Psalm 88-92

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

³ For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.^(C)
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
    I am like those who have no help,^(D)
5 like those forsaken among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.^(E)
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.^(F)
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah^(G)

⁸ You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;^(H)
9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.^(I)
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah^(J)
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness
    or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?^(K)

¹³ But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.^(L)
14 O Lord, why do you cast me off?
    Why do you hide your face from me?^(M)
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.^[a](N)
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dread assaults destroy me.
¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long;
    from all sides they close in on me.^(O)
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
    my companions are in darkness.^(P)

³ You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to my servant David:^(S)
4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever
    and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah^(T)

⁵ Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.^(U)
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,^(V)
7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones,
    great and awesome^[c] above all who are around him?^(W)
8 O Lord God of hosts,
    who is as mighty as you, O Lord?
    Your faithfulness surrounds you.^(X)
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.^(Y)
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.^(Z)
11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it—you founded them.^(AA)
12 The north and the south^[d]—you created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.^(AB)
13 You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.^(AC)
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.^(AD)
15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;^(AE)
16 they exult in your name all day long
    and extol^[e] your righteousness.
¹⁷ For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.^(AF)
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.^(AG)

¹⁹ Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one and said,
    “I have set the crown^[f] on one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.^(AH)
20 I have found my servant David;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him;^(AI)
21 my hand shall always remain with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
²² The enemy shall not outwit him;
    the wicked shall not humble him.^(AJ)
23 I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.^(AK)
24 My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name his horn shall be exalted.^(AL)
25 I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
²⁶ He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation!’^(AM)
27 I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.^(AN)
28 Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him,
    and my covenant with him will stand firm.^(AO)
29 I will establish his line forever
    and his throne as long as the heavens endure.^(AP)
30 If his children forsake my law
    and do not walk according to my ordinances,^(AQ)
31 if they violate my statutes
    and do not keep my commandments,
³² then I will punish their transgression with the rod
    and their iniquity with scourges,^(AR)
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
    or be false to my faithfulness.^(AS)
34 I will not violate my covenant
    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.^(AT)
35 Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness;
    I will not lie to David.^(AU)
36 His line shall continue forever,
    and his throne endure before me like the sun.^(AV)
37 It shall be established forever like the moon,
    an enduring witness in the skies.” Selah

³⁸ But now you have spurned and rejected him;
    you are full of wrath against your anointed.^(AW)
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
    you have defiled his crown in the dust.^(AX)
40 You have broken through all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.^(AY)
41 All who pass by plunder him;
    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.^(AZ)
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.^(BA)
43 Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not supported him in battle.^(BB)
44 You have removed the scepter from his hand^[g]
    and hurled his throne to the ground.^(BC)
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with shame. Selah^(BD)

⁴⁶ How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?^(BE)
47 Remember how short my time is—^[h]
    for what vanity you have created all mortals!^(BF)
48 Who can live and never see death?
    Who can escape the power of Sheol? Selah^(BG)

⁴⁹ Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?^(BH)
50 Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted,
    how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,^[i](BI)
51 with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,
    with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed.^(BJ)

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

³ You turn us^[k] back to dust
    and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”^(BN)
4 For a thousand years in your sight
    are like yesterday when it is past
    or like a watch in the night.^(BO)

⁵ You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
    like grass that is renewed in the morning;^(BP)
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
    in the evening it fades and withers.^(BQ)

⁷ For we are consumed by your anger;
    by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your countenance.^(BR)

⁹ For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    our years come to an end^[l] like a sigh.^(BS)
10 The days of our life are seventy years
    or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span^[m] is only toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.^(BT)

¹¹ Who considers the power of your anger?
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.^(BU)
12 So teach us to count our days
    that we may gain a wise heart.^(BV)

¹³ Turn, O Lord! How long?
    Have compassion on your servants!^(BW)
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.^(BX)
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us
    and as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶ Let your work be manifest to your servants
    and your glorious power to their children.^(BY)
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us
    and prosper for us the work of our hands—
    O prosper the work of our hands!^(BZ)

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 see the punishment of the wicked.^(CG)

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,^[o]
    the Most High your dwelling place,
¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
    no scourge come near your tent.^(CH)

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.^(CI)
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder;
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.^(CJ)

¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
    I will protect those who know my name.^(CK)
15 When they call to me, I will answer them;
    I will be with them in trouble;
    I will rescue them and honor them.^(CL)
16 With long life I will satisfy them
    and show them my salvation.^(CM)

⁵ How great are your works, O Lord!
    Your thoughts are very deep!^(CQ)
6 The dullard cannot know;
    the stupid cannot understand this:
⁷ though the wicked sprout like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever,^(CR)
8     but you, O Lord, are on high forever.^(CS)
9 For your enemies, O Lord,
    for your enemies shall perish;
    all evildoers shall be scattered.^(CT)

¹⁰ But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
    you have anointed me with fresh oil.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
    my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.^(CU)

¹² The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.^(CV)
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ In old age they still produce fruit;
    they are always green and full of sap,^(CW)
15 showing that the Lord is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.^(CX)