Psalm 86–87

A Prayer for Help^e

86 Listen to me, Lord, and answer me,

for I am helpless and weak.

²Save me from death, because I am loyal to you;

save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you.

³You are my God, so be merciful to me;

I pray to you all day long.

⁴Make your servant glad, O Lord,

because my prayers go up to you.

⁵You are good to us and forgiving,

full of constant love for all who pray to you.

⁶Listen, Lord, to my prayer;

hear my cries for help.

⁷I call to you in times of trouble,

because you answer my prayers.

⁸There is no god like you, O Lord,

not one has done what you have done.

^9*All the nations that you have created

will come and bow down to you;

they will praise your greatness.

¹⁰You are mighty and do wonderful things;

you alone are God.

¹¹Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,

and I will obey you faithfully;

teach me to serve you with complete devotion.

¹²I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God;

I will proclaim your greatness for ever.

¹³How great is your constant love for me!

You have saved me from the grave itself.

¹⁴The proud are coming against me, O God;

a cruel gang is trying to kill me—

people who pay no attention to you.

¹⁵But you, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God,

always patient, always kind and faithful.

¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy on me;

strengthen me and save me,

because I serve you, just as my mother did.

¹⁷Show me proof of your goodness, Lord;

those who hate me will be ashamed

when they see that you have given me comfort and help.

In Praise of Jerusalem^f

87 The Lord built his city on the sacred hill;^g

²more than any other place in Israel

he loves the city of Jerusalem.

³Listen, city of God,

to the wonderful things he says about you:

⁴“I will include Egypt and Babylonia

when I list the nations that obey me;

I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem

the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia.”^h

⁵Of Zion it will be said

that all nations belong there

and that the Almighty will make her strong.

⁶The Lord will write a list of the peoples

and include them all as citizens of Jerusalem.

⁷They dance and sing,

“In Zion is the source of all our blessings.”