³ Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
⁴ Happy are those who live in your house,
    ever singing your praise.Selah

⁵ Happy are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.^[a]
6 As they go through the valley of Baca
    they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength;
    the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob!Selah
⁹ Behold our shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed.

¹⁰ For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than live in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
¹² O Lord of hosts,
    happy is everyone who trusts in you.

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
    our God is merciful.
⁶ The Lord protects the simple;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
⁷ Return, O my soul, to your rest,
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸ For you have delivered my soul from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
⁹ I walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁰ I kept my faith, even when I said,
    “I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹ I said in my consternation,
    “Everyone is a liar.”

¹² What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
¹⁶ O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
¹⁷ I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
¹⁸ I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹ in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹ Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
    tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord is king!
    The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
    He will judge the peoples with equity.”
¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹²     let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³     before the Lord; for he is coming,
    for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with his truth.

Prayer

God of all mercies,we praise you that you have brought us to this new day, brightening our lives with the dawn of promise and hope in Jesus Christ.  Especially we thank you for
the warmth of sunlight, the wetness of rain, and all that nourishes the earth…
the presence and power of your Spirit…
the support and encouragement we receive from others…
those who provide for public safety and well-being…
the mission of the church around the world…
(other prayers of thanksgiving)…

Merciful God, strengthen us in prayer that we may lift up the brokenness of this world for your healing, and share in the saving love of Jesus Christ.  Especially we pray for
those in positions of authority over others…
the lonely and forgotten…
children without families or homes…
agents of caring and relief…
the church in Asia and the Middle East…
(other prayers of intercession)… Amen.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
⁴ those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;
    our lips are our own—who is our master?”

⁵ “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
    I will now rise up,” says the Lord;
    “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
⁶ The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
    silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

⁷ You, O Lord, will protect us;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among humankind.

³ How long will you assail a person,
    will you batter your victim, all of you,
    as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴ Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
    They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
    but inwardly they curse.Selah

⁵ For God alone my soul waits in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷ On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us.Selah

⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath,
    those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
    they are together lighter than a breath.
¹⁰ Put no confidence in extortion,
    and set no vain hopes on robbery;
    if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ Once God has spoken;
    twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
¹²     and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
    according to their work.

Prayer

As you cause the sun to rise, O God, bring the light of Christ to dawn in our souls and dispel all darkness.  Give us grace to reflect Christ’s glory; and let his love show in our deeds, his peace shine in our words, and his healing in our touch, that all may give him praise, now and forever.  Amen.

³ For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
    I am like those who have no help,
⁵ like those forsaken among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
⁶ You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves.Selah

⁸ You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
⁹     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the shades rise up to praise you?Selah
¹¹ Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³ But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ O Lord, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.^[a]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long;
from all sides they close in on me.
¹⁸ You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.

Reflection:
This is a raw psalm.  In the words we can almost feel the desperation in the writer’s soul.  While we hope we may not ever experience emotions or situations like those reflected in this psalm, the fragility of life in general guarantees we will know great heartache and at times despair.  There are times, when as people of faith, we turn to God asking for deliverance, asking for attention, asking for an end.  We question why and ask God to stop whatever it is that is happening.  We may wonder why in our commitment to God do we still go through heartache and suffering.  The emotions and questions we express during those times put us in the company of saints who have gone before us.  We are not alone as we question God, as our faith shakes, or as we cry out.  This psalm allows us to rest in those emotions without a pretty tied up bow at the end.  Perhaps that fact makes Psalm 88 that much more powerful – acknowledging the possibility the psalmist had not yet found the peace he or she was looking for.  The prayer had not yet been answered as the poem was written.  And yet – here it is, a sacred scripture.  A sacred prayer and one we have permission to pray.

³ For the enemy has pursued me,
    crushing my life to the ground,
    making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
⁴ Therefore my spirit faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.

⁵ I remember the days of old,
    I think about all your deeds,
    I meditate on the works of your hands.
⁶ I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.Selah

⁷ Answer me quickly, O Lord;
    my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
    or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
⁸ Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
    for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.

⁹ Save me, O Lord, from my enemies;
    I have fled to you for refuge.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
    on a level path.

¹¹ For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life.
    In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
¹² In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
    and destroy all my adversaries,
    for I am your servant.

⁵ By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
    O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas.
⁶ By your^[a] strength you established the mountains;
    you are girded with might.
⁷ You silence the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples.
⁸ Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it,
    you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
    you provide the people with grain,
    for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
    and blessing its growth.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they shout and sing together for joy.

Prayer

O God, you are the one who defines blessing. You have created so much beauty and bounty in this world. Your creativity is astounding. Your care is immeasurable. Open our eyes to see you in the world around us, in the people, in all living things, in the colors, in the great and the small. Help us to cherish how and what you cherish so we can take care of your creation as you take care of us. Amen.