HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 895
PSAL M 88
page 525
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No pagan god is like you, O Lord.
None can do what you do!
All the nations you made
will come and bow before you, Lord;
they will praise your holy name.
For you are great and perform wonderful
deeds.
You alone are God.
Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.
With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord
my God.
I will give glory to your name forever,
for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of
death.*
O God, insolent people rise up against me;
a violent gang is trying to kill me.
You mean nothing to them.
But you, O Lord,
are a God of compassion and mercy,
slow to get angry
and filled with unfailing love and
faithfulness.
Look down and have mercy on me.
Give your strength to your servant;
save me, the son of your servant.
Send me a sign of your favor.
Then those who hate me will be put to
shame,
for you, O Lord, help and comfort me.
87
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A song. A psalm of the descendants
of Korah.
On the holy mountain
stands the city founded by the Lord.
He loves the city of Jerusalem
more than any other city in Israel.*
O city of God,
what glorious things are said of you!
Interlude
I 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!
Regarding Jerusalem* it will be said,
“Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship
there.”
And the Most High will personally bless
this city.
86:13 Hebrew of Sheol. 87:2 Hebrew He loves the gates of
Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. See note on 44:4.
87:4a Hebrew Rahab, the name of a mythical sea monster that
represents chaos in ancient literature. The name is used here as
a poetic name for Egypt. 87:4b Hebrew Cush. 87:5 Hebrew
Zion. 87:7 Or will dance. 88:title Hebrew maskil. This may
be a literary or musical term. 88:3 Hebrew Sheol.
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When the Lord registers the nations,
he will say,
“They have all become citizens of
Jerusalem.”
Interlude
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The people will play flutes* and sing,
“The source of my life springs from
Jerusalem!”
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.
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O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out to you by day.
I come to you at night.
Now hear my prayer;
listen to my cry.
For my life is full of troubles,
and death* draws near.
I am as good as dead,
like a strong man with no strength left.
They have left me among the dead,
and I lie like a corpse in a grave.
I am forgotten,
cut off from your care.
You have thrown me into the lowest pit,
into the darkest depths.
Your anger weighs me down;
with wave after wave you have
engulfed me.
Interlude
You have driven my friends away
by making me repulsive to them.
I am in a trap with no way of escape.
My eyes are blinded by my tears.
Each day I beg for your help, O Lord;
I lift my hands to you for mercy.
Are your wonderful deeds of any use
to the dead?
Do the dead rise up and praise you?
Interlude
• Mercy & Grace
PS A LM 86:15
Many people think of God as being angry
and judgmental, pointing his disapproving
finger at our sins and failures. In reality,
God is both holy and merciful. In his
holiness he calls us to moral and virtuous
living; in his mercy he is willing to forgive
us, and he loves us even when we fail. The
psalmist is praising God because he can
rely upon God’s mercy, which becomes a
protection against the destructive forces of
evil. How have you relied on God’s mercy
this year, this month, or even this week?