Study Desk

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

How lovely is your dwelling place,^(a) Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns,^(b) even faints, for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.^(c)

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar,^(d) Lord Almighty,^(e) my King^(f) and my God.^(g)

Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.^[c]

Blessed are those whose strength^(h) is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.⁽ⁱ⁾

As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs;^(j) the autumn^(k) rains also cover it with pools.^[d]

They go from strength to strength,^(l) till each appears^(m) before God in Zion.⁽ⁿ⁾

Hear my prayer,^(o) Lord God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.

Look on our shield,^[e](p) O God; look with favor on your anointed one.^(q)

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper^(r) in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the Lord God is a sun^(s) and shield;^(t) the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold^(u) from those whose walk is blameless.

Lord Almighty, blessed^(v) is the one who trusts in you.

BOOK IV

Psalms 90–106

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place^(a) throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born^(b) or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting^(c) you are God.^(d)

You turn people back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, you mortals."^(e)

A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.^(f)

Yet you sweep people away^(g) in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:

In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.^(h)

We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins⁽ⁱ⁾ in the light of your presence.^(j)

All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.^(k)

Our days may come to seventy years,^(l) or eighty,^(m) if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,⁽ⁿ⁾ for they quickly pass, and we fly away.^(o)

If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath^(p) is as great as the fear that is your due.^(q)

Teach us to number our days,^(r) that we may gain a heart of wisdom.^(s)

Relent, Lord ! How long^(t) will it be? Have compassion on your servants.^(u)

Satisfy^(v) us in the morning with your unfailing love,^(w) that we may sing for joy^(x) and be glad all our days.^(y)

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.

May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.^(z)

May the favor^[a] of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.^(aa)

Whoever dwells in the shelter^(a) of the Most High will rest in the shadow^(b) of the Almighty.^[a]

I will say of the Lord , "He is my refuge^(c) and my fortress,^(d) my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare^(e) and from the deadly pestilence.^(f)

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;^(g) his faithfulness will be your shield^(h) and rampart.

You will not fear⁽ⁱ⁾ the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.^(j)

If you say, "The Lord is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm^(k) will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels^(l) concerning you to guard you in all your ways;^(m)

they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.⁽ⁿ⁾

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.^(o)

"Because he^[b] loves me," says the Lord , "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.^(p)

With long life^(q) I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.^(r)"