Psalms 90-92

Psalm 90

¹A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our resting-place in all generations.

²Before the mountains were made, before you had given birth to the earth and the world, before time was, and for ever, you are God.

³You send man back to his dust; and say, Go back, you children of men.

⁴For to you a thousand years are no more than yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.

⁵...

⁶In the morning it is green; in the evening it is cut down, and becomes dry.

⁷We are burned up by the heat of your passion, and troubled by your wrath.

⁸You have put our evil doings before you, our secret sins in the light of your face.

⁹For all our days have gone by in your wrath; our years come to an end like a breath.

¹⁰The measure of our life is seventy years; and if through strength it may be eighty years, its pride is only trouble and sorrow, for it comes to an end and we are quickly gone.

¹¹Who has knowledge of the power of your wrath, or who takes note of the weight of your passion?

¹²So give us knowledge of the number of our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.

¹³Come back, O Lord; how long? let your purpose for your servants be changed.

¹⁴In the morning give us your mercy in full measure; so that we may have joy and delight all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad in reward for the days of our sorrow, and for the years in which we have seen evil.

¹⁶Make your work clear to your servants, and your glory to their children.

¹⁷Let the pleasure of the Lord our God be on us: O Lord, give strength to the work of our hands.

Psalm 91

¹Happy is he whose resting-place is in the secret of the Lord, and under the shade of the wings of the Most High;

²Who says of the Lord, He is my safe place and my tower of strength: he is my God, in whom is my hope.

³He will take you out of the bird-net, and keep you safe from wasting disease.

⁴You will be covered by his feathers; under his wings you will be safe: his good faith will be your salvation.

⁵You will have no fear of the evil things of the night, or of the arrow in flight by day,

⁶Or of the disease which takes men in the dark, or of the destruction which makes waste when the sun is high.

⁷You will see a thousand falling by your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.

⁸Only with your eyes will you see the reward of the evil-doers.

⁹Because you have said, I am in the hands of the Lord, the Most High is my safe resting-place;

¹⁰No evil will come on you, and no disease will come near your tent.

¹¹For he will give you into the care of his angels to keep you wherever you go.

¹²In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.

¹³You will put your foot on the lion and the snake; the young lion and the great snake will be crushed under your feet.

¹⁴Because he has given me his love, I will take him out of danger: I will put him in a place of honour, because he has kept my name in his heart.

¹⁵When his cry comes up to me, I will give him an answer: I will be with him in trouble; I will make him free from danger and give him honour.

¹⁶With long life will he be rewarded; and I will let him see my salvation.

Psalm 92

¹A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath. It is a good thing to give praise to the Lord, and to make melody to your name, O Most High;

²To make clear your mercy in the morning, and your unchanging faith every night;

³On a ten-corded instrument, and on an instrument of music with a quiet sound.

⁴For you, O Lord, have made me glad through your work; I will have joy in the works of your hands.

⁵O Lord, how great are your works! and your thoughts are very deep.

⁶A man without sense has no knowledge of this; and a foolish man may not take it in.

⁷When the sinners come up like the grass, and all the workers of evil do well for themselves, it is so that their end may be eternal destruction.

⁸But you, O Lord, are on high for ever.

⁹For see! your haters, O Lord, will be put to death; all the workers of evil will be put to flight;

¹⁰But my horn is lifted up like the horn of the ox: the best oil is flowing on my head.

¹¹My eyes have seen trouble come on my haters; my ears have news of the fate of the evil-doers who have come up against me.

¹²The good man will be like a tall tree in his strength; his growth will be as the wide-stretching trees of Lebanon.

¹³Those who are planted in the house of the Lord will come up tall and strong in his gardens.

¹⁴They will give fruit even when they are old; they will be fertile and full of growth;

¹⁵For a sign that the Lord is upright; he is my Rock, there is no deceit in him.