Psalm 88-92
Easy-to-Read Version
A song from the Korah family. To the director: About a painful sickness. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
88 Lord God, you are my Savior.
I have been praying to you day and night.
2 Please pay attention to my prayers.
Listen to my prayers for mercy.
3 My soul has had enough of this pain!
I am ready to die.
4 People already treat me like a dead man,
like someone too weak to live.
5 Look for me among the dead,
like a body in the grave.
I am one of those you have forgotten,
cut off from you and your care.
6 You put me in that hole in the ground.
Yes, you put me in that dark place.
7 Your anger presses down on me like a heavy weight.
It’s like one wave after another pounding against me. Selah
8 You made my friends leave me.
They all avoid me like someone no one wants to touch.
Like a prisoner in my house, I cannot go out.
9 My eyes hurt from crying.
Lord, I pray to you constantly!
I lift my arms in prayer to you.
10 Do you do miracles for the dead?
Do ghosts rise up and praise you? No! Selah
11 The dead in their graves cannot talk about your faithful love.
People in the world of the dead[a] cannot talk about your faithfulness.
12 The dead who lie in darkness cannot see the amazing things you do.
Those in the world of the forgotten cannot talk about your goodness.
13 Lord, I am asking you to help me!
Early each morning I pray to you.
14 Lord, why have you abandoned me?
Why do you refuse to listen to me?
15 I have been sick and weak since I was young.
I have suffered your anger, and I am helpless.
16 Your anger covers me like a flood.
Your attacks are killing me.
17 They surround me on every side.
I feel like a drowning man.
18 You caused my friends and loved ones to leave me.
Now darkness is my closest friend.
A maskil from Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing forever about the Lord’s love.
I will sing about his faithfulness forever and ever!
2 I will say, “Your faithful love will last forever.
Your loyalty is like the sky—there is no end to it!”
3 You said, “I made an agreement with my chosen king.
I made this promise to my servant David:
4 ‘There will always be someone from your family to rule.
I will make your kingdom continue forever and ever.’” Selah
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for the amazing things you do.
The assembly of holy ones sings about your loyalty.
6 No one in heaven is equal to the Lord.
None of the “gods” can compare to the Lord.
7 When God’s holy ones—the angels around his throne—meet together,
they fear and respect him;
he is more awesome than all those around him.
8 Lord God All-Powerful, there is no one like you.
You are strong, Lord, and always faithful.
9 You rule the stormy sea.
You can calm its angry waves.
10 You defeated Rahab.
You scattered your enemies with your own powerful arm.
11 Everything in heaven and earth belongs to you.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created everything north and south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing praises to your name.
13 You have the power!
Your power is great!
Victory is yours!
14 Your kingdom is built on truth and justice.
Love and faithfulness are servants before your throne.
15 Lord, your loyal followers are happy.
They live in the light of your kindness.
16 Your name always makes them happy.
They praise your goodness.
17 You are their amazing strength.
Their power comes from you.
18 The king, our protector, belongs to the Lord,
who is the Holy One of Israel.
19 Lord, you once spoke in a vision to your followers:
“I have made a young soldier strong.
From among my people I chose him for an important position.
20 I have found my servant David
and anointed him as king with my special oil.
21 I will support him with my right hand,
and my arm will make him strong.
22 So no enemy will ever control him.
The wicked will never defeat him.
23 I will destroy his enemies before his eyes.
I will defeat those who hate him.
24 I will always love and support him.
I will always make him strong.
25 I will put him in charge of the sea.
He will control the rivers.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my father.
You are my God, my Rock, my Savior.’
27 And I will make him my firstborn son.
He will be the great king on earth.
28 My love will protect him forever.
My agreement with him will never end.
29 I will make his family continue forever.
His kingdom will last as long as the skies.
30 If his descendants stop following my law
and stop obeying my commands,
31 if they break my laws
and ignore my commands,
32 I will punish them severely
for their sins and wrongs.
33 But I will never take my love from him.
I will never stop being loyal to him.
34 I will not break my agreement with David.
I will never change what I said.
35 By my holiness, I made a promise to him,
and I would not lie to David.
36 His family will continue forever.
His kingdom will last as long as the sun.
37 Like the moon, it will continue forever.
The sky is a witness to the agreement that can be trusted.” Selah
38 But now, Lord, you have become angry with your chosen king,[b]
and you have left him all alone.
39 You ended the agreement you made with your servant.
You threw the king’s crown into the dirt.
40 You pulled down the walls of his city.
You destroyed all his fortresses.
41 Everyone passing by steals from him.
His neighbors laugh at him.
42 You made all the king’s enemies happy
and let his enemies win the war.
43 You helped them defend themselves.
You did not help your king win the battle.
44 You did not let him win.
You threw his throne to the ground.
45 You cut his life short.
You shamed him. Selah
46 Lord, how long will this continue?
Will you ignore us forever?
Will your anger burn like a fire forever?
47 Remember how short my life is.
You created us to live a short life and then die.
48 Is there anyone alive who will never die?
Will anyone escape the grave? Selah
49 Lord, where is the love you showed in the past?
You promised David that you would be loyal to his family.
50-51 My Lord, please remember how people insulted your servant.
Lord, I had to listen to all the insults from your enemies.
They insulted your chosen king wherever he went.
52 Praise the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen!
Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)
The prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 My Lord, you have been our home forever and ever.
2 You were God before the mountains were born,
before the earth and the world were made.
You have always been and will always be God!
3 You bring people into this world,
and you change them into dust again.
4 To you, a thousand years is like yesterday,
like a few hours in the night.
5 Our life is like a dream that ends when morning comes.
We are like grass
6 that grows and looks so fresh in the morning,
but in the evening it is dry and dying.
7 Your anger could destroy us.
Your anger frightens us!
8 You know about all our sins.
You see every one of our secret sins.
9 Your anger can end our life.
Our lives fade away like a whisper.
10 We live about 70 years
or, if we are strong, 80 years.
But most of them are filled with hard work and pain.
Then, suddenly, the years are gone, and we fly away.
11 No one really knows the full power of your anger,
but our fear and respect for you is as great as your anger.
12 Teach us how short our lives are
so that we can become wise.
13 Lord, come back to us.
Be kind to your servants.
14 Fill us with your love every morning.
Let us be happy and enjoy our lives.
15 For years you have made life hard for us and have given us many troubles.
Now make us happy for just as long.
16 Let your servants see the wonderful things you can do for them.
And let their children see your glory.
17 Lord, our God, be kind to us.
Make everything we do successful.
Yes, make it all successful.
91 You can go to God Most High to hide.
You can go to God All-Powerful for protection.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety, my fortress.
My God, I trust in you.”
3 God will save you from hidden dangers
and from deadly diseases.
4 You can go to him for protection.
He will cover you like a bird spreading its wings over its babies.
You can trust him to surround and protect you like a shield.
5 You will have nothing to fear at night
and no need to be afraid of enemy arrows during the day.
6 You will have no fear of diseases that come in the dark
or terrible suffering that comes at noon.
7 A thousand people may fall dead at your side
or ten thousand right beside you,
but nothing bad will happen to you!
8 All you will have to do is watch,
and you will see that the wicked are punished.
9 You trust in the Lord for protection.
You have made God Most High your place of safety.
10 So nothing bad will happen to you.
No diseases will come near your home.
11 He will command his angels to protect you wherever you go.
12 Their hands will catch you
so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.
13 You will have power to trample on lions
and poisonous snakes.
14 The Lord says, “If someone trusts me, I will save them.
I will protect my followers who call to me for help.
15 When my followers call to me, I will answer them.
I will be with them when they are in trouble.
I will rescue them and honor them.
16 I will give my followers a long life
and show them my power to save.”
A song of praise for the Sabbath.
92 It is good to praise the Lord.
God Most High, it is good to praise your name.
2 It is good to sing about your love in the morning
and about your faithfulness at night.
3 It is good to play for you on the ten-stringed instrument and lyre
and to add the soft sounds of the harp to my praise.
4 Lord, you make us very happy because of what you did.
I gladly sing about it.
5 Lord, you did such great things.
Your thoughts are too hard for us to understand.
6 Stupid people don’t know this.
Fools don’t understand.
7 The wicked may sprout like grass,
and those who do evil may blossom like flowers,
but they will be destroyed, never to be seen again.
8 But, Lord, you will be honored forever.
9 Lord, all your enemies will be destroyed,
and all who do evil will be scattered.
10 But you have made me as strong as a wild ox.
You have given me your blessing.[c]
11 My eyes will see the defeat of those waiting to attack me.
My ears will hear the cries of my evil enemies.
12 Good people are like budding palm trees.
They grow strong like the cedar trees of Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house[d] of the Lord.
They grow strong there in the courtyards of our God.
14 Even when they are old,
they will continue producing fruit like young, healthy trees.
15 They are there to show everyone that the Lord is good.[e]
He is my Rock, and he does no wrong.[f]
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:11 the world of the dead Or “Abaddon,” a Hebrew name meaning “death” or “destruction.” See Rev. 9:11.
- Psalm 89:38 chosen king Literally, “anointed one.”
- Psalm 92:10 You … blessing Or “You poured your refreshing oil over me.”
- Psalm 92:13 house Or “Temple.” See “Temple” in the Word List.
- Psalm 92:15 good This is a wordplay. The Hebrew word means “straight” (like the trees) and “good” or “honest.”
- Psalm 92:15 he … wrong Or “there is no crookedness in him.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
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