Chronological

Psalm 81

To the Chief Musician; set to Philistine lute, or [possibly] a particular Gittite tune. [A Psalm] of Asaph.

¹ Sing aloud to God our Strength! Shout for joy to the God of Jacob!

² Raise a song, sound the timbrel, the sweet lyre with the harp.

³ Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.

⁴ For this is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵ This He ordained in Joseph [the ^[a]savior] for a testimony when He went out over the land of Egypt. The speech of One Whom I knew not did I hear [saying],

⁶ I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the basket.

⁷ You called in distress and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!^(A)

⁸ Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you—O Israel, if you would listen to Me!

⁹ There shall no strange god be among you, neither shall you worship any alien god.

¹⁰ I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

¹¹ But My people would not hearken to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me.

¹² So I gave them up to their own hearts’ lust and let them go after their own stubborn will, that they might follow their own counsels.^(B)

¹³ Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!

¹⁴ Speedily then I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵ [Had Israel listened to Me in Egypt, then] those who hated the Lord would have come cringing before Him, and their defeat would have lasted forever.

¹⁶ [God] would feed [Israel now] also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.

Psalm 88

A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician; set to chant mournfully. A didactic or reflective poem of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹ O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried to You for help by day; at night I am in Your presence.^(A)

² Let my prayer come before You and really enter into Your presence; incline Your ear to my cry!

³ For I am full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol (the place of the dead).

⁴ I am counted among those who go down into the pit (the grave); I am like a man who has no help or strength [a mere shadow],

⁵ Cast away among the dead, like the slain that lie in a [nameless] grave, whom You [seriously] remember no more, and they are cut off from Your hand.

⁶ You have laid me in the depths of the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

⁷ Your wrath lies hard upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!^(B)

⁸ You have put my [familiar] friends far from me; You have made me an abomination to them. I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

⁹ My eye grows dim because of sorrow and affliction. Lord, I have called daily on You; I have spread forth my hands to You.

¹⁰ Will You show wonders to the dead? Shall the departed arise and praise You? Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

¹¹ Shall Your steadfast love be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in Abaddon (Sheol, as a place of ruin and destruction)?

¹² Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the place of forgetfulness [where the dead forget and are forgotten]?

¹³ But to You I cry, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer come to meet You.

¹⁴ Lord, why do You cast me off? Why do You hide Your face from me?^(C)

¹⁵ I was afflicted and close to death from my youth up; while I suffer Your terrors I am distracted [I faint].

¹⁶ Your fierce wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long; together they have closed in upon me.

¹⁸ Lover and friend have You put far from me; my familiar friends are darkness and the grave.

Psalm 92

A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

¹ It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises [with musical accompaniment] to Your name, O Most High,

² To show forth Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night,

³ With an instrument of ten strings and with the lute, with a solemn sound upon the lyre.

⁴ For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your works; at the deeds of Your hands I joyfully sing.

⁵ How great are Your doings, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.

⁶ A man in his rude and uncultivated state knows not, neither does a [self-confident] fool understand this:

⁷ That though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to be destroyed forever.

⁸ But You, Lord, are on high forever.

⁹ For behold, Your adversaries, O Lord, for behold, Your enemies shall perish; all the evildoers shall be scattered.

¹⁰ But my horn (emblem of excessive strength and stately grace) You have exalted like that of a wild ox; I am anointed with fresh oil.

¹¹ My eye looks upon those who lie in wait for me; my ears hear the evildoers that rise up against me.

¹² The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].

¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴ [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment].

¹⁵ [They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.^(A)

Psalm 93

¹ The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is robed, He has girded Himself with strength and power; the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.

² Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.

³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up the roaring of their waves.

⁴ The Lord on high is mightier and more glorious than the noise of many waters, yes, than the mighty breakers and waves of the sea.

⁵ Your testimonies are very sure; holiness [apparent in separation from sin, with simple trust and hearty obedience] is becoming to Your house, O Lord, forever.