Chapter 88
The
psalmist weeps and laments bitterly over the maladies and suffering Israel
endures in exile, which he describes in detail.
1. A song, a psalm by the
sons of Korach, for the Conductor, upon the machalat le'anot; 1 a maskil2 for Heiman the Ezrachite. 2. O Lord, G-d of my
deliverance, by day I cried out [to You], by night I [offer my prayer] before
You. 3. Let my prayer come before You; turn Your ear to my supplication. 4. For
my soul is sated with affliction, and my life has reached the grave. 5. I was
reckoned with those who go down to the pit, I was like a man without strength.
6. [I am regarded] among the dead who are free, like corpses lying in the
grave, of whom You are not yet mindful, who are yet cut off by Your hand. 7.
You have put me into the lowest pit, into the darkest places, into the depths.
8. Your wrath has weighed heavily upon me, and all the waves [of Your fury]
have constantly afflicted me. 9. You have estranged my friends from me, You
have made me abhorrent to them; I am imprisoned and unable to leave. 10. My eye
is afflicted because of distress; I call to You, O Lord, every day; I have
stretched out my hands [in prayer] to You. 11. Do You perform wonders for the
deceased? Do the dead stand to offer You praise? Selah. 12. Is Your kindness
recounted in the grave, your faithfulness in the place of perdition? 13. Are
Your wondrous deeds known in the darkness [of the grave], or Your righteousness
in the land of oblivion? 14. But, I, to You, O Lord, I cry; each morning my
prayer comes before You. 15. Why, O Lord, do You forsake my soul? Why do You
conceal Your countenance from Me? 16. From my youth I have been afflicted and
approaching death, yet I have borne the fear of You which is firmly established
within me. 17. Your furies have passed over me; Your terrors have cut me down.
18. They have engulfed me like water all day long, they all together surrounded
me. 19. You have estranged from me beloved and friend; I have been rejected by
my intimates.
Chapter 89
This
psalm speaks of the kingship of the House of David, the psalmist lamenting its
fall from power for many years, and G-d's abandonment and spurning of us.
1. A maskil1 by Eitan the Ezrachite. 2. I will sing of the Lord's
kindness forever; to all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with
my mouth. 3. For I have said, "The world is built with kindness; there in
the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.” 4. I have made a covenant with My
chosen one; I have sworn to David, My servant: 5. "I will establish Your
descendants forever; I will build your throne for all generations," Selah.
6. Then the heavens will extol Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness, too, in
the congregation of the holy ones. 7. Indeed, who in heaven can be compared to
the Lord, who among the supernal beings can be likened to the Lord! 8. The
Almighty is revered in the great assembly of the holy ones, awe-inspiring to
all who surround Him. 9. O Lord, G-d of Hosts, who is mighty like You, O G-d!
Your faithfulness surrounds You. 10. You rule the vastness of the sea; when its
waves surge, You still them. 11. You crushed Rahav (Egypt) like a corpse; with
Your powerful arm You scattered Your enemies. 12. Yours are the heavens, the
earth is also Yours; the world and all therein-You established them. 13. The
north and the south-You created them; Tabor and Hermon sing of [the greatness]
of Your Name. 14. Yours is the arm which has the might; strengthen Your hand,
raise high Your right hand. 15. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of
Your throne; kindness and truth go before Your countenance. 16. Fortunate is
the people who know the sound of the shofar; Lord, they walk in the light of
Your countenance. 17. They rejoice in Your Name all day, and they are exalted
through Your righteousness. 18. Indeed, You are the splendor of their might,
and in Your goodwill our glory is exalted. 19. For our protectors turn to the
Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel. 20. Then You spoke in a vision to
Your pious ones and said: "I have granted aid to [David] the mighty one; I
have exalted the one chosen from among the people. 21. I have found David, My servant;
I have anointed him with My holy oil. 22. It is he whom My hand shall be
prepared [to assist]; My arm, too, shall strengthen him. 23. The enemy shall
not prevail over him, nor shall the iniquitous person afflict him. 24. And I
will crush his adversaries before him, and will strike down those who hate him.
25. Indeed, My faithfulness and My kindness shall be with him, and through My
Name his glory shall be exalted. 26. I will set his hand upon the sea, his
right hand upon the rivers. 27. He will call out to Me, 'You are my Father, my G-d,
the strength of my deliverance.’ 28. I will also make him [My] firstborn,
supreme over the kings of the earth. 29. I will maintain My kindness for him
forever; My covenant shall remain true to him. 30. And I will bestow [kingship]
upon his seed forever, and his throne will endure as long as the heavens last.
31. If his children forsake My Torah and do not walk in My ordinances; 32. if
they profane My statutes and do not observe My commandments, 33. then I will
punish their transgression with the rod and their misdeeds with plagues. 34.
Yet I shall not take away My kindness from him, nor betray My faithfulness. 35.
I will not abrogate My covenant, nor change that which has issued from My lips.
36. One thing I have sworn by My holiness-I will not cause disappointment to
David. 37. His seed will endure forever and his throne will be [resplendent] as
the sun before Me. 38. Like the moon, it shall be established forever; [the
moon] is a faithful witness in the sky for all time.” 39. Yet You have forsaken
and abhorred; You became enraged at Your anointed. 40. You annulled the
covenant with Your servant; You have profaned his crown [by casting it] to the
ground. 41. You shattered all his fences; You turned all his strongholds into ruin.
42. All wayfarers despoiled him; he has become a disgrace to his neighbors. 43.
You have uplifted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his
enemies rejoice. 44. You also turned back the blade of his sword, and did not
sustain him in battle. 45. You put an end to his splendor, and toppled his
throne to the ground. 46. You have cut short the days of his youth; You have
enclothed him with long-lasting shame. 47. How long, O Lord, will You conceal
Yourself-forever? [How long] will Your fury blaze like fire? 48. O remember how
short is my life span! Why have You created all children of man for naught? 49.
What man can live and not see death, can save his soul forever from the grave?
50. Where are Your former deeds of kindness, my Lord, which You swore to David
in Your faithfulness? 51. Remember, my Lord, the disgrace of Your servants,
that I bear in my bosom from all the many nations; 52. that Your enemies have
disgraced, O Lord, that they have disgraced the footsteps of Your anointed. 53.
Blessed is the Lord forever, Amen and Amen.
Chapter 90
David
found this prayer in its present form-receiving a tradition attributing it to
MosesThe Midrash attributes the next eleven psalms to Moses (Rashi).-and
incorporated it into the Tehillim. It speaks of the brevity of human life, and
inspires man to repent and avoid pride in this world.
1.
A prayer by Moses, the man of G-d. My Lord, You have been a shelter for us in
every generation. 2. Before the mountains came into being, before You created
the earth and the world-for ever and ever You are Almighty G-d. 3. You diminish
man until he is crushed, and You say, "Return, you children of man.” 4.
Indeed, a thousand years are in Your eyes like yesterday that has passed, like
a watch of the night. 5. The stream of their life is as but a slumber; in the
morning they are like grass that sprouts anew. 6. In the morning it thrives and
sprouts anew; in the evening it withers and dries. 7. For we are consumed by
Your anger, and destroyed by Your wrath. 8. You have set our wrongdoings before
You, our hidden sins before the light of Your countenance. 9. For all our days
have vanished in Your wrath; we cause our years to pass like a fleeting sound.
10. The days of our lives number seventy years, and if in great vigor, eighty
years; most of them are but travail and futility, passing quickly and flying
away. 11. Who can know the intensity of Your anger? Your wrath is commensurate
with one's fear of You. 12. Teach us, then, to reckon our days, that we may
acquire a wise heart. 13. Relent, O Lord; how long [will Your anger last]? Have
compassion upon Your servants. 14. Satiate us in the morning with Your
kindness, then we shall sing and rejoice throughout our days. 15. Give us joy
corresponding to the days You afflicted us, the years we have seen adversity.
16. Let Your work be revealed to Your servants, and Your splendor be upon their
children. 17. May the pleasantness of the Lord our G-d be upon us; establish
for us the work of our hands; establish the work of our hands.
TIKKUN HAKLALI
Chapter 90
8. You have set our wrongdoings before You, our hidden sins before the light of Your countenance.
9. For all our days have vanished in Your wrath; we cause our years to pass like a fleeting sound.
10. The days of our lives number seventy years, and if in great vigor, eighty years; most of them are but travail and futility, passing quickly and flying away.
PSALM 89
31. If his children forsake My Torah and do not walk in My ordinances;
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