Read a Psalm: Psalm 90

New International Version 1984

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Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

1Lord, you have been our dwelling place

throughout all generations.

2Before the mountains were born

or you brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3You turn men back to dust,

saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”

4For a thousand years in your sight

are like a day that has just gone by,

or like a watch in the night.

5You sweep men away in the sleep of death;

they are like the new grass of the morning—

6though in the morning it springs up new,

by evening it is dry and withered.

7We are consumed by your anger

and terrified by your indignation.

8You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9All our days pass away under your wrath;

we finish our years with a moan.

10The length of our days is seventy years—

or eighty, if we have the strength;

yet their span^a is but trouble and sorrow,

for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11Who knows the power of your anger?

For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

12Teach us to number our days aright,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13Relent, O Lord! How long will it be?

Have compassion on your servants.

14Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16May your deeds be shown to your servants,

your splendor to their children.

17May the favor^b of the Lord our God rest upon us;

establish the work of our hands for us—

yes, establish the work of our hands.

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Footnotes:
a 10 Or yet the best of them
b 17 Or beauty

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Outline/Stanza
1 - 2     God has always been present & the hiding place of His people
3 - 6     God has been powerful for the like of his people
7 - 12   God's anger endangers the life of His people
13-17   God's favor is essential in life

Main Point: God knows and holds the life of people
Response: Strive for God's favor instead of God's anger.

Read a Psalm: Psalm 89

New International Version 1984

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Psalm 89

A maskil^a of Ethan the Ezrahite.

1I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;

with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

2I will declare that your love stands firm forever,

that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

3You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David my servant,

4‘I will establish your line forever

and make your throne firm through all generations.’”       Selah

5The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,

your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

6For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?

Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?

7In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;

he is more awesome than all who surround him.

8O Lord God Almighty, who is like you?

You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

9You rule over the surging sea;

when its waves mount up, you still them.

10You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;

with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

11The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;

you founded the world and all that is in it.

12You created the north and the south;

Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.

13Your arm is endued with power;

your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.

14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

love and faithfulness go before you.

15Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,

who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.

16They rejoice in your name all day long;

they exult in your righteousness.

17For you are their glory and strength,

and by your favor you exalt our horn.^b

18Indeed, our shield^c belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19Once you spoke in a vision,

to your faithful people you said:

“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;

I have exalted a young man from among the people.

20I have found David my servant;

with my sacred oil I have anointed him.

21My hand will sustain him;

surely my arm will strengthen him.

22No enemy will subject him to tribute;

no wicked man will oppress him.

23I will crush his foes before him

and strike down his adversaries.

24My faithful love will be with him,

and through my name his horn^d will be exalted.

25I will set his hand over the sea,

his right hand over the rivers.

26He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,

my God, the Rock my Savior.’

27I will also appoint him my firstborn,

the most exalted of the kings of the earth.

28I will maintain my love to him forever,

and my covenant with him will never fail.

29I will establish his line forever,

his throne as long as the heavens endure.

30“If his sons forsake my law

and do not follow my statutes,

31if they violate my decrees

and fail to keep my commands,

32I will punish their sin with the rod,

their iniquity with flogging;

33but I will not take my love from him,

nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

34I will not violate my covenant

or alter what my lips have uttered.

35Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—

and I will not lie to David—

36that his line will continue forever

and his throne endure before me like the sun;

37it will be established forever like the moon,

the faithful witness in the sky.”       Selah

38But you have rejected, you have spurned,

you have been very angry with your anointed one.

39You have renounced the covenant with your servant

and have defiled his crown in the dust.

40You have broken through all his walls

and reduced his strongholds to ruins.

41All who pass by have plundered him;

he has become the scorn of his neighbors.

42You have exalted the right hand of his foes;

you have made all his enemies rejoice.

43You have turned back the edge of his sword

and have not supported him in battle.

44You have put an end to his splendor

and cast his throne to the ground.

45You have cut short the days of his youth;

you have covered him with a mantle of shame.       Selah

46How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your wrath burn like fire?

47Remember how fleeting is my life.

For what futility you have created all men!

48What man can live and not see death,

or save himself from the power of the grave^e?       Selah

49O Lord, where is your former great love,

which in your faithfulness you swore to David?

50Remember, Lord, how your servant has^f been mocked,

how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,

51the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O Lord,

with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.

52Praise be to the Lord forever!

Amen and Amen.

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Footnotes:
a 1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
b 17 Horn here symbolizes strong one.
c 18 Or sovereign
d 24 Horn here symbolizes strength.
e 48 Hebrew Sheol
f 50 Or your servants have

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Outline/Stanza
1 - 4      God is worthy for He is faithful
5 - 10    God is all powerful
11-18    God Almighty is the joy of His people
19-29    God chose and established David
30-37    God disciplines but not to forsake the lineage of David
38-45    God has afflicted His anointed
46-48    Cry for God to rise and turn from anger
29-51    The line of David is mocked
52         Blessed be the Lord

Main Point: God disciplines and afflicts his chosen ones but is still the salvation for them.

Read a Psalm: Psalm 88

New International Version 1984

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Psalm 88

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.^a A maskil^b of Heman the Ezrahite.

1O Lord, the God who saves me,

day and night I cry out before you.

2May my prayer come before you;

turn your ear to my cry.

3For my soul is full of trouble

and my life draws near the grave.^c

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

I am like a man 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 upon me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.       Selah

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, O Lord, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

10Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?       Selah

11Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction^d?

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, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14Why, O Lord, do you reject me

and hide your face from me?

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

I have suffered 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 my companions and loved ones from me;

the darkness is my closest friend.

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Footnotes:
a 1 Title: Possibly a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”
b 1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
c 3 Hebrew Sheol
d 11 Hebrew Abaddon

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Outline/Stanza:
  1 - 9  Cry to the God of Salvation
10 - 12 The dead and the deported doesn't praise God
13 - 18 Cry for God's favor

Main Point: God's Salvation is His choice; God is the only salvation