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.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Psalm 87
By the Descendants of Korah
On the holy mount of Zion is his foundation.
Jehovah loves the city gates of Jerusalem
More than any other habitation of Jacob.
Glorious things are said you, city of God!
“I will make mention: among those who know
My people are Egypt and Babylon,
As well as Philistia, Tyre, and Cush.
They say, ‘This man was born in Jerusalem!’”
Indeed it will be said of Jerusalem
This person and that person were born there
And that the Most High himself founded it.
Jehovah will make a list of his peoples
And write “This man was born in Jerusalem.”
And those who are singers and musicians
Will proclaim, “You are my inspiration!”
On the holy mount of Zion is his foundation.
Jehovah loves the city gates of Jerusalem
More than any other habitation of Jacob.
Glorious things are said you, city of God!
“I will make mention: among those who know
My people are Egypt and Babylon,
As well as Philistia, Tyre, and Cush.
They say, ‘This man was born in Jerusalem!’”
Indeed it will be said of Jerusalem
This person and that person were born there
And that the Most High himself founded it.
Jehovah will make a list of his peoples
And write “This man was born in Jerusalem.”
And those who are singers and musicians
Will proclaim, “You are my inspiration!”
Psalm 86
A Prayer of David
Incline your ear to me, O Jehovah.
Answer my prayer for I am poor and needy.
Guard my life, for I have faith in you, my god;
Save your servant who puts his trust in you.
Be merciful to me, O Jehovah,
For I cry out to you all the day long.
Gladden the heart of your servant, my Master,
O Jehovah, for I raise my prayer to you.
For you, Master, are good and forgiving,
Full of kindness to all who call to you.
Listen to my prayer, O Jehovah!
Give heed to my plea for mercy.
When in distress I call to you,
Because you will give me answer.
Among the gods there are none like you,
And no works like yours, O Master.
All the nations that you have made
Will come and worship before you,
O Master, and glorify your name.
For you are great and wondrous deeds
Do you perform — You alone are God!
Teach me your ways, O Jehovah,
So that I may walk in your truth.
Grant me an undivided heart
So that I may revere your name.
I will praise you, Jehovah, my god,
With the fullness of my heart and
Glorify your name forever.
Great is your loving kindness to me,
For you have delivered my soul
From the utter brink of the grave.
Arrogant men rise up against me, O God.
A gang of violent men seek my life.
They have no respect for you, Jehovah,
But you are a god of kindness and grace,
Slow to anger, full of love and loyalty.
Look down upon me and grant me mercy.
Lend me your strength for I am your servant.
Succor me, the son of your maidservant.
Show me a sign that those who hate me may see
And be ashamed, for you, O Jehovah,
Have protected me and comforted me.
Incline your ear to me, O Jehovah.
Answer my prayer for I am poor and needy.
Guard my life, for I have faith in you, my god;
Save your servant who puts his trust in you.
Be merciful to me, O Jehovah,
For I cry out to you all the day long.
Gladden the heart of your servant, my Master,
O Jehovah, for I raise my prayer to you.
For you, Master, are good and forgiving,
Full of kindness to all who call to you.
Listen to my prayer, O Jehovah!
Give heed to my plea for mercy.
When in distress I call to you,
Because you will give me answer.
Among the gods there are none like you,
And no works like yours, O Master.
All the nations that you have made
Will come and worship before you,
O Master, and glorify your name.
For you are great and wondrous deeds
Do you perform — You alone are God!
Teach me your ways, O Jehovah,
So that I may walk in your truth.
Grant me an undivided heart
So that I may revere your name.
I will praise you, Jehovah, my god,
With the fullness of my heart and
Glorify your name forever.
Great is your loving kindness to me,
For you have delivered my soul
From the utter brink of the grave.
Arrogant men rise up against me, O God.
A gang of violent men seek my life.
They have no respect for you, Jehovah,
But you are a god of kindness and grace,
Slow to anger, full of love and loyalty.
Look down upon me and grant me mercy.
Lend me your strength for I am your servant.
Succor me, the son of your maidservant.
Show me a sign that those who hate me may see
And be ashamed, for you, O Jehovah,
Have protected me and comforted me.
Psalm 85
By the Descendants of Korah
Jehovah, you have shown favor to your land
And restored Jacob from captivity.
You have taken away your people’s guilt
And have pardoned all their transgressions.
You have withheld from us all your fury
And turned away from the fierceness of your wrath.
Bring us back, O God, to our salvation,
And bring to an end your displeasure of us.
Will you be angry at us forever?
Will your wrath extend through the generations?
Will you not revitalize us again
So that your people may rejoice in you.
Show us your loving kindness, O Jehovah,
And bestow upon us your salvation.
I hear what the God Jehovah says,
For he speaks of peace to his people,
Those who are his faithful servants,
That they do not lapse into folly.
To those who hold him in reverence,
Their salvation is surely near,
And his glory will dwell in our land.
Love and loyalty will be joined,
And justice and peace will embrace.
The truth will spring up from the earth,
And righteousness look down from heaven.
Jehovah will give us what is good,
And the land will yield its bounty.
Righteousness will go before him
And prepare a path for his steps.
Jehovah, you have shown favor to your land
And restored Jacob from captivity.
You have taken away your people’s guilt
And have pardoned all their transgressions.
You have withheld from us all your fury
And turned away from the fierceness of your wrath.
Bring us back, O God, to our salvation,
And bring to an end your displeasure of us.
Will you be angry at us forever?
Will your wrath extend through the generations?
Will you not revitalize us again
So that your people may rejoice in you.
Show us your loving kindness, O Jehovah,
And bestow upon us your salvation.
I hear what the God Jehovah says,
For he speaks of peace to his people,
Those who are his faithful servants,
That they do not lapse into folly.
To those who hold him in reverence,
Their salvation is surely near,
And his glory will dwell in our land.
Love and loyalty will be joined,
And justice and peace will embrace.
The truth will spring up from the earth,
And righteousness look down from heaven.
Jehovah will give us what is good,
And the land will yield its bounty.
Righteousness will go before him
And prepare a path for his steps.
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Psalm 84
By the Descendants of Korah
How lovely are your tabernacles,
O Jehovah, Master of armies.
My soul craves, even faints with pining
For the courts of Master Jehovah.
My body and my soul cries out
With yearning to the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home
And the swallow a nest for herself
In which she may nurture her young
Near your altars; O Jehovah,
Master of armies, my king, my god,
Blessed are they who dwell in your house,
For they may praise you constantly.
Happy are those whose strength is from you,
Whose hearts are set on a pilgrimage.
They pass through the valley of weeping,
And it becomes a place of fountains,
Covered by pools from the autumn rain.
They grow in strength till each of them
Appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, God of armies.
And lend me your ear, O God of Jacob.
Behold, O God, our defender,
Show favor to your anointed king.
Better to be one day in your courts
Than to spent a thousand days elsewhere.
I’d rather linger at the threshold,
Abject in the house of my god
Than dwell in mansions of the wicked.
For the God Jehovah is our sun and shield.
It is Jehovah who grants grace and glory,
Favor and honor; indeed no good thing
Does he withhold from those who live righteously.
O Jehovah, commander of armies,
Blessed is he who puts his faith in you.
How lovely are your tabernacles,
O Jehovah, Master of armies.
My soul craves, even faints with pining
For the courts of Master Jehovah.
My body and my soul cries out
With yearning to the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home
And the swallow a nest for herself
In which she may nurture her young
Near your altars; O Jehovah,
Master of armies, my king, my god,
Blessed are they who dwell in your house,
For they may praise you constantly.
Happy are those whose strength is from you,
Whose hearts are set on a pilgrimage.
They pass through the valley of weeping,
And it becomes a place of fountains,
Covered by pools from the autumn rain.
They grow in strength till each of them
Appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, God of armies.
And lend me your ear, O God of Jacob.
Behold, O God, our defender,
Show favor to your anointed king.
Better to be one day in your courts
Than to spent a thousand days elsewhere.
I’d rather linger at the threshold,
Abject in the house of my god
Than dwell in mansions of the wicked.
For the God Jehovah is our sun and shield.
It is Jehovah who grants grace and glory,
Favor and honor; indeed no good thing
Does he withhold from those who live righteously.
O Jehovah, commander of armies,
Blessed is he who puts his faith in you.
Psalm 83
By Asaph
O God, do not remain in silence;
Do not be still and quiet, O God.
Hear you not your enemies’ uproar;
See you not how those who hate you
Are raising themselves to oppose you?
Against your people they intrigue
And plot against those you cherish.
“Come,” they bid, “let us destroy them,
And wipe them out as a nation
So that the name of Israel
Will no longer be remembered."
Conspiring together with a single mind,
They are forming an alliance against you.
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
The people of Moab and the Hagarites,
Gebal, Ammon, and the Amalekites,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre;
Even Assyria has joined with them
To lend support to the descendants of Lot.
Deal with them as you delt with Midian,
As you delt with Sisera and Jabin
At the Kishon River, like those who perished
At Endor and became dung for the earth.
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and
All their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
Who said, “Let us occupy God’s pastures.”
Make them like the swirling dust in the breeze,
O my God, make them like chaff before the wind,
As a conflagration burns down a forest,
As a flame sets ablaze the mountainsides,
Chase them down with the gales of your windstorm
And so terrorize them with your tempest.
Cover their faces with shame, O Jehovah,
That they may forced to acknowledge your name.
May they be ashamed and discomfited
Forever, and perish in their disgrace.
Let them know that you, whose name is Jehovah,
Are alone most high over all the earth.
O God, do not remain in silence;
Do not be still and quiet, O God.
Hear you not your enemies’ uproar;
See you not how those who hate you
Are raising themselves to oppose you?
Against your people they intrigue
And plot against those you cherish.
“Come,” they bid, “let us destroy them,
And wipe them out as a nation
So that the name of Israel
Will no longer be remembered."
Conspiring together with a single mind,
They are forming an alliance against you.
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
The people of Moab and the Hagarites,
Gebal, Ammon, and the Amalekites,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre;
Even Assyria has joined with them
To lend support to the descendants of Lot.
Deal with them as you delt with Midian,
As you delt with Sisera and Jabin
At the Kishon River, like those who perished
At Endor and became dung for the earth.
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and
All their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
Who said, “Let us occupy God’s pastures.”
Make them like the swirling dust in the breeze,
O my God, make them like chaff before the wind,
As a conflagration burns down a forest,
As a flame sets ablaze the mountainsides,
Chase them down with the gales of your windstorm
And so terrorize them with your tempest.
Cover their faces with shame, O Jehovah,
That they may forced to acknowledge your name.
May they be ashamed and discomfited
Forever, and perish in their disgrace.
Let them know that you, whose name is Jehovah,
Are alone most high over all the earth.
Psalm 82
By Asaph
God presides over the heavenly assembly
And among the divine beings renders judgment.
“How long will you judge unjustly
And show favor to the wicked? —
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
Uphold the rights of the destitute,
The afflicted and the oppressed.
Rescue the poor and the needy;
Save them from the hands of the wicked.”
They know nothing, nor do they understand;
Ever do they wander about in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I told them, “All of you are gods,
Sons of the Most High, all of you.
But like mere mortals will you die
And fall like any other ruler.
Arise, O God, judge of the earth,
For you possess all the nations!
God presides over the heavenly assembly
And among the divine beings renders judgment.
“How long will you judge unjustly
And show favor to the wicked? —
Defend the weak and the fatherless;
Uphold the rights of the destitute,
The afflicted and the oppressed.
Rescue the poor and the needy;
Save them from the hands of the wicked.”
They know nothing, nor do they understand;
Ever do they wander about in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I told them, “All of you are gods,
Sons of the Most High, all of you.
But like mere mortals will you die
And fall like any other ruler.
Arise, O God, judge of the earth,
For you possess all the nations!
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