Psalm 90–92

God’s Eternity and Human Frailty

90A prayer of Moses, the man of God.^a

¹O Lord, you have been our help^b in all generations.^c

²Before the mountains were born

and you brought forth the earth and the world,

even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

³You return man to the dust,

saying,^d “Return, O sons of man.”

⁴For a thousand years in your eyes

are like yesterday when it passes,

or like a watch in the night.

⁵You sweep them away like a flood.

They fall asleep.^e

In the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.

⁶In the morning it blossoms and sprouts anew;

by evening it withers and dries up.

⁷For we are brought to an end by your anger,

and we hasten off^f by your wrath.

⁸You have put our iniquities before you,

our hidden sins into the light of your countenance.

⁹For all of our days dwindle away in your rage;

we complete our years like a sigh.

¹⁰As for the days of our years, within them are seventy years

or if by strength eighty years, and their pride^g is trouble and disaster,

for it passes quickly and we fly away.

¹¹Who knows the strength of your anger,

and your rage consistent with^h the fear due you?

¹²So teach us to number our days

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³Return,ⁱ O Yahweh. How long?

And have compassion on^j your servants.

¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with your loyal love,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

for as many years as we have seen calamity.

¹⁶Let your work be visible to your servants,

and your majesty to their children.

¹⁷And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish for us the work of our hands,

yes, the work of our hands, establish it.

God’s Protection in Times of Crisis

91One who lives in the secret place^a of the Most High

will lodge in the shadow of Shaddai.^b

²I will say to Yahweh, “You are my refuge and my fortress,

my God in whom I trust.”

³For he will deliver^c you from the snare of the fowler,

from the plague of destruction.

⁴With his feathers he will cover you,

and under his wings you can take refuge.

His faithfulness will be a shield and a buckler.^d

⁵You need not fear the terror of the night,

or the arrow that flies by day,

⁶or the plague that spreads in the darkness,

or the destruction that devastates at noon.

⁷A thousand may fall at your side,

and ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

⁸You will only look with your eyes,

and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹For you, O Yahweh, are my refuge.

You have made the Most High your dwelling place.^e

¹⁰No harm will befall you,

and no plague will come near your tent.

¹¹For he will command his angels concerning you,

to watch over you in all your ways.

¹²In their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on lion and viper;

you will trample young lion and serpent.

¹⁴Because he loves me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will protect^f him because he knows my name.

¹⁵He will call upon me and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue and honor him.

¹⁶With long life^g I will satisfy him,

and show him my salvation.

Thanksgiving to Yahweh for Victory

92A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.^a

¹It is good to give thanks to Yahweh,

and to sing praise concerning your name, O Most High;

²to declare in the morning your loyal love

and your faithfulness in the night,

³on the ten string, and on the harp,

with a melody on the lyre.

⁴For you, O Yahweh, have made me glad by your work;

by the deeds of your hands I sing for joy.

⁵How great are your deeds, O Yahweh;

how very deep are your thoughts.

⁶The brutish man does not know,

and the fool cannot understand this.

⁷When the wicked flourish like grass

and all the workers of evil blossom,

it is so they can be destroyed forever.

⁸But you are on high forever, O Yahweh.

⁹For behold, your enemies, O Yahweh,

for behold, your enemies will perish.

All the workers of evil will be scattered.

¹⁰But you have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;

you have anointed me^b with fresh oil.

¹¹And so my eye looks on my enemies.^c

My ears hear those evildoers who rise up against me.

¹²The righteous^d will flourish like the date palm.

They will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³Planted in the house^e of Yahweh,

they will flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴They will still prosper in old age.

They will be fat and luxuriant,^f

¹⁵to declare that Yahweh is upright.

He is my rock, and there is no injustice^g in him.