My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

84 To the choirmaster: according to pThe Gittith.1 A Psalm of qthe Sons of Korah.

1  How rlovely is your sdwelling place,

O Lord of hosts!

2  My soul tlongs, yes, ufaints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to vthe living God.

3  Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

wmy King and my God.

4  xBlessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever ysinging your praise! Selah

5  Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

zin whose heart are the highways to Zion.2

6  As they go through the Valley of Baca

they make it a place of springs;

athe early rain also covers it with bpools.

7  They go cfrom strength to strength;

each one dappears before God in Zion.

8  O eLord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

9  fBehold our gshield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed!

10  For a day hin your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be ia doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11  For the Lord God is ja sun and gshield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor.

kNo good thing does he withhold

from those who lwalk uprightly.

12  O Lord of hosts,

mblessed is the one who trusts in you!

Revive Us Again

85 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of nthe Sons of Korah.

1  Lord, you were ofavorable to your land;

you prestored the fortunes of Jacob.

2  You qforgave the iniquity of your people;

you qcovered all their sin. Selah

3  You withdrew all your wrath;

you rturned from your hot anger.

4  sRestore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

5  tWill you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6  Will you not urevive us again,

that your people may vrejoice in you?

7  Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us your salvation.

8  wLet me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will xspeak peace to his people, to his ysaints;

but let them not zturn back to afolly.

9  Surely his bsalvation is near to those who fear him,

that cglory may dwell in our land.

10  dSteadfast love and faithfulness meet;

erighteousness and peace kiss each other.

11  Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12  Yes, fthe Lord will give what is good,

and our land gwill yield its increase.

13  hRighteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

Great Is Your Steadfast Love

86 iA Prayer of David.

1  jIncline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,

for I am kpoor and needy.

2  Preserve my life, for I am lgodly;

save your servant, who mtrusts in you—you are my God.

3  nBe gracious to me, O Lord,

for to you do I cry all the day.

4  Gladden the soul of your servant,

for oto you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

5  For you, O Lord, are good and pforgiving,

qabounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

6  rGive ear, O Lord, to my prayer;

listen to my plea for grace.

7  In sthe day of my trouble I call upon you,

tfor you answer me.

8  There is unone like you among the gods, O Lord,

vnor are there any works like yours.

9  wAll the nations you have made shall come

and worship before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name.

10  For xyou are great and ydo wondrous things;

zyou alone are God.

11  aTeach me your way, O Lord,

that I may bwalk in your truth;

cunite my heart to fear your name.

12  I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,

and I will glorify your name forever.

13  dFor great is your steadfast love toward me;

you have edelivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14  O God, insolent men have frisen up against me;

a band of ruthless men seeks my life,

and they do not set you before them.

15  But you, O Lord, are a God gmerciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

16  hTurn to me and be gracious to me;

give your strength to iyour servant,

and save ithe son of your maidservant.

17  jShow me a sign of your kfavor,

that those who hate me may see and be put to shame

because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

87 A Psalm of lthe Sons of Korah. A Song.

1  On mthe holy mount nstands the city he founded;

2  the Lord oloves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

3  pGlorious things of you are spoken,

O qcity of God. Selah

4  Among those who rknow me I mention sRahab and Babylon;

behold, Philistia and Tyre, with tCush1—

“This one was born there,” they say.

5  And of Zion it shall be said,

“This one and that one were born in her”;

for the Most High himself will uestablish her.

6  The Lord records as he vregisters the peoples,

“This one was born there.” Selah

7  wSingers and xdancers alike say,

“All my ysprings are in you.”

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

88 A Song. A Psalm of zthe Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to aMahalath Leannoth. A Maskil1 of bHeman the Ezrahite.

1  O Lord, cGod of my salvation,

I dcry out day and night before you.

2  Let my prayer come before you;

eincline your ear to my cry!

3  For my soul is full of troubles,

and fmy life draws near to gSheol.

4  I am counted among those who hgo down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

5  like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom iyou remember no more,

for they are jcut off from your hand.

6  You have put me in kthe depths of the pit,

in the lregions dark and mdeep.

7  Your wrath nlies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with oall your waves. Selah

8  You have caused pmy companions to shun me;

you have made me qa horror2 to them.

I am rshut in so that I cannot escape;

9  smy eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O Lord;

I tspread out my hands to you.

10  Do you work wonders for the dead?

uDo the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12  Are your vwonders known in wthe darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of xforgetfulness?

13  But I, O Lord, cry yto you;

zin the morning my prayer comes before you.

14  O Lord, why ado you cast my soul away?

Why bdo you hide your face from me?

15  Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.3

16  Your wrath has swept over me;

your cdreadful assaults destroy me.

17  They dsurround me like a flood eall day long;

they fclose in on me together.

18  You have caused gmy beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.4