Psalm 88-92

English Standard Version

³ For my soul is full of troubles,
    and ^(G)my life draws near to ^(H)Sheol.
⁴ I am counted among those who ^(I)go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
⁵ like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom ^(J)you remember no more,
    for they are ^(K)cut off from your hand.
⁶ You have put me in ^(L)the depths of the pit,
    in the ^(M)regions dark and ^(N)deep.
⁷ Your wrath ^(O)lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with ^(P)all your waves. Selah

⁸ You have caused ^(Q)my companions to shun me;
    you have made me ^(R)a horror^[b] to them.
I am ^(S)shut in so that I cannot escape;
^{9     (T)}my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I ^(U)spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you work wonders for the dead?
    ^(V)Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
¹¹ Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Are your ^(W)wonders known in ^(X)the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of ^(Y)forgetfulness?

¹³ But I, O Lord, cry ^(Z)to you;
    ^(AA)in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ O Lord, why ^(AB)do you cast my soul away?
    Why ^(AC)do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.^[c]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your ^(AD)dreadful assaults destroy me.
¹⁷ They ^(AE)surround me like a flood ^(AF)all day long;
    they ^(AG)close in on me together.
¹⁸ You have caused ^(AH)my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.^[d]

⁵ Let ^(AU)the heavens praise your ^(AV)wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of ^(AW)the holy ones!
⁶ For ^(AX)who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    ^(AY)Who among the heavenly beings^[f] is like the Lord,
⁷ a God greatly ^(AZ)to be feared in the council of ^(BA)the holy ones,
    and awesome above all ^(BB)who are around him?
⁸ O Lord God of hosts,
    ^(BC)who is mighty as you are, O ^(BD)Lord,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
⁹ You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you ^(BE)still them.
¹⁰ You ^(BF)crushed ^(BG)Rahab like a carcass;
    you ^(BH)scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
^11 (BI)The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    ^(BJ)the world and all that is in it, you have ^(BK)founded them.
^12 (BL)The north and the south, you have created them;
    ^(BM)Tabor and ^(BN)Hermon ^(BO)joyously praise your name.
¹³ You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
^14 (BP)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    ^(BQ)steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
¹⁵ Blessed are the people who know ^(BR)the festal shout,
    who walk, O Lord, in ^(BS)the light of your face,
¹⁶ who exult in your ^(BT)name all the day
    and in your righteousness are ^(BU)exalted.
¹⁷ For you are ^(BV)the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our ^(BW)horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our ^(BX)shield belongs to the Lord,
    our king to ^(BY)the Holy One of Israel.

^19 (BZ)Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,^[g] and said:
    “I have ^(CA)granted help to one who is ^(CB)mighty;
    I have exalted one ^(CC)chosen from the people.
^20 (CD)I have found David, my servant;
    with my holy oil I have ^(CE)anointed him,
²¹ so that my ^(CF)hand shall be established with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
²² The enemy shall not outwit him;
    ^(CG)the wicked shall not humble him.
²³ I will ^(CH)crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.
²⁴ My ^(CI)faithfulness and my ^(CJ)steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his ^(CK)horn be exalted.
²⁵ I will set his hand on ^(CL)the sea
    and his right hand on ^(CM)the rivers.
²⁶ He shall cry to me, ‘You are my ^(CN)Father,
    my God, and ^(CO)the Rock of my salvation.’
²⁷ And I will make him the ^(CP)firstborn,
    ^(CQ)the highest of the kings of the earth.
²⁸ My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my ^(CR)covenant will stand firm^[h] for him.
²⁹ I will establish his ^(CS)offspring forever
    and his ^(CT)throne as ^(CU)the days of the heavens.
^30 (CV)If his children forsake my law
    and do not walk according to my rules,^[i]
31 if they violate my statutes
    and do not keep my commandments,
³² then I will punish their transgression with ^(CW)the rod
    and their iniquity with stripes,
³³ but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
    or be false to my faithfulness.
³⁴ I will not violate my ^(CX)covenant
    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
³⁵ Once for all I have sworn ^(CY)by my holiness;
    I will not ^(CZ)lie to David.
³⁶ His ^(DA)offspring shall endure forever,
    ^(DB)his ^(DC)throne as long as ^(DD)the sun before me.
³⁷ Like ^(DE)the moon it shall be established forever,
    ^(DF)a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

³⁸ But now you have ^(DG)cast off and rejected;
    you are full of wrath against your ^(DH)anointed.
³⁹ You have ^(DI)renounced ^(DJ)the covenant with your servant;
    you have ^(DK)defiled his ^(DL)crown in the dust.
⁴⁰ You have ^(DM)breached all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
^41 (DN)All who pass by plunder him;
    he has become ^(DO)the scorn of his neighbors.
⁴² You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.
⁴³ You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not made him stand in battle.
⁴⁴ You have made his splendor to cease
    and cast his throne to the ground.
⁴⁵ You have cut short ^(DP)the days of his youth;
    you have ^(DQ)covered him with shame. Selah

^46 (DR)How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath ^(DS)burn like fire?
^47 (DT)Remember ^(DU)how short my ^(DV)time is!
    For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
^48 (DW)What man can live and never ^(DX)see death?
    Who can deliver his soul from the power of ^(DY)Sheol? Selah

⁴⁹ Lord, where is your ^(DZ)steadfast love of old,
    which by your ^(EA)faithfulness you swore to David?
^50 (EB)Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
    and how I bear in my ^(EC)heart the insults^[j] of all the many nations,
⁵¹ with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
    with which they mock ^(ED)the footsteps of your ^(EE)anointed.

^52 (EF)Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

³ You return man to dust
    and say, ^(EM)“Return, ^(EN)O children of man!”^[l]
4 For ^(EO)a thousand years in your sight
    are but as ^(EP)yesterday when it is past,
    or as ^(EQ)a watch in the night.

⁵ You ^(ER)sweep them away as with a flood; they are like ^(ES)a dream,
    like ^(ET)grass that is renewed in the morning:
⁶ in ^(EU)the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
    in the evening it ^(EV)fades and ^(EW)withers.

⁷ For we are brought to an end by your anger;
    by your wrath we are dismayed.
⁸ You have ^(EX)set our iniquities before you,
    our ^(EY)secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹ For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
¹⁰ The years of our life are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span^[m] is but toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.
¹¹ Who considers the power of your anger,
    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

^12 (EZ)So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
^13 (FA)Return, O Lord! ^(FB)How long?
    Have ^(FC)pity on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the ^(FD)morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may ^(FE)rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have ^(FF)afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶ Let your ^(FG)work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
¹⁷ Let the ^(FH)favor^[n] of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish ^(FI)the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

³ For he will deliver you from ^(FO)the snare of the fowler
    and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will ^(FP)cover you with his pinions,
    and under his ^(FQ)wings you will ^(FR)find refuge;
    his ^(FS)faithfulness is ^(FT)a shield and buckler.
^5 (FU)You will not fear ^(FV)the terror of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
    nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes
    and ^(FW)see the recompense of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your ^(FX)dwelling place—
    the Most High, who is my ^(FY)refuge^[p]—
^10 (FZ)no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
    ^(GA)no plague come near your tent.

^11 (GB)For he will command his ^(GC)angels concerning you
    to ^(GD)guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you ^(GE)strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on ^(GF)the lion and the ^(GG)adder;
    the young lion and ^(GH)the serpent you will ^(GI)trample underfoot.

¹⁴ “Because he ^(GJ)holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
    I will protect him, because he ^(GK)knows my name.
¹⁵ When he ^(GL)calls to me, I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble;
    I will rescue him and ^(GM)honor him.
¹⁶ With ^(GN)long life I will satisfy him
    and ^(GO)show him my salvation.”

⁵ How ^(HA)great are your works, O Lord!
    Your ^(HB)thoughts are very ^(HC)deep!
⁶ The stupid man cannot know;
    the fool cannot understand this:
⁷ that though ^(HD)the wicked sprout like grass
    and all ^(HE)evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
⁸     but you, O Lord, are ^(HF)on high forever.
⁹ For behold, your enemies, O Lord,
    for behold, your enemies shall perish;
    all evildoers shall be ^(HG)scattered.

¹⁰ But you have exalted my ^(HH)horn like that of ^(HI)the wild ox;
    you have ^(HJ)poured over me^[q] fresh oil.
¹¹ My ^(HK)eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
    my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

^12 (HL)The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in ^(HM)the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
^15 (HN)to declare that the Lord is upright;
    he is my ^(HO)rock, and there is ^(HP)no unrighteousness in him.