88:1 A song, a psalm written by the Korahites, for the music director, according to the machalath-leannoth style; a well-written song by Heman the Ezrahite.

O Lord God who delivers me,

by day I cry out

and at night I pray before you.

2 Listen to my prayer.

Pay attention to my cry for help.

3 For my life is filled with troubles,

and I am ready to enter Sheol.

4 They treat me like those who descend into the grave.

I am like a helpless man,

5 adrift among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave

whom you remember no more

and who are cut off from your power.

6 You place me in the lowest regions of the Pit,

in the dark places, in the watery depths.

7 Your anger bears down on me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)

8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free.

9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you.

10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?

Do the departed spirits rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?

12 Are your amazing deeds experienced in the dark region,

or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?

13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer confronts you.

14 O Lord, why do you reject me,

and pay no attention to me?

15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth.

I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.

16 Your anger overwhelms me;

your terrors destroy me.

17 They surround me like water all day long;

they join forces and encircle me.

18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance;

those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.

89:1 A well-written song by Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing continually about the Lord’s faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.

2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;

in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”

3 The Lord said,

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:

4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty

and establish your throne throughout future generations.’” (Selah)

5 O Lord, the heavens praise your amazing deeds,

as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly.

6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?

Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings,

7 a God who is honored in the great angelic assembly,

and more awesome than all who surround him?

8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!

Who is strong like you, O Lord?

Your faithfulness surrounds you.

9 You rule over the proud sea.

When its waves surge, you calm them.

10 You crushed the Proud One and killed it;

with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.

You made the world and all it contains.

12 You created the north and the south.

Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.

13 Your arm is powerful,

your hand strong,

your right hand victorious.

14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne.

Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule.

15 How blessed are the people who worship you!

O Lord, they experience your favor.

16 They rejoice in your name all day long,

and are vindicated by your justice.

17 For you give them splendor and strength.

By your favor we are victorious.

18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Then you spoke through a vision to your faithful followers and said:

“I have placed a young hero over a warrior;

I have raised up a young man from the people.

20 I have discovered David, my servant.

With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.

21 My hand will support him,

and my arm will strengthen him.

22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute from him;

a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.

23 I will crush his enemies before him;

I will strike down those who hate him.

24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,

and by my name he will win victories.

25 I will place his hand over the sea,

his right hand over the rivers.

26 He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, my God, and the protector who delivers me.’

27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son,

the most exalted of the earth’s kings.

28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,

and my covenant with him is secure.

29 I will give him an eternal dynasty

and make his throne as enduring as the skies above.

30 If his sons reject my law

and disobey my regulations,

31 if they break my rules

and do not keep my commandments,

32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club,

their sin by inflicting them with bruises.

33 But I will not remove my loyal love from him

nor be unfaithful to my promise.

34 I will not break my covenant

or go back on what I promised.

35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,

I will never deceive David.

36 His dynasty will last forever.

His throne will endure before me, like the sun;

37 it will remain stable, like the moon.

His throne will endure like the skies.” (Selah)

38 But you have spurned and rejected him;

you are angry with your chosen king.

39 You have repudiated your covenant with your servant;

you have thrown his crown to the ground.

40 You have broken down all his walls;

you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.

41 All who pass by have robbed him;

he has become an object of disdain to his neighbors.

42 You have allowed his adversaries to be victorious

and all his enemies to rejoice.

43 You turn back his sword from the adversary

and have not sustained him in battle.

44 You have brought to an end his splendor

and have knocked his throne to the ground.

45 You have cut short his youth

and have covered him with shame. (Selah)

46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever?

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

47 Take note of my brief lifespan.

Why do you make all people so mortal?

48 No man can live on without experiencing death

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. (Selah)

49 Where are your earlier faithful deeds, O Lord,

the ones performed in accordance with your reliable oath to David?

50 Take note, O Lord, of the way your servants are taunted

and of how I must bear so many insults from people.

51 Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults;

they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps.

52 The Lord deserves praise forevermore!

We agree! We agree!

90:1 A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

O Lord, you have been our protector through all generations.

2 Even before the mountains came into existence,

or you brought the world into being,

you were the eternal God.

3 You make mankind return to the dust,

and say, “Return, O people.”

4 Yes, in your eyes a thousand years

are like yesterday that quickly passes,

or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.

5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.”

In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up:

6 In the morning it glistens and sprouts up;

at evening time it withers and dries up.

7 Yes, we are consumed by your anger;

we are terrified by your wrath.

8 You are aware of our sins;

you even know about our hidden sins.

9 Yes, throughout all our days we experience your raging fury;

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh.

10 The days of our lives add up to 70 years,

or 80, if one is especially strong.

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression.

Yes, they pass quickly and we fly away.

11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger?

Your raging fury causes people to fear you.

12 So teach us to consider our mortality,

so that we might live wisely.

13 Turn back toward us, O Lord.

How long must this suffering last?

Have pity on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your loyal love.

Then we will shout for joy and be happy all our days.

15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,

in proportion to the years we have experienced trouble.

16 May your servants see your work.

May their sons see your majesty.

17 May our Sovereign God extend his favor to us.

Make our endeavors successful.

Yes, make them successful.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® copyright © 1996, 2019, used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.