Chapter 90
David found this prayer in its present form-receiving a tradition attributing it to Moses (The 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.
1A prayer by Moses, the man of God. My Lord, You have been a shelter for us in every generation.
2Before the mountains came into being, before You created the earth and the world-for ever and ever You are Almighty God.
3You diminish man until he is crushed, and You say, "Return, you children of man.”
4Indeed, a thousand years are in Your eyes like yesterday that has passed, like a watch of the night.
5The stream of their life is as but a slumber; in the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.
6In the morning it thrives and sprouts anew; in the evening it withers and dries.
7For we are consumed by Your anger, and destroyed by Your wrath.
8You have set our wrongdoings before You, our hidden sins before the light of Your countenance.
9For all our days have vanished in Your wrath; we cause our years to pass like a fleeting sound.
10The 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.
11Who can know the intensity of Your anger? Your wrath is commensurate with one's fear of You.
12Teach us, then, to reckon our days, that we may acquire a wise heart.
13Relent, O Lord; how long [will Your anger last]? Have compassion upon Your servants.
14Satiate us in the morning with Your kindness, then we shall sing and rejoice throughout our days.
15Give us joy corresponding to the days You afflicted us, the years we have seen adversity.
16Let Your work be revealed to Your servants, and Your splendor be upon their children.
17May the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us; establish for us the work of our hands; establish the work of our hands.
Chapter 91
This psalm inspires the hearts of the people to seek shelter under the wings of the Divine Presence. It also speaks of the four seasons of the year, and their respective ministering powers, instructing those who safeguard their souls to avoid them.
1You who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Omnipotent:
2I say of the Lord who is my refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I trust,
3that He will save you from the ensnaring trap, from the destructive pestilence.
4He will cover you with His pinions and you will find refuge under His wings; His truth is a shield and an armor.
5You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day;
6the pestilence that prowls in the darkness, nor the destruction that ravages at noon.
7A thousand may fall at your [left] side, and ten thousand at your right, but it shall not reach you.
8You need only look with your eyes, and you will see the retribution of the wicked.
9Because you [have said,] "The Lord is my shelter," and you have made the Most High your haven,
10no evil will befall you, no plague will come near your tent.
11For He will instruct His angels in your behalf, to guard you in all your ways.
12They will carry you in their hands, lest you injure your foot upon a rock.
13You will tread upon the lion and the viper; you will trample upon the young lion and the serpent.
14Because he desires Me, I will deliver him; I will fortify him, for he knows My Name.
15When he calls on Me, I will answer him; I am with him in distress. I will deliver him and honor him.
16I will satiate him with long life, and show him My deliverance.
Chapter 92
Sung every Shabbat by the Levites in the Holy Temple, this psalm speaks of the World to Come, and comforts the hearts of those crushed by suffering.
1A psalm, a song for the Shabbat day.
2It is good to praise the Lord, and to sing to Your Name, O Most High;
3to proclaim Your kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness in the nights,
4with a ten-stringed instrument and lyre, to the melody of a harp.
5For You, Lord, have gladdened me with Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hand.
6How great are Your works, O Lord; how very profound Your thoughts!
7A brutish man cannot know, a fool cannot comprehend this:
8When the wicked thrive like grass, and all evildoers flourish-it is in order that they may be destroyed forever.
9But You, Lord, are exalted forever.
10Indeed, Your enemies, O Lord, indeed Your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.
11But You have increased my might like that of a wild ox; I am anointed with fresh oil.
12My eyes have seen [the downfall of] my watchful enemies; my ears have heard [the doom of] the wicked who rise against me.
13The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon.
14Planted in the House of the Lord, they shall blossom in the courtyards of our God.
15They shall be fruitful even in old age; they shall be full of sap and freshness-
16to declare that the Lord is just; He is my Strength, and there is no injustice in Him.
Chapter 93
This psalm speaks of the Messianic era, when God will don grandeur-allowing no room for man to boast before Him as did Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, and Sennacherib.
1The Lord is King; He has garbed Himself with grandeur; the Lord has robed Himself, He has girded Himself with strength; He has also established the world firmly that it shall not falter.
2Your throne stands firm from of old; You have existed forever.
3The rivers have raised, O Lord, the rivers have raised their voice; the rivers raise their raging waves.
4More than the sound of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, is the Lord mighty on High.
5Your testimonies are most trustworthy; Your House will be resplendent in holiness, O Lord, forever.
Chapter 94
An awe-inspiring and wondrous prayer with which every individual can pray for the redemption. It is also an important moral teaching.
1The Lord is a God of retribution; O God of retribution, reveal Yourself!
2Judge of the earth, arise; render to the arrogant their recompense.
3How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult?
4They continuously speak insolently; all the evildoers act arrogantly.
5They crush Your people, O Lord, and oppress Your heritage.
6They kill the widow and the stranger, and murder the orphans.
7And they say, "The Lord does not see, the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
8Understand, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?
9Shall He who implants the ear not hear? Shall He who forms the eye not see?
10Shall He who chastises nations not punish? Shall He who imparts knowledge to man [not know]?
11The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are naught.
12Fortunate is the man whom You chastise, O Lord, and instruct him in Your Torah,
13bestowing upon him tranquillity in times of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor forsake His heritage.
15For judgment shall again be consonant with justice, and all the upright in heart will pursue it.
16Who would rise up for me against the wicked ones; who would stand up for me against the evildoers?
17Had the Lord not been a help to me, my soul would have soon dwelt in the silence [of the grave].
18When I thought that my foot was slipping, Your kindness, O Lord, supported me.
19When my [worrisome] thoughts multiply within me, Your consolation delights my soul.
20Can one in the seat of evil, one who makes iniquity into law, consort with You?
21They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.
22The Lord has been my stronghold; my God, the strength of my refuge.
23He will turn their violence against them and destroy them through their own wickedness; the Lord, our God, will destroy them.
Chapter 95
This psalm speaks of the future, when man will say to his fellow, "Come, let us sing and offer praise to God for the miracles He has performed for us!"
1Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us raise our voices in jubilation to the Rock of our deliverance.
2Let us approach Him with thanksgiving; let us raise our voices to Him in song.
3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King over all supernal beings;
4in His hands are the depths of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His.
5Indeed, the sea is His, for He made it; His hands formed the dry land.
6Come, let us prostrate ourselves and bow down; let us bend the knee before the Lord, our Maker.
7For He is our God, and we are the people that He tends, the flock under His [guiding] hand-even this very day, if you would but hearken to His voice!
8Do not harden your heart as at Merivah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9where your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they had seen My deeds.
10For forty years I quarreled with that generation; and I said, "They are a people of erring hearts, they do not know My ways.”
11So I vowed in My anger that they would not enter My resting place.
Chapter 96
The time will yet come when man will say to his fellow: "Come, let us sing to God!"
1Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2Sing to the Lord, bless His Name; proclaim His deliverance from day to day.
3Recount His glory among the nations, His wonders among all the peoples.
4For the Lord is great and highly praised; He is awesome above all gods.
5For all the gods of the nations are naught, but the Lord made the heavens.
6Majesty and splendor are before Him, might and beauty in His Sanctuary.
7Render to the Lord, O families of nations, render to the Lord honor and might.
8Render to the Lord honor due to His Name; bring an offering and come to His courtyards.
9Bow down to the Lord in resplendent holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.
10Proclaim among the nations, "The Lord reigns"; indeed, the world is firmly established that it shall not falter; He will judge the peoples with righteousness.
11The heavens will rejoice, the earth will exult; the sea and its fullness will roar.
12The fields and everything therein will jubilate; then all the trees of the forest will sing.
13Before the Lord [they shall rejoice], for He has come, for He has come to judge the earth; He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with His truth.
Tehillim Ohel Yoseph Yitzchok,
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