Psalm 90

Prayer of  Moses, The Man of God

O Jehovah, you have been our refuge
From generation to generation.
Before the mountains came into existence
And you brought forth the earth and its people,
Even through eternity, you are God.
You return man to dust just by saying,
“Return to dust, you descendant of Adam!”
For in your eyes a thousand years may go by
And it is but yesterday when it is gone,
Or like the passing of a watch in the night.
People are swept away in the flood, like dreams;
They are as the new grass in the morning:
It springs up at dawn, flourishes and thrives,
But when evening comes, it withers and dies.
Indeed, in your anger are we consumed
And at your indignation do we tremble.
We display our iniquities before you;
Our secret sins come to light in your presence.
For all our days pass by under your wrath
And our years come to an end with a sigh.
Our lifespan comprises seventy years,
And if we be hardy, we may reach eighty,
But longevity is labor in vain,
For the years go swiftly by, we speed away.
Who comprehends the power of your wrath?
(Your wrath is as the reverence due you).
So teach us to mark the passing of years
That we may attain wisdom in our hearts.

Return, Jehovah.  How long will it be?
Please have compassion upon your servants.
Make full our mornings with your devotion
That we may rejoice and be glad all the day.
Brighten the times of trouble and sorrow,
Make up for the years of adversity.
May your deeds be revealed to your servants
And your magnificence to their children.
May we know the grace of Jehovah, our god.

Grant us success in our endeavors!
Yes, grant success to our endeavors!

Psalm 89

A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite

Of your love and of your kindness, Jehovah,
I will sing forever and with my words
Make your loyalty known through the ages.
I declare that your love stands forever firm,
And your faithfulness endures as the heavens.
“With the chosen have I made a covenant;
I have sworn to my servant David,” you said.
“Forever will I perpetuate your line
And support your throne through the generations.”

The heavens will give praise to your wonders,
Jehovah, as well as to your faithfulness
In the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can compare with you,
Jehovah, and who is like Jehovah
Among the sons of heavenly beings,
Revered in the council of the holy ones,
More magnificent than all those about him?
Jehovah, god of heavenly armies,
Who is like you, O mighty Jehovah? 
What is like the faithfulness that surrounds you?

You rule over the raging sea,
And when the waves rise up, you still them.
Rahab, the monster of the deep,
Have you crushed and left as one dead,
So with the force of your power
Have you dispersed your enemies.
Heaven is yours and the earth as well.
The habitable globe entire
And all it contains have you founded.
You created the north and the south,
West and east: Mounts Tabor and Hermon
Shout out your name with rejoicing.
Mighty is your arm, strong is your hand.
Lifted up high is your right hand!

It is righteousness and justice that
Are the foundations of your throne.
Love and faithfulness go before you.
Blessed the people who acclaim
The joyful sound, “O Jehovah!”
And live in the light of your presence.
All day long they rejoice in your name,
And exult in your righteousness.
For you are their glory and strength,
By your favor our power grows
For our protection, it is sure,
Comes from Jehovah and our king,
The Holy One of Israel.

Once to the faithful you spoke in a vision,
“I have lent my help to a warrior,
Raised up a man chosen from the people.
I have discovered David, my servant,
And have with holy oil anointed him.
With my hand I will surely sustain him
And with my arm will strengthen him as well.
No enemy will exact tribute from him,
Nor will he grovel to a wicked man.
I will crush his enemies before him,
And I will strike down his adversaries.
My love and loyalty will be with him.
In my name his power will be exalted.
I will also establish his dominion
From the sea to the rivers of the east.
He will call out to me, ‘You are my father,
My god, and the rock of my salvation.’
I will regard him as my first-born son,
The most exalted of the kings on earth.
My kindness to him will last forever
And I will keep with him my covenant.
I will establish his line forever;
His throne will last as long as the heavens.
If his descendants abandon my laws
And do not live by my regulations,
Indeed, if they dishonor my decrees  
And do not adhere to my commandments,
I will punish their transgressions with the rod
And their disobedience with floggings,
But I will not withdraw my love from him,
Nor ever my betray my fidelity.
I will not nullify my covenant,
Nor go back on the words I have spoken.
Once and for all time, by my holiness,
Have I sworn, I will not lie to David:
His dynasty will endure forever
And his throne will last like the sun before me;
It will remain eternally, like the moon, 
To be a faithful witness in the sky”

But you have spurned him and cast him aside,
And are angry with your anointed king.
You have broken the contract with your servant
Profaning his crown, casting it to the ground.
You have breached all his fortifications
And have reduced his strongholds to rubble.
All who pass along the way have despoiled him,
And to his neighbors he is a disgrace.
You have expanded the power of his foes,
And have made all his enemies rejoice.
You have blunted the sharp edge of his sword
And have not come to his aid in battle.
You have brought an end to his majesty,
And his throne you have flung down to the earth.
You have diminished the days of his youth
And have caused him to be covered with shame.

How long, O Jehovah, will you hide yourself?
Forever?  How long will your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how short is the span of my life.
Have you created the human race in vain?
What man can live and not have to face death?
Who can escape from the power of the grave?
Jehovah, where is your steadfast love of old,
Which you did swear faithfully to David?
Remember how I, your servant, is scorned,
How,  Jehovah,  I must bear in my heart
The reproaches of all the other nations
How your enemies insult me, Jehovah,
And mock each step of your Anointed One.

Blessed be Jehovah evermore!
Amen and amen!

Psalm 88

By the Descendants of Korah
A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite

O Jehovah, the god of my salvation,
By day and by night do I call out to you.
Listen to my prayer, heed my cry for help.

My soul is beset with tribulations,
And my life is drawing me near the grave.
I am among those who are marked for death.
Like one who is bereft of vitality,
I have been abandoned among the dead,
Lying in the grave like one who has been slain,
Remembered no more, and beyond your help.
You have lain me into the deepest pit,
And have consigned me to the darkest depths.
Your wrath has lain heavily upon me,
And by all your waves I am overwhelmed.
You have driven my companions far from me
Making me an abomination to them.
I am in a trap with no means of escape.

My eyes grow faint with tears of grief.
I call to you, O Jehovah,
And daily stretch out my hands to you.
Do you show wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up to praise you?
Can one proclaim your gracious love
From the grave or your faithfulness
In a place of devastation?
Does one speak of your miracles
In the darkness or your righteousness
In the realm of oblivion?

But I cry out to you, Jehovah,
And present to you my morning prayer.
Why, Jehovah, do you cast off
My soul and hide your face from me?
From my childhood  have I been ill
And afflicted and close to death.
Bearing your terrors, I am numb.
Your anger has swept over me,
And your terrors have destroyed me.
Daily they engulf me like a flood
And from every side surround me.
From my loved ones, friends, and neighbors
You have taken me far away.
My companion is the darkness.