Psalms 86; Psalms 87; Psalms 88; Psalms 89

Psalms 86

1 LORD, listen closely to me and answer me, because I am poor and in need.

2 Guard my life because I am faithful. Save your servant who trusts in you—you! My God!

3 Have mercy on me, Lord, because I cry out to you all day long.

4 Make your servant's life happy again because, my Lord, I offer my life to you,

5 because, my Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of faithful love for all those who cry out to you.

6 Listen closely to my prayer, LORD; pay close attention to the sound of my requests for mercy.

7 Whenever I am in trouble, I cry out to you, because you will answer me.

8 My Lord! There is no one like youamong the gods! There is nothing that can compare to your works!

9 All the nations that you've made will come and bow down before you, Lord; they will glorify your name,

10 because you are awesome and a wonder-worker. You are God. Just you.

11 Teach me your way, LORD, so that I can walk in your truth. Make my heart focused only on honoring your name.

12 I give thanks to you, my Lord, my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify your name forever,

13 because your faithful love toward me is awesome and because you've rescued my life from the lowest part of hell.

14 The arrogant rise up against me, God. A gang of violent people want me dead. They don't give a thought for you.

15 But you, my Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy; you are very patient and full of faithful love.

16 Come back to me! Have mercy on me! Give your servant your strength; save this child of your servant!

17 Show me a sign of your goodness so that those who hate me will see it and be put to shame— show a sign that you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalms 87

1 God's foundation is set on the holy mountains.

2 The LORD loves Zion's gates more than all of Jacob's houses combined.

3 Glorious things are said about you, the city of God! Selah

4 I count Rahab and Babel among those who know me; also Philistia and Tyre, along with Cush— each of these was born there.

5 And of Zion it is said: "Each person was born in it, but the one who will establish it is the Most High."

6 The LORD makes a record as he registers the peoples: "Each one was born there." Selah

7 And while they dance, people sing: "The source of my life comes from you."

Psalms 88

1 LORD, God of my salvation, by day I cry out, even at night, before you—

2 let my prayer reach you! Turn your ear to my outcry

3 because my whole being is filled with distress; my life is at the very brink of hell.

4 I am considered as one of those plummeting into the pit. I am like those who are beyond help,

5 drifting among the dead, lying in the grave, like dead bodies— those you don't remember anymore, those who are cut off from your power.

6 You placed me down in the deepest pit, in places dark and deep.

7 Your anger smothers me; you subdue me with it, wave after wave. Selah

8 You've made my friends distant. You've made me disgusting to them. I can't escape. I'm trapped!

9 My eyes are tired of looking at my suffering. I've been calling out to you every day, LORD— I've had my hands outstretched to you!

10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do ghosts rise up and give you thanks? Selah

11 Is your faithful love proclaimed in the grave, your faithfulness in the underworld?

12 Are your wonders known in the land of darkness, your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

13 But I cry out to you, LORD! My prayer meets youfirst thing in the morning!

14 Why do you reject my very being, LORD? Why do you hide your face from me?

15 Since I was young I've been afflicted, I've been dying. I've endured your terrors. I'm lifeless.

16 Your fiery anger has overwhelmed me; your terrors have destroyed me.

17 They surround me all day long like water; they engulf me completely.

18 You've made my loved ones and companions distant. My only friend is darkness.

Psalms 89

1 I will sing of the LORD's loyal love forever. I will proclaim your faithfulness with my own mouth from one generation to the next.

2 That's why I say, "Your loyal love is rightly built—forever! You establish your faithfulness in heaven."

3 You said,"I made a covenant with my chosen one; I promised my servant David:

4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever; I will build up your throne from one generation to the next.'" Selah

5 Heaven thanks you for your wondrous acts, LORD— for your faithfulness too— in the assembly of the holy ones.

6 Is there any in the sky who could compare to the LORD? Who among the gods is equal to the LORD?

7 God is respected in the council of the holy ones; God is awesome and revered more than all those around him.

8 Who is like you, LORD God of heavenly forces? Mighty LORD, your faithfulness surrounds you!

9 You rule over the surging sea: When its waves rise up, it's you who makes them still.

10 It's you who crushed Rahab like a dead body; you scattered your enemies with your strong arm.

11 Heaven is yours! The earth too! The world and all that fills it— you made all of it! North and south—you created them!

12 The mountains Tabor and Hermon shout praises to your name.

13 You have a powerful arm; your hand is strong; your strong hand is raised high!

14 Your throne is built on righteousness and justice; loyal love and faithfulness stand in front of you.

15 The people who know the celebratory shout are truly happy! They walk in the light of your presence, LORD!

16 They rejoice in your name all day long and are uplifted by your righteousness

17 because you are the splendor of their strength. By your favor you make us strong

18 because our shield is the LORD's own; our king belongs to the holy one of Israel!

19 Once you spoke in a vision to your faithful servants: I placed a crown on a strong man. I raised up someone specially chosen from the people.

20 I discovered my servant David. I anointed him with my holy oil.

21 My hand will sustain him— yes, my arm will strengthen him!

22 No enemy will oppress him; no wicked person will make him suffer.

23 I will crush all his foes in front of him. I will strike down all those who hate him.

24 My faithfulness and my loyal love will be with him. He will be strengthened by my name.

25 I will set his hand on the sea. I will set his strong hand on the rivers.

26 He will cry out to me: "You are my father, my God, the rock of my salvation."

27 Yes, I'll make him the one born first— I'll make him the high king of all earth's kings.

28 I will always guard my loyal love toward him. My covenant with him will last forever.

29 I will establish his dynasty for all time. His throne will last as long as heaven does.

30 But if his children ever abandon my Instruction, stop following my rules—

31 if they treat my statutes like dirt, stop keeping my commandments—

32 then I will punish their sin with a stick, and I will punish their wrongdoing with a severe beating.

33 But even then I won't withdraw my loyal love from him. I won't betray my faithfulness.

34 I won't break my covenant. I won't renege on what crossed my lips.

35 By my own holiness I've sworn one thing: I will not lie to David.

36 His dynasty will last forever. His throne will be like the sun, always before me.

37 It will be securely established forever; like the moon, a faithful witness in the sky. Selah

38 But you, God, have rejected and despised him. You've become infuriated with your anointed one.

39 You've canceled the covenant with your servant. You've thrown his crown in the dirt.

40 You've broken through all his walls. You've made his strongholds a pile of ruins.

41 All those who pass by plunder him. He's nothing but a joke to his neighbors.

42 You lifted high his foes' strong hand. You gave all his enemies reason to celebrate.

43 Yes, you dulled the edge of his sword and didn't support him in battle.

44 You've put an end to his splendor. You've thrown his throne to the ground.

45 You've shortened the prime of his life. You've wrapped him up in shame. Selah

46 How long will it last, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my life is! Have you created humans for no good reason?

48 Who lives their life without seeing death? Who is ever rescued from the grip of the grave? Selah

49 Where now are your loving acts from long ago, my Lord— the same ones you promised to David by your own faithfulness?

50 Remember your servant's abuse, my Lord! Remember how I bear in my heart all the insults of the nations,

51 the ones your enemies, LORD, use— the ones they use to abuse every step your anointed one takes.

52 Bless the LORD forever! Amen and Amen!