seek after my soul:

They have not set God before them. Selah.

Behold, God is mine helper:

The Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

5 He shall reward evil unto 3 mine enemies: Cut them off in thy truth.

6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee:

I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble:

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And mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

PSALM LV.

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David.

GIVE ear to my prayer, O God;

And hide not thyself from my supplication.

2 Attend unto me, and hear me :

I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;

3 Because of the voice of the enemy,

4

Because of the oppression of the wicked:

For they cast iniquity upon me,

And in wrath they hate me.

My heart is sore pained within me :

And the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, And horror hath overwhelmed me.

6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest.

1 Heb. they feared a fear.

2 Heb. Who will give salvations, &c.

3 Heb. those that observe me.

4 Heb. covered me.