Psalm 90–106

A Prayer of Moses, Man of God

^1–290God, it seems you’ve been our home forever;

long before the mountains were born,

Long before you brought earth itself to birth,

from “once upon a time” to “kingdom come”—you are God.

^3–11So don’t return us to mud, saying,

“Back to where you came from!”

Patience! You’ve got all the time in the world—whether

a thousand years or a day, it’s all the same to you.

Are we no more to you than a wispy dream,

no more than a blade of grass

That springs up gloriously with the rising sun

and is cut down without a second thought?

Your anger is far and away too much for us;

we’re at the end of our rope.

You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed

since we were children is entered in your books.

All we can remember is that frown on your face.

Is that all we’re ever going to get?

We live for seventy years or so

(with luck we might make it to eighty),

And what do we have to show for it? Trouble.

Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.

Who can make sense of such rage,

such anger against the very ones who fear you?

^12–17Oh! Teach us to live well!

Teach us to live wisely and well!

Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—

and treat your servants with kindness for a change.

Surprise us with love at daybreak;

then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.

Make up for the bad times with some good times;

we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime.

Let your servants see what you’re best at—

the ways you rule and bless your children.

And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,

confirming the work that we do.

Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

^1–1391You who sit down in the High God’s presence,

spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,

Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.

I trust in you and I’m safe!”

That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,

shields you from deadly hazards.

His huge outstretched arms protect you—

under them you’re perfectly safe;

his arms fend off all harm.

Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,

not flying arrows in the day,

Not disease that prowls through the darkness,

not disaster that erupts at high noon.

Even though others succumb all around,

drop like flies right and left,

no harm will even graze you.

You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,

watch the wicked turn into corpses.

Yes, because God’s your refuge,

the High God your very own home,

Evil can’t get close to you,

harm can’t get through the door.

He ordered his angels

to guard you wherever you go.

If you stumble, they’ll catch you;

their job is to keep you from falling.

You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,

and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

^14–16“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,

“I’ll get you out of any trouble.

I’ll give you the best of care

if you’ll only get to know and trust me.

Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;

I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.

I’ll give you a long life,

give you a long drink of salvation!”

A Sabbath Song

^1–392What a beautiful thing, God, to give thanks,

to sing an anthem to you, the High God!

To announce your love each daybreak,

sing your faithful presence all through the night,

Accompanied by dulcimer and harp,

the full-bodied music of strings.

^4–9You made me so happy, God

I saw your work and I shouted for joy.

How magnificent your work, God!

How profound your thoughts!

Dullards never notice what you do;

fools never do get it.

When the wicked popped up like weeds

and all the evil men and women took over,

You mowed them down,

finished them off once and for all.

You, God, are High and Eternal.

Look at your enemies, God!

Look at your enemies—ruined!

Scattered to the winds, all those hirelings of evil!

^10–14But you’ve made me strong as a charging bison,

you’ve honored me with a festive parade.

The sight of my critics going down is still fresh,

the rout of my malicious detractors.

My ears are filled with the sounds of promise:

“Good people will prosper like palm trees,

Grow tall like Lebanon cedars;

transplanted to God’s courtyard,

They’ll grow tall in the presence of God,

lithe and green, virile still in old age.”

¹⁵Such witnesses to upright God!

My Mountain, my huge, holy Mountain!

^1–293God is King, robed and ruling,

God is robed and surging with strength.

And yes, the world is firm, immovable,

Your throne ever firm—you’re Eternal!

^3–4Sea storms are up, God,

Sea storms wild and roaring,

Sea storms with thunderous breakers.

Stronger than wild sea storms,

Mightier than sea-storm breakers,

Mighty God rules from High Heaven.

⁵What you say goes—it always has.

“Beauty” and “Holy” mark your palace rule,

God, to the very end of time.

^1–294God, put an end to evil;

avenging God, show your colors!

Judge of the earth, take your stand;

throw the book at the arrogant.

^3–4God, the wicked get away with murder—

how long will you let this go on?

They brag and boast

and crow about their crimes!

^5–7They walk all over your people, God,

exploit and abuse your precious people.

They take out anyone who gets in their way;

if they can’t use them, they kill them.

They think, “God isn’t looking,

Jacob’s God is out to lunch.”

^8–11Well, think again, you idiots,

fools—how long before you get smart?

Do you think Ear-Maker doesn’t hear,

Eye-Shaper doesn’t see?

Do you think the trainer of nations doesn’t correct,

the teacher of Adam doesn’t know?

God knows, all right—

knows your stupidity,

sees your shallowness.

^12–15How blessed the man you train, God,

the woman you instruct in your Word,

Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil,

while a jail is being built for the wicked.

God will never walk away from his people,

never desert his precious people.

Rest assured that justice is on its way

and every good heart put right.

^16–19Who stood up for me against the wicked?

Who took my side against evil workers?

If God hadn’t been there for me,

I never would have made it.

The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,”

your love, God, took hold and held me fast.

When I was upset and beside myself,

you calmed me down and cheered me up.

^20–23Can Misrule have anything in common with you?

Can Troublemaker pretend to be on your side?

They ganged up on good people,

plotted behind the backs of the innocent.

But God became my hideout,

God was my high mountain retreat,

Then boomeranged their evil back on them:

for their evil ways he wiped them out,

our God cleaned them out for good.

^1–295Come, let’s shout praises to God,

raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!

Let’s march into his presence singing praises,

lifting the rafters with our hymns!

^3–5And why? Because God is the best,

High King over all the gods.

In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns,

in the other hand grasps the high mountains.

He made Ocean—he owns it!

His hands sculpted Earth!

^6–7So come, let us worship: bow before him,

on your knees before God, who made us!

Oh yes, he’s our God,

and we’re the people he pastures, the flock he feeds.

^7–11Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks:

“Don’t turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising,

As on the day of the Wilderness Test,

when your ancestors turned and put me to the test.

For forty years they watched me at work among them,

as over and over they tried my patience.

And I was provoked—oh, was I provoked!

‘Can’t they keep their minds on God for five minutes?

Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?’

Exasperated, I exploded,

‘They’ll never get where they’re headed,

never be able to sit down and rest.’ ”

^1–296Sing God a brand-new song!

Earth and everyone in it, sing!

Sing to God—worship God!

^2–3Shout the news of his victory from sea to sea,

Take the news of his glory to the lost,

News of his wonders to one and all!

^4–5For God is great, and worth a thousand Hallelujahs.

His terrible beauty makes the gods look cheap;

Pagan gods are mere tatters and rags.

^5–6God made the heavens—

Royal splendor radiates from him,

A powerful beauty sets him apart.

⁷Bravo, God, Bravo!

Everyone join in the great shout: Encore!

In awe before the beauty, in awe before the might.

^8–9Bring gifts and celebrate,

Bow before the beauty of God,

Then to your knees—everyone worship!

¹⁰Get out the message—God Rules!

He put the world on a firm foundation;

He treats everyone fair and square.

¹¹Let’s hear it from Sky,

With Earth joining in,

And a huge round of applause from Sea.

¹²Let Wilderness turn cartwheels,

Animals, come dance,

Put every tree of the forest in the choir—

¹³An extravaganza before God as he comes,

As he comes to set everything right on earth,

Set everything right, treat everyone fair.

¹97God rules: there’s something to shout over!

On the double, mainlands and islands—celebrate!

²Bright clouds and storm clouds circle ’round him;

Right and justice anchor his rule.

³Fire blazes out before him,

Flaming high up the craggy mountains.

⁴His lightnings light up the world;

Earth, wide-eyed, trembles in fear.

⁵The mountains take one look at God

And melt, melt like wax before earth’s Lord.

⁶The heavens announce that he’ll set everything right,

And everyone will see it happen—glorious!

^7–8All who serve handcrafted gods will be sorry—

And they were so proud of their ragamuffin gods!

On your knees, all you gods—worship him!

And Zion, you listen and take heart!

Daughters of Zion, sing your hearts out:

God has done it all, has set everything right.

⁹You, God, are High God of the cosmos,

Far, far higher than any of the gods.

¹⁰God loves all who hate evil,

And those who love him he keeps safe,

Snatches them from the grip of the wicked.

¹¹Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people,

Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil.

¹²So, God’s people, shout praise to God,

Give thanks to our Holy God!

¹98Sing to God a brand-new song.

He’s made a world of wonders!

He rolled up his sleeves,

He set things right.

²God made history with salvation,

He showed the world what he could do.

³He remembered to love us, a bonus

To his dear family, Israel—indefatigable love.

The whole earth comes to attention.

Look—God’s work of salvation!

⁴Shout your praises to God, everybody!

Let loose and sing! Strike up the band!

⁵Round up an orchestra to play for God,

Add on a hundred-voice choir.

⁶Feature trumpets and big trombones,

Fill the air with praises to King God.

⁷Let the sea and its…