PSALM 88

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

1 O Lord, my God, I call for helpt by day;

I cry out in the night before thee.

2 Let my prayer come before thee,

incline thy ear to my cry!

3 For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

5 like one forsaken among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom thou dost remember no more,

for they are cut off from thy hand.

6 Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

7 Thy wrath lies heavy upon me,

and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves. [Selah]

8 Thou hast caused my companions to shun me;

thou hast made me a thing of horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon thee, O Lord;

I spread out my hands to thee.

10 Dost thou work wonders for the dead?

Do the shades rise up to praise thee? [Selah]

11 Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave,

or thy faithfulness in Abaddon?

12 Are thy wonders known in the darkness,

or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But I, O Lord, cry to thee;

in the morning my prayer comes before thee.

14 O Lord, why dost thou cast me off?

Why dost thou hide thy face from me?

15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer thy terrors; I am helpless.u

16 Thy wrath has swept over me;

thy dread assaults destroy me.

17 They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in upon me together.

18 Thou hast caused lover and friend to shun me;

my companions are in darkness.

PSALM 89

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

1 I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord,v for ever;

with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations.

2 For thy steadfast love was established for ever,

thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.

3 Thou hast said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David my servant:

4 ‘I will establish your descendants for ever,

and build your throne for all generations.’ ” [Selah]

5 Let the heavens praise thy wonders, O Lord,

thy faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!

6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?

Who among the heavenly beingsw is like the Lord,

7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones,

great and terriblex above all that are round about him?

8 O Lord God of hosts,

who is mighty as thou art, O Lord,

with thy faithfulness round about thee?

9 Thou dost rule the raging of the sea;

when its waves rise, thou stillest them.

10 Thou didst crush Rahab like a carcass,

thou didst scatter thy enemies with thy mighty arm.

11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine;

the world and all that is in it, thou hast founded them.

12 The north and the south, thou hast created them;

Tabor and Hermon joyously praise thy name.

13 Thou hast a mighty arm;

strong is thy hand, high thy right hand.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne;

steadfast love and faithfulness go before thee.

15 Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,

who walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance,

16 who exult in thy name all the day,

and extoly thy righteousness.

17 For thou art the glory of their strength;

by thy favor our horn is exalted.

18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Of old thou didst speak in a vision

to thy faithful one, and say:

“I have set the crown* upon one who is mighty,

I have exalted one chosen from the people.

20 I have found David, my servant;

with my holy oil I have anointed him;

21 so that my hand shall ever abide with him,

my arm also shall strengthen him.

22 The enemy shall not outwit him,

the wicked shall not humble him.

23 I will crush his foes before him

and strike down those who hate him.

24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,

and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

25 I will set his hand on the sea

and his right hand on the rivers.

26 He shall cry to me, ‘Thou art my Father,

my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

27 And I will make him the first-born,

the highest of the kings of the earth.

28 My steadfast love I will keep for him for ever,

and my covenant will stand firm for him.

29 I will establish his line for ever

and his throne as the days of the heavens.

30 If his children forsake my law

and do not walk according to my ordinances,

31 if they violate my statutes

and do not keep my commandments,

32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod

and their iniquity with scourges;

33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love,

or be false to my faithfulness.

34 I will not violate my covenant,

or alter the word that went forth from my lips.

35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;

I will not lie to David.

36 His line shall endure for ever,

his throne as long as the sun before me.

37 Like the moon it shall be established for ever;

it shall stand firm while the skies endure.”a [Selah]

38 But now thou hast cast off and rejected,

thou art full of wrath against thy anointed.

39 Thou hast renounced the covenant with thy servant;

thou hast defiled his crown in the dust.

40 Thou hast breached all his walls;

thou hast laid his strongholds in ruins.

41 All that pass by despoil him;

he has become the scorn of his neighbors.

42 Thou hast exalted the right hand of his foes;

thou hast made all his enemies rejoice.

43 Yea, thou hast turned back the edge of his sword,

and thou hast not made him stand in battle.

44 Thou hast removed the scepter from his hand,b

and cast his throne to the ground.

45 Thou hast cut short the days of his youth;

thou hast covered him with shame. [Selah]

46 How long, O Lord? Wilt thou hide thyself for ever?

How long will thy wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember, O Lord,c what the measure of life is,

for what vanity thou hast created all the sons of men!

48 What man can live and never see death?

Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? [Selah]

49 Lord, where is thy steadfast love of old,

which by thy faithfulness thou didst swear to David?

50 Remember, O Lord, how thy servant is scorned;

how I bear in my bosom the insultsd of the peoples,

51 with which thy enemies taunt, O Lord,

with which they mock the footsteps of thy anointed.

52 Blessed be the Lord for ever!

Amen and Amen.

The Psalms: Book 4

PSALM 90

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place*

in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.

3 Thou turnest man back to the dust,

and sayest, “Turn back, O children of men!”

4 For a thousand years in thy sight

are but as yesterday when it is past,

or as a watch in the night.

5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream,

like grass which is renewed in the morning:

6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are consumed by thy anger;

by thy wrath we are overwhelmed.

8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,

our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

9 For all our days pass away under thy wrath,

our years come to an endf like a sigh.

10 The years of our life are threescore and ten,

or even by reason of strength fourscore;

yet their spang is but toil and trouble;

they are soon gone, and we fly away.

11 Who considers the power of thy anger,

and thy wrath according to the fear of thee?

12 So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

13 Return, O Lord! How long?

Have pity on thy servants!

14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us,

and as many years as we have seen evil.

16 Let thy work be manifest to thy servants,

and thy glorious power to their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish thou the work of our hands upon us,

yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.