Psalm 86-88
New King James Version
Prayer for Mercy, with Meditation on the Excellencies of the Lord
A Prayer of David.
86 Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me;
For I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my [a]life, for I am holy;
You are my God;
Save Your servant who trusts in You!
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord,
For I cry to You all day long.
4 [b]Rejoice the soul of Your servant,
(A)For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For (B)You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
8 (C)Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
Nor are there any works like Your works.
9 All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great, and (D)do wondrous things;
(E)You alone are God.
11 (F)Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
[c]Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of [d]Sheol.
14 O God, the proud have risen against me,
And a mob of violent men have sought my life,
And have not set You before them.
15 But (G)You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me!
Give Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign for good,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
The Glories of the City of God
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.
87 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 (H)The Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 (I)Glorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God! Selah
4 “I will make mention of [e]Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me;
Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia:
‘This one was born there.’ ”
5 And of Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her;
And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
6 The Lord will record,
When He (J)registers the peoples:
“This one was born there.” Selah
7 Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”
A Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath Leannoth.” A [f]Contemplation of (K)Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, (L)God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
[g]Incline Your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life (M)draws near to the grave.
4 I am counted with those who (N)go[h] down to the pit;
(O)I am like a man who has no strength,
5 [i]Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And who are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all (P)Your waves. Selah
8 (Q)You have [j]put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
(R)I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
9 My eye wastes away because of affliction.
(S)Lord, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall [k]the dead arise and praise You? Selah
11 Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But to You I have cried out, O Lord,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 Lord, why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15 I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer Your terrors;
I am distraught.
16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have [l]cut me off.
17 They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
18 (T)Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.
Footnotes
- Psalm 86:2 Lit. soul
- Psalm 86:4 Make glad
- Psalm 86:11 Give me singleness of heart
- Psalm 86:13 The abode of the dead
- Psalm 87:4 Egypt
- Psalm 88:1 Heb. Maschil
- Psalm 88:2 Listen to
- Psalm 88:4 Die
- Psalm 88:5 Lit. Free
- Psalm 88:8 taken away my friends
- Psalm 88:10 shades, ghosts
- Psalm 88:16 destroyed me
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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