A song, a psalm written by the Korahites; for the music director; according to the machalath-leannoth style;
88:1 O Lord God who delivers me!
By day I cry out
and at night I pray before you.
88:2 Listen to my prayer!
Pay attention
88:3 For my life
and I am ready to enter Sheol.
88:4 They treat me like
I am like a helpless man,
88:5 adrift
like corpses lying in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
and who are cut off from your power.
88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit,
in the dark places, in the watery depths.
88:7 Your anger bears down on me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)
88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;
you make me an appalling sight to them.
I am trapped and cannot get free.
88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.
I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;
I spread out my hands in prayer to you.
88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?
Do the departed spirits
88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?
88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced
or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?
88:13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer confronts you.
88:14 O Lord, why do you reject me,
and pay no attention to me?
88:15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth.
I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.
88:16 Your anger overwhelms me;
your terrors destroy me.
88:17 They surround me like water all day long;
they join forces and encircle me.
88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance;
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.
A well-written song
89:1 I will sing continually
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.
89:2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”
89:3 The Lord said,
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
89:4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’”
89:5 O Lord, the heavens
as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly.
89:6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings,
89:7 a God who is honored
and more awesome than
89:8 O Lord, sovereign God!
Who is strong like you, O Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
89:9 You rule over the proud sea.
When its waves surge,
89:10 You crushed the Proud One
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
89:11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.
You made the world and all it contains.
89:12 You created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon
89:13 Your arm is powerful,
your hand strong,
your right hand
89:14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule.
89:15 How blessed are the people who worship you!
O Lord, they experience your favor.
89:16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and are vindicated
89:17 For you give them splendor and strength.
By your favor we are victorious.
89:18 For our shield
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
89:19 Then you
“I have energized a warrior;
I have raised up a young man
89:20 I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.
89:21 My hand will support him,
and my arm will strengthen him.
89:22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute
a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.
89:23 I will crush his enemies before him;
I will strike down those who hate him.
89:24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,
and by my name he will win victories.
89:25 I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
89:26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father,
89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son,
the most exalted of the earth’s kings.
89:28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure.
89:29 I will give him an eternal dynasty,
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above.
89:30 If his sons reject my law
and disobey my regulations,
89:31 if they break
and do not keep my commandments,
89:32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club,
their sin by inflicting them with bruises.
89:33 But I will not remove
nor be unfaithful to my promise.
89:34 I will not break
or go back on what I promised.
89:35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,
I will never deceive
89:36 His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will endure before me, like the sun,
89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon,
his throne will endure like the skies.”
89:38 But you have spurned
you are angry with your chosen king.
89:39 You have repudiated
you have thrown his crown to the ground.
89:40 You have broken down all his
you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.
89:41 All who pass by
he has become an object of disdain to his neighbors.
89:42 You have allowed his adversaries to be victorious,
and all his enemies to rejoice.
89:43 You turn back
and have not sustained him in battle.
89:44 You have brought to an end his splendor,
and have knocked
89:45 You have cut short his youth,
and have covered him with shame. (Selah)
89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?
Will you remain hidden forever?
Will your anger continue to burn like fire?
89:47 Take note of my brief lifespan!
Why do you make all people so mortal?
89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,
or deliver his life from the power of Sheol.
89:49 Where are your earlier faithful deeds,
the ones performed in accordance with your reliable oath to David?
89:50 Take note, O Lord,
and of how I must bear so many insults from people!
89:51 Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults;
they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps.
89:52
We agree! We agree!
Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90:1 O Lord, you have been our protector
90:2 Even before the mountains came into existence,
or you brought the world into being,
you were the eternal God.
90:3 You make mankind return
and say, “Return, O people!”
90:4 Yes,
are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.
90:5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.”
In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up;
90:6 in the morning it glistens
at evening time it withers
90:7 Yes,
we are terrified by your wrath.
90:8 You are aware of our sins;
you even know about our hidden sins.
90:9 Yes,
the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh.
90:10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years,
or eighty, if one is especially strong.
But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression.
Yes,
90:11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger?
Your raging fury causes people to fear you.
90:12 So teach us to consider our mortality,
so that we might live wisely.
90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!
How long must this suffering last?
Have pity on your servants!
90:14 Satisfy us in the morning
Then we will shout for joy and be happy
90:15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,
in proportion to the years we have experienced
90:16 May your servants see your work!
May their sons see your majesty!
90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us!
Make our endeavors successful!
Yes, make them successful!