Psalm 90–106

Of God and Man^p

90 O Lord, you have always been our home.

²Before you created the hills

or brought the world into being,

you were eternally God,

and will be God for ever.

³You tell us to return to what we were;

you change us back to dust.

^4*A thousand years to you are like one day;

they are like yesterday, already gone,

like a short hour in the night.

⁵You carry us away like a flood;

we last no longer than a dream.

We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,

⁶that grow and burst into bloom,

then dry up and die in the evening.

⁷We are destroyed by your anger;

we are terrified by your fury.

⁸You place our sins before you,

our secret sins where you can see them.

⁹Our life is cut short by your anger;

it fades away like a whisper.

¹⁰Seventy years is all we have—

eighty years, if we are strong;

yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;

life is soon over, and we are gone.

¹¹Who has felt the full power of your anger?

Who knows what fear your fury can bring?

¹²Teach us how short our life is,

so that we may become wise.

¹³How much longer will your anger last?

Have pity, O Lord, on your servants!

¹⁴Fill us each morning with your constant love,

so that we may sing and be glad all our life.

¹⁵Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us

during all our years of misery.

¹⁶Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;

let our descendants see your glorious might.

¹⁷Lord our God, may your blessings be with us.

Give us success in all we do!

God Our Protector

91Whoever goes to the Lord for safety,

whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,

²can say to him,

“You are my defender and protector.

You are my God; in you I trust.”

³He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers

and from all deadly diseases.

⁴He will cover you with his wings;

you will be safe in his care;

his faithfulness will protect and defend you.

⁵You need not fear any dangers at night

or sudden attacks during the day

⁶or the plagues that strike in the dark

or the evils that kill in daylight.

⁷A thousand may fall dead beside you,

ten thousand all round you,

but you will not be harmed.

⁸You will look and see

how the wicked are punished.

⁹You have made the Lord your^q defender,

the Most High your protector,

¹⁰and so no disaster will strike you,

no violence will come near your home.

^11*God will put his angels in charge of you

to protect you wherever you go.

^12*They will hold you up with their hands

to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones.

^13*You will trample down lions and snakes,

fierce lions and poisonous snakes.

¹⁴God says, “I will save those who love me

and will protect those who acknowledge me as Lord.

¹⁵When they call to me, I will answer them;

when they are in trouble, I will be with them.

I will rescue them and honour them.

¹⁶I will reward them with long life;

I will save them.”

A Song of Praise^r

92 How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord,

to sing in your honour, O Most High God,

²to proclaim your constant love every morning

and your faithfulness every night,

³with the music of stringed instruments

and with melody on the harp.

⁴Your mighty deeds, O Lord, make me glad;

because of what you have done, I sing for joy.

⁵How great are your actions, Lord!

How deep are your thoughts!

⁶This is something a fool cannot know;

a stupid person cannot understand:

⁷the wicked may grow like weeds,

those who do wrong may prosper;

yet they will be totally destroyed,

⁸because you, Lord, are supreme for ever.

⁹We know that your enemies will die,

and all the wicked will be defeated.

¹⁰You have made me as strong as a wild ox;

you have blessed me with happiness.

¹¹I have seen the defeat of my enemies

and heard the cries of the wicked.

¹²The righteous will flourish like palm trees;

they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon.

¹³They are like trees planted in the house of the Lord,

that flourish in the Temple of our God,

¹⁴that still bear fruit in old age

and are always green and strong.

¹⁵This shows that the Lord is just,

that there is no wrong in my protector.

God the King

93The Lord is king.

He is clothed with majesty and strength.

The earth is set firmly in place

and cannot be moved.

²Your throne, O Lord, has been firm from the beginning,

and you existed before time began.

³The ocean depths raise their voice, O Lord;

they raise their voice and roar.

⁴The Lord rules supreme in heaven,

greater than the roar of the ocean,

more powerful than the waves of the sea.

⁵Your laws are eternal, Lord,

and your Temple is holy indeed,

for ever and ever.

God the Judge of All

94Lord, you are a God who punishes; reveal your anger!

²You are the judge of all;

rise and give the proud what they deserve!

³How much longer will the wicked be glad?

How much longer, Lord?

⁴How much longer will criminals be proud

and boast about their crimes?

⁵They crush your people, Lord;

they oppress those who belong to you.

⁶They kill widows and orphans,

and murder the strangers who live in our land.

⁷They say, “The Lord does not see us;

the God of Israel does not notice.”

⁸My people, how can you be such stupid fools?

When will you ever learn?

⁹God made our ears—can’t he hear?

He made our eyes—can’t he see?

¹⁰He scolds the nations—won’t he punish them?^s

He is the teacher of all—hasn’t he any knowledge?

^11*The Lord knows what they think;

he knows how senseless their reasoning is.

¹²Lord, how happy are those you instruct,

the ones to whom you teach your law!

¹³You give them rest from days of trouble

until a pit is dug to trap the wicked.

¹⁴The Lord will not abandon his people;

he will not desert those who belong to him.

¹⁵Justice will again be found in the courts,

and all righteous people will support it.

¹⁶Who stood up for me against the wicked?

Who took my side against the evildoers?

¹⁷If the Lord had not helped me,

I would have gone quickly to the land of silence.^t

¹⁸I said, “I am falling”;

but your constant love, O Lord, held me up.

¹⁹Whenever I am anxious and worried,

you comfort me and make me glad.

²⁰You have nothing to do with corrupt judges,

who make injustice legal,

²¹who plot against good people

and sentence the innocent to death.

²²But the Lord defends me;

my God protects me.

²³He will punish them for their wickedness

and destroy them for their sins;

the Lord our God will destroy them.

A Song of Praise

95Come, let us praise the Lord!

Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us!

²Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and sing joyful songs of praise.

³For the Lord is

a mighty God, a mighty king over all the gods.

⁴He rules over the whole earth,

from the deepest caves to the highest hills.

⁵He rules over the sea, which he made;

the land also, which he himself formed.

⁶Come, let us bow down and worship him;

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

^7*He is our God;

we are the people he cares for,

the flock for which he provides.

Listen today to what he says:

^8*“Don’t be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,

as they were that day in the desert at Massah.

^9*There they put me to the test and tried me,

although they had seen what I did for them.

^10*For forty years I was disgusted with those people.

I said, ‘How disloyal they are!

They refuse to obey my commands.’

^11*I was angry and made a solemn promise:

‘You will never enter the land

where I would have given you rest.’ ”

God the Supreme King

96Sing a new song to the Lord!

Sing to the Lord, all the world!

²Sing to the Lord, and praise him!

Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us.

³Proclaim his glory to the nations,

his mighty deeds to all peoples.

⁴The Lord is great and is to be highly praised;

he is to be honoured more than all the gods.

⁵The gods of all other nations are only idols,

but the Lord created the heavens.

⁶Glory and majesty surround him;

power and beauty fill his Temple.

^7*Praise the Lord, all people on earth;

praise his glory and might.

^8*Praise the Lord’s glorious name;

bring an offering and come into his Temple.

^9*Bow down before the Holy One when he appears;^u

tremble before him, all the earth!

¹⁰Say to all the nations, “The Lord is king!

The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved;

he will judge the peoples with justice.”

¹¹Be glad, earth and sky!

Roar, sea, and every creature in you;

¹²be glad, fields, and everything in you!

The trees in the woods will shout for joy

¹³when the Lord comes to rule the earth.

He will rule the peoples of the world

with justice and fairness.

God the Supreme Ruler

97The Lord is king! Earth, be glad!

Rejoice, you islands of the seas!

²Clouds and darkness surround him;

he rules with righteousness and justice.

³Fire goes in front of him

and burns up his enemies round him.

⁴His lightning lights up the world;

the earth sees it and trembles.

⁵The hills melt like wax

before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness,

and all the nations see his glory.

⁷Everyone who worships idols is put to shame;

all the gods bow down^v before the Lord.

⁸The people of Zion are glad,

and the cities of Judah rejoice

because of your judgements, O Lord.

⁹Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth;

you are much greater than all the gods.

¹⁰The Lord loves those who hate evil;^w

he protects the lives of his people;

he rescues them from the power of the wicked.

¹¹Light shines on the righteous,

and gladness on the good.

¹²All you that are righteous be glad

because of what the Lord has done!

Remember what the holy God has done,

and give thanks to him.

God the Ruler of the World^x

98 Sing a new song to the Lord;

he has done wonderful things!

By his own power and holy strength

he has won the victory.

²The Lord announced his victory;

he made his saving power known to the nations.

³He kept his promise to the people of Israel

with loyalty and constant love for them.

All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.

⁴Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth;

praise him with songs and shouts of joy!

⁵Sing praises to the Lord!

Play music on the harps!

⁶Blow trumpets and horns,

and shout for joy to the Lord, our king.

⁷Roar, sea, and every creature in you;

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