Psalm 87–88

Psalm 87

A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

¹On the holy mountain

stands the city founded by the Lord.

²He loves the city of Jerusalem

more than any other city in Israel.

³O city of God,

what glorious things are said of you!

Interlude

⁴I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me—

also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia.

They have all become citizens of Jerusalem!

⁵Regarding Jerusalem it will be said,

“Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.”

And the Most High will personally bless this city.

⁶When the Lord registers the nations, he will say,

“They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.”

Interlude

⁷The people will play flutes and sing,

“The source of my life springs from Jerusalem!”

Psalm 88

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹O Lord, God of my salvation,

I cry out to you by day.

I come to you at night.

²Now hear my prayer;

listen to my cry.

³For my life is full of troubles,

and death draws near.

⁴I am as good as dead,

like a strong man with no strength left.

⁵They have left me among the dead,

and I lie like a corpse in a grave.

I am forgotten,

cut off from your care.

⁶You have thrown me into the lowest pit,

into the darkest depths.

⁷Your anger weighs me down;

with wave after wave you have engulfed me.

Interlude

⁸You have driven my friends away

by making me repulsive to them.

I am in a trap with no way of escape.

⁹My eyes are blinded by my tears.

Each day I beg for your help, O Lord;

I lift my hands to you for mercy.

¹⁰Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?

Do the dead rise up and praise you?

Interlude

¹¹Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?

Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?

¹²Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?

Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?

¹³O Lord, I cry out to you.

I will keep on pleading day by day.

¹⁴O Lord, why do you reject me?

Why do you turn your face from me?

¹⁵I have been sick and close to death since my youth.

I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.

¹⁶Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.

Your terrors have paralyzed me.

¹⁷They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.

They have engulfed me completely.

¹⁸You have taken away my companions and loved ones.

Darkness is my closest friend.