Psalm 81 & 88

PSALMS 81

For the director of music. According to gittith.Of Asaph.

1Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

2Begin the music, strike the timbrel,

play the melodious harp and lyre.

3Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,

and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;

4this is a decree for Israel,

an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

5When God went out against Egypt,

he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:

6“I removed the burden from their shoulders;

their hands were set free from the basket.

7In your distress you called and I rescued you,

I answered you out of a thundercloud;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

8Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—

if you would only listen to me, Israel!

9You shall have no foreign god among you;

you shall not worship any god other than me.

10I am the Lord your God,

who brought you up out of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

11“But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not submit to me.

12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own devices.

13“If my people would only listen to me,

if Israel would only follow my ways,

14how quickly I would subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes!

15Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,

and their punishment would last forever.

16But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;

with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

PSALMS 88

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.A maskilof Heman the Ezrahite.

1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;

day and night I cry out to you.

2May my prayer come before you;

turn your ear to my cry.

3I am overwhelmed with troubles

and my life draws near to death.

4I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am like one without strength.

5I am set apart with the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

who are cut off from your care.

6You have put me in the lowest pit,

in the darkest depths.

7Your wrath lies heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

8You have taken from me my closest friends

and have made me repulsive to them.

I am confined and cannot escape;

9my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, Lord, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

10Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

11Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction?

12Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,

or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

13But I cry to you for help, Lord;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14Why, Lord, do you reject me

and hide your face from me?

15From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;

I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

16Your wrath has swept over me;

your terrors have destroyed me.

17All day long they surround me like a flood;

they have completely engulfed me.

18You have taken from me friend and neighbor—

darkness is my closest friend.