Psalm 89

A Psalm of instruction for Ætham the Israelite.

¹ I will sing of thy mercies, O Lord, for ever: I will declare thy truth with my mouth to all generations. ² For thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy truth shall be established in the heavens. ³ I made a covenant with my chosen ones, I sware unto David my servant. ⁴ I will ¹establish thy seed for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Pause.

⁵ The heavens shall declare thy wonders, O Lord; and thy truth in the assembly of the saints. ⁶ For who in the ²heavens shall be compared to the Lord? and who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God? ⁷ God is glorified in the council of the saints; great and terrible toward all that are round about him. ⁸ O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee. ⁹ Thou rulest the power of the sea; and thou calmest the tumult of its waves.

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¹⁰ Thou has brought down the proud as one that is slain; and with the arm of thy power thou has scattered thine enemies. ¹¹ The heavens are thine, and the earth is thine: thou hast founded the world, and the fullness of it. ¹² Thou hast created the north and the ³west: Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. ¹³ Thine is the mighty arm: let thy hand be strengthened, let thy right hand be exalted. ¹⁴ Justice and judgment are the establishment of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

¹⁵ Blessed is the people that knows the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. ¹⁶ And in thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. ¹⁷ For thou art the boast of their strength; and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted, ¹⁸ for our help is of the Lord; and of the Holy One of Israel, our king.

¹⁹ Then thou spokest in vision to thy children, and saidst, I have laid help on a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of my people. ^{20 4}I have found David my servant; I have anointed him by my holy ⁵mercy. ²¹ For my hand shall support him; and mine arm shall strengthen him. ²² The enemy shall have no advantage against him; and the son of transgression shall not hurt him again. ²³ And I will hew down his foes before him, and put to flight those that hate him. ²⁴ But my truth and my mercy shall be with him; and in my name shall his horn be exalted. ²⁵ And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. ²⁶ He shall call upon me, saying, Thou art my Father, my God, and the helper of my salvation. ²⁷ And I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. ²⁸ I will keep my mercy for him for ever, and my covenant shall be firm with him. ²⁹ And I will establish his seed for ever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰ If his children should forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; ³¹ if they should profane my ordinances, and not keep my commandments; ³² I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their sins with scourges. ³³ But my mercy I will not utterly remove from him, nor wrong my truth. ³⁴ Neither will I by any means profane my covenant; and I will not make void the things that proceed out of my lips. ³⁵ Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie to David. ³⁶ His see shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me; ³⁷ and as the moon that is established for ever, and as the faithful witness in heaven. Pause.

³⁸ But thou hast cast off and set at nought, thou has rejected thine anointed. ³⁹ Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant; thou has profaned his sanctuary, casting it to the ground. ⁴⁰ Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast made his strong holds a terror. ⁴¹ All that go by the way have spoiled him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours. ⁴² Thou hast exalted the right hand of his enemies;

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thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. ⁴³ Thou hast turned back the help of his sword, and hast not helped him in the battle. ⁴⁴ Thou hast deprived him of ⁶glory: thou hast broken down his throne to the ground. ⁴⁵ Thou hast shortened the days of his ⁷throne: thou hast poured shame upon him. Pause.

⁴⁶ How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn away, for ever? shall thine anger flame out as fire? ⁴⁷ Remember what my being is: for hast thou created all the sons of men in vain? ⁴⁸ What man is there who shall live, and not see death? shall any one deliver his soul from the hand of Hades? Pause. ⁴⁹ Where are thine ancient mercies, O Lord, which thou swarest to David in thy truth? ⁵⁰ Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants, which I have borne in my bosom, even the reproach of many nations; ⁵¹ wherewith thine enemies have reviled, O Lord: wherewith they have reviled the recompense of thine anointed. ⁵² Blessed be the Lord for ever. So be it, so be it.