The Next Testament

Psalms: The Doorkeeper, the Darkness, and the Broken Covenant (Psalms 84–89)

Scripture: Berean Standard Bible

Psalm 84

For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

How lovely is your dwelling place,O LORD of Hosts!My soul longs, even faints,for the courts of the LORD;my heart and my flesh cry outfor the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,and the swallow a nest for herself,where she places her young near your altars,O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.How blessed are those who dwell in your house!They are ever praising you.SelahBlessed are those whose strength is in you,whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.As they pass through the Valley of Baca,they make it a place of springs;even the autumn rain covers it with pools.They go from strength to strength,until each appears before God in Zion.
O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer;give ear, O God of Jacob.SelahTake notice of our shield, O God,and look with favor on the face of your anointed.For better is one day in your courtsthan a thousand elsewhere.I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my Godthan dwell in the tents of the wicked.For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;the LORD gives grace and glory;he withholds no good thingfrom those who walk with integrity.
O LORD of Hosts,how blessed is the man who trusts in you!
Psalm 85

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

You showed favor to your land, O LORD;you restored Jacob from captivity.You forgave the iniquity of your people;you covered all their sin.Selahyou withheld all your fury;you turned from your burning anger.
Restore us, O God of our salvation,and put away your displeasure toward us.Will you be angry with us forever?Will you draw out your anger to all generations?Will you not revive us again,that your people may rejoice in you?Show us your loving devotion, O LORD,and grant us your salvation.
I will listen to what God the LORD will say;for he will surely speak peace to his people and his saints;he will not let them return to folly.Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,that his glory may dwell in our land.
Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together;righteousness and peace have kissed.Faithfulness sprouts from the earth,and righteousness looks down from heaven.The LORD will indeed provide what is good,and our land will yield its increase.Righteousness will go before himto prepare the way for his steps.
Psalm 86

A prayer of David.

Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,for I am poor and needy.Preserve my soul, for I am godly.You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.Be merciful to me, O Lord,for I call to you all day long.Bring joy to your servant,for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are kind and forgiving,rich in loving devotion to all who call on you.Hear my prayer, O LORD,and attend to my plea for mercy.In the day of my distress I call on you,because you answer me.
O Lord, there is none like you among the gods,nor any works like yours.All the nations you have madewill come and bow before you, O Lord,and they will glorify your name.For you are great and perform wonders;you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O LORD,that I may walk in your truth.Give me an undivided heart,that I may fear your name.I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;I will glorify your name forever.For great is your loving devotion to me;you have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
The arrogant rise against me, O God;a band of ruthless men seeks my life,with no regard for you.But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
Turn to me and have mercy;grant your strength to your servant;save the son of your maidservant.Show me a sign of your goodness,that my enemies may see and be ashamed;for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
Psalm 87

A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A song.

He has founded his cityon the holy mountains.The LORD loves the gates of Zionmore than all the dwellings of Jacob.Glorious things are ascribed to you,O city of God.Selah“I will mention Rahab and Babylonamong those who know me—along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush —when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ”
And it will be said of Zion:“This one and that one were born in her,and the Most High himself will establish her.”
The LORD will record in the register of the peoples:“This one was born in Zion.”SelahSingers and pipers will proclaim,“All my springs of joy are in you.”
Psalm 88

A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

O LORD, the God of my salvation,day and night I cry out before you.May my prayer come before you;incline your ear to my cry.For my soul is full of troubles,and my life draws near to Sheol.I am counted among those descending to the Pit.I am like a man without strength.
I am forsaken among the dead,like the slain who lie in the grave,whom you remember no more,who are cut off from your care.
You have laid me in the lowest Pit,in the darkest of the depths.Your wrath weighs heavily upon me;all your waves have submerged me.Selahyou have removed my friends from me;you have made me repulsive to them;I am confined and cannot escape.My eyes grow dim with grief.I call to you daily, O LORD;I spread out my hands to you.Do you work wonders for the dead?Do departed spirits rise up to praise you?SelahCan your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave,your faithfulness in Abaddon?Will your wonders be known in the darkness,or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
But to you, O LORD, I cry for help;in the morning my prayer comes before you.Why, O LORD, do you reject me?Why do you hide your face from me?
From my youth I was afflicted and near death.I have borne your terrors; I am in despair.Your wrath has swept over me;your terrors have destroyed me.All day long they engulf me like water;they enclose me on every side.You have removed my beloved and my friend;darkness is my closest companion.
Psalm 89

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever;with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.For I have said, “Loving devotion is built up forever;in the heavens you establish your faithfulness.”
You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,I have sworn to David my servant:‘I will establish your offspring foreverand build up your throne for all generations.’ ”SelahThe heavens praise your wonders, O LORD—your faithfulness as well—in the assembly of the holy ones.For who in the skies can compare with the LORD?Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared,and awesome above all who surround him.
O LORD God of Hosts, who is like you?O mighty LORD, your faithfulness surrounds you.You rule the raging sea;when its waves mount up, you still them.You crushed Rahab like a carcass;you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.The heavens are yours, and also the earth.The earth and its fullness you founded.North and south you created;Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at your name.
Mighty is your arm; strong is your hand.Your right hand is exalted.Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;loving devotion and faithfulness go before you.
Blessed are those who know the joyful sound,who walk, O LORD, in the light of your presence.They rejoice in your name all day long,and in your righteousness they exult.For you are the glory of their strength,and by your favor our horn is exalted.Surely our shield belongs to the LORD,and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
You once spoke in a vision;to your godly ones you said,“I have bestowed help on a warrior;I have exalted one chosen from the people.I have found my servant David;with my sacred oil I have anointed him.My hand will sustain him;surely my arm will strengthen him.
No enemy will exact tribute;no wicked man will oppress him.I will crush his foes before himand strike down those who hate him.My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him,and through my name his horn will be exalted.I will set his hand over the sea,and his right hand upon the rivers.He will call to me, ‘You are my Father,my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
I will indeed appoint him as my firstborn,the highest of the kings of the earth.I will forever preserve my loving devotion for him,and my covenant with him will stand fast.I will establish his line forever,his throne as long as the heavens endure.
If his sons forsake my lawand do not walk in my judgments,if they violate my statutesand fail to keep my commandments,I will attend to their transgression with the rod,and to their iniquity with stripes.
But I will not withdraw my loving devotion from him,nor ever betray my faithfulness.I will not violate my covenantor alter the utterance of my lips.Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness—I will not lie to David—his offspring shall endure forever,and his throne before me like the sun,like the moon, established forever,a faithful witness in the sky.”SelahNow, however, you have spurned and rejected him;you are enraged by your anointed one.You have renounced the covenant with your servantand sullied his crown in the dust.You have broken down all his walls;you have reduced his strongholds to rubble.All who pass by plunder him;he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;you have made all his enemies rejoice.You have bent the edge of his swordand have not sustained him in battle.You have ended his splendorand cast his throne to the ground.You have cut short the days of his youth;you have covered him with shame.SelahHow long, O LORD?Will you hide yourself forever?Will your wrath keep burning like fire?Remember the briefness of my lifespan!For what futility you have created all men!What man can live and never see death?Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?SelahWhere, O Lord, is your loving devotion of old,which you faithfully swore to David?Remember, O Lord, the reproach of your servants,which I bear in my heart from so many people—how your enemies have taunted, O LORD,and have mocked every step of your anointed one!
Blessed be the LORD forever!
Amen and amen.