Psalm 84:1–88:18
1 How blovely 2is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
2 cMy soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your dhouse;
They will still be praising You.
Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley eof 3Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with 4pools.
7 They go ffrom strength to strength;
5Each one gappears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
9 hO God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your 6anointed.
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather 7be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is ia sun and jshield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
kNo good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
lBlessed is the man who trusts in You!
Prayer that the Lord Will Restore Favor to the Land
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm aOf the Sons of Korah.
1 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have bbrought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin.
Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
4 cRestore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 dWill You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not erevive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to 1folly.
9 Surely fHis salvation is near to those who fear Him,
gThat glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
hRighteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 iYes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
Prayer for Mercy, with Meditation on the Excellencies of the Lord
A Prayer of David.
1 Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me;
For I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my 1life, for I am holy;
You are my God;
Save Your servant who trusts in You!
For I cry to You all day long.
4 2Rejoice the soul of Your servant,
aFor to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For bYou, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
8 cAmong the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
Nor are there any works like Your works.
9 All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great, and ddo wondrous things;
eYou alone are God.
11 fTeach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
3Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of 4Sheol.
14 O God, the proud have risen against me,
And a mob of violent men have sought my life,
And have not set You before them.
15 But gYou, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me!
Give Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
The Glories of the City of God
A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song.
1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 aThe Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 bGlorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God!
Selah
4 “I will make mention of 1Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me;
Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia:
‘This one was born there.’ ”
5 And of Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her;
And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
When He cregisters the peoples:
“This one was born there.”
Selah
7 Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”
A Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath Leannoth.” a 1Contemplation of AHeman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, bGod of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
2Incline Your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life cdraws near to the grave.
4 I am counted with those who dgo 3down to the pit;
eI am like a man who has no strength,
5 4Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And who are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all fYour waves.
Selah
8 gYou have 5put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
hI am shut up, and I cannot get out;
9 My eye wastes away because of affliction.
iLord, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall 6the dead arise and praise You?
Selah
11 Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But to You I have cried out, O Lord,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 Lord, why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15 I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer Your terrors;
I am distraught.
16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have 7cut me off.
17 They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
18 jLoved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.