Beginning
A Davidic prayer
Help Us, God
86 Lord, listen and answer me,
for I am afflicted and needy.
2 Protect me, for I am faithful;[a]
My God, deliver your servant who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me Lord,
for I call on you all day long.
4 Your servant rejoices,
because, Lord, I set my hope on[b] you.
5 Indeed you, Lord, are kind and forgiving,
overflowing with gracious love to everyone who calls on you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
attend to my prayer of supplication.
7 In my troubled times I will call on you,
for you will answer me.
8 No one can compare with you among the gods, Lord;
No one can accomplish[c] your work.
9 All the nations that you have established will come
and worship you, my Lord.
They will honor your name.
10 For you are great,
and you are doing awesome things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your ways, Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
let me wholeheartedly[d] revere your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole being;
and I will honor your name continuously.
13 For great is your gracious love to me;
you’ve delivered me from the depths of Sheol.[e]
14 God, arrogant men rise up against me,
while a company of ruthless individuals want to kill me.
They do not have regard for you.[f]
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate God,
merciful and patient,[g]
with unending gracious love and faithfulness.
16 Return to me and have mercy on me;
clothe your servant with your strength
and deliver the son of your maid servant.
17 Show me a sign of your goodness,
so that those who hate me will see it and be ashamed.
For you, Lord, will help and comfort me.
A psalm by the descendants of Korah. A song.
The Holy City for All People
87 God’s[h] foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken about you,
city of God.
4 I will mention Rahab and Babylon
among those who acknowledge me—
including Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia[i]—
“This one was born there,” they say.[j]
5 Indeed, about Zion it will be said:
“More than one person[k] was born in it,” and
“The Most High himself did[l] it.”
6 The Lord will record,
as he registers the peoples,[m]
“This one was born there.”
A song. A psalm by the descendants of Korah. According to Machalath Leannoth. An instruction[p] by Heman the Ezrahite.
A Cry for Help
88 Lord, God of my salvation,
by day and by night I cry out before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
listen[q] to my cry.
3 For my life is filled with troubles
as I approach Sheol.[r]
4 I am considered as one of those descending into the Pit,[s]
like a mighty man without strength,
5 released to remain[t] with the dead,
lying in a grave like a corpse,
remembered no longer,
and cut off from your power.
6 You have assigned me to the lowest part of the Pit,[u]
to the darkest depths.
7 Your anger lies heavily upon me;
you pound[v] me with all your waves.
8 You caused my acquaintances to shun me;[w]
you make me extremely abhorrent to them.
Restrained, I am unable to go out.
9 My eyes languish on account of my affliction;
all day long I call out to you, Lord,
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Can you perform wonders for the dead?
Can departed spirits stand up to praise you?
11 Can your gracious love be declared in the grave
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?[x]
12 Can your awesome deeds be known in darkness
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
13 As for me, I cry out to you Lord,
and in the morning my prayer greets you.
14 Why, Lord, have you rejected me?
Why have you hidden your face from me?
15 Since my youth I have been oppressed
and in danger of death.
I bear your dread
and am overwhelmed.
16 Your burning anger overwhelms me;
your terrors destroy me.
17 Like waters, they engulf me all day long;
they surround me on all sides.
18 You caused my friend and neighbor to shun me;[y]
and my acquaintances are confused.[z]
An instruction[aa]. By Ethan, the Ezrahite
God’s Covenant with David
89 I will sing forever about the gracious love of the Lord;
from generation to generation
I will declare your faithfulness with my mouth.
2 I will declare that your gracious love was established forever;
in the heavens itself, you have established your faithfulness.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise to David, my servant.
4 “I will establish your dynasty forever,
and I will lift up one who will build[ab] your throne
from generation to generation.”
5 Even the heavens praise your awesome deeds, Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies compares to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the divine beings?
7 God is feared in the council of the holy ones,
revered by all those around him.
8 Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,
who is as mighty as you, Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the majestic[ac] sea;
when its waves surge,
you calm them.
10 You crushed the proud one[ad] to death;
with your powerful arm
you scattered your enemies.
11 Heaven and the earth belong to you,
the world and everything it contains—
you established them.
12 The north and south—you created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 Your arm is strong;
your hand is mighty;
indeed, your right hand is victorious.[ae]
14 Righteousness and justice make up
the foundation of your throne;
gracious love and truth meet before you.
15 How happy are the people who can worship joyfully![af]
Lord, they walk in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice all day long;
they exult in your justice.[ag]
17 For you are their strength’s grandeur;
by your favor you exalted our power.[ah]
18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
God’s Describes His Anointed
19 You spoke to your faithful[ai] ones through a vision:[aj]
“I will set a helper over[ak] a warrior.
I will raise up a chosen one from the people.
20 I have found my servant David;
I have anointed him with my sacred oil,
21 with whom my power[al] will be firmly established;
for my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will deceive him;
no wicked person[am] will afflict him.
23 I will crush his enemies before him
and strike those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and gracious love will be with him,
and in my name his power[an] will be exalted.
25 I will place his hand[ao] over the sea,
and his right hand[ap] over the rivers.
26 He will announce to me
‘You are my father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 “Indeed, I myself made him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will show[aq] my gracious love toward him forever,
since my covenant is securely established with him.
29 I will establish his dynasty[ar] forever,
and his throne as long as heaven endures.[as]
30 “But if his sons abandon my laws and
do not follow my ordinances,
31 if they profane my statutes;
and do not keep my commands,
32 then I will punish their disobedience with a rod
and their iniquity with lashes.
33 But I will not cut off[at] my gracious love from him,
and I will not stop being faithful.
34 I will not dishonor my covenant,
because I will not change what I have spoken.[au]
35 I have sworn by my holiness once for all:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty[av] will last forever
and his throne will be like the sun before me.
37 It will be established forever like the moon,
a faithful witness in the sky.”
A Commitment to Persevere
38 But you have spurned, rejected,
and became angry with your anointed one.
39 You have dishonored the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown on the ground.
40 You have broken through all his[aw] walls;
you have laid his fortresses in ruin.
41 All who pass by on their way plunder him;
he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
you have caused all of his enemies to rejoice.
43 Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and did not support him in battle.
44 You have caused his splendor[ax] to cease
and cast down his throne to the ground.
45 You have caused the days of his youth to be cut short;
you have covered him with shame.
46 How long, Lord, will you hide yourself? Forever?
Will your anger continuously burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my lifetime is!
How powerless have you created all human beings![ay]
48 What valiant man can live and not see death?
Who can deliver himself[az] from the power[ba] of Sheol.[bb]
49 Where is your gracious love of old, Lord,
that in your faithfulness you promised to David?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servant!
I carry inside me all the insults of many people,
51 when your enemies reproached you, Lord,
when they reproached the footsteps[bc] of your anointed.
52 Blessed is the Lord forever!
Amen and amen!
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