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Psalm 89

God’s Covenant with David

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord,[a] forever;
    with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.(A)
I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;
    your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.(B)

You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to my servant David:(C)
‘I will establish your descendants forever
    and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah(D)

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.(E)
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
    Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,(F)
a God feared in the council of the holy ones,
    great and awesome[b] above all who are around him?(G)
O Lord God of hosts,
    who is as mighty as you, O Lord?
    Your faithfulness surrounds you.(H)
You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.(I)
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.(J)
11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it—you founded them.(K)
12 The north and the south[c]—you created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.(L)
13 You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.(M)
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.(N)
15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;(O)
16 they exult in your name all day long
    and extol[d] your righteousness.
17 For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.(P)
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.(Q)

19 Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one and said,
    “I have set the crown[e] on one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.(R)
20 I have found my servant David;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him;(S)
21 my hand shall always remain with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him;
    the wicked shall not humble him.(T)
23 I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.(U)
24 My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name his horn shall be exalted.(V)
25 I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation!’(W)
27 I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.(X)
28 Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him,
    and my covenant with him will stand firm.(Y)
29 I will establish his line forever
    and his throne as long as the heavens endure.(Z)
30 If his children forsake my law
    and do not walk according to my ordinances,(AA)
31 if they violate my statutes
    and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod
    and their iniquity with scourges,(AB)
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
    or be false to my faithfulness.(AC)
34 I will not violate my covenant
    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.(AD)
35 Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness;
    I will not lie to David.(AE)
36 His line shall continue forever,
    and his throne endure before me like the sun.(AF)
37 It shall be established forever like the moon,
    an enduring witness in the skies.” Selah

38 But now you have spurned and rejected him;
    you are full of wrath against your anointed.(AG)
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
    you have defiled his crown in the dust.(AH)
40 You have broken through all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.(AI)
41 All who pass by plunder him;
    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.(AJ)
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
    you have made all his enemies rejoice.(AK)
43 Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not supported him in battle.(AL)
44 You have removed the scepter from his hand[f]
    and hurled his throne to the ground.(AM)
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with shame. Selah(AN)

46 How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?(AO)
47 Remember how short my time is—[g]
    for what vanity you have created all mortals!(AP)
48 Who can live and never see death?
    Who can escape the power of Sheol? Selah(AQ)

49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?(AR)
50 Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted,
    how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,[h](AS)
51 with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,
    with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed.(AT)

52 Blessed be the Lord forever.
                Amen and Amen.(AU)

Book IV

(Psalms 90–106)

Psalm 90

God’s Eternity and Human Frailty

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place[i]
    in all generations.(AV)
Before the mountains were brought forth
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.(AW)

You turn us[j] back to dust
    and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”(AX)
For a thousand years in your sight
    are like yesterday when it is past
    or like a watch in the night.(AY)

You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
    like grass that is renewed in the morning;(AZ)
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
    in the evening it fades and withers.(BA)

For we are consumed by your anger;
    by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your countenance.(BB)

For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    our years come to an end[k] like a sigh.(BC)
10 The days of our life are seventy years
    or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span[l] is only toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.(BD)

11 Who considers the power of your anger?
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.(BE)
12 So teach us to count our days
    that we may gain a wise heart.(BF)

13 Turn, O Lord! How long?
    Have compassion on your servants!(BG)
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.(BH)
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us
    and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be manifest to your servants
    and your glorious power to their children.(BI)
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us
    and prosper for us the work of our hands—
    O prosper the work of our hands!(BJ)

Psalm 91

Assurance of God’s Protection

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,[m](BK)
will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”(BL)
For he will deliver you from the snare of the hunter
    and from the deadly pestilence;(BM)
he will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness is a shield and defense.(BN)
You will not fear the terror of the night
    or the arrow that flies by day(BO)
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness
    or the destruction that wastes at noonday.(BP)

A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.(BQ)

Because you have made the Lord your refuge,[n]
    the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you,
    no scourge come near your tent.(BR)

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.(BS)
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.(BT)

14 Those who love me, I will deliver;
    I will protect those who know my name.(BU)
15 When they call to me, I will answer them;
    I will be with them in trouble;
    I will rescue them and honor them.(BV)
16 With long life I will satisfy them
    and show them my salvation.(BW)

Psalm 92

Thanksgiving for Vindication

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
    to sing praises to your name, O Most High,(BX)
to declare your steadfast love in the morning
    and your faithfulness by night,(BY)
to the music of the lute and the harp,
    to the melody of the lyre.(BZ)
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
    at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

How great are your works, O Lord!
    Your thoughts are very deep!(CA)
The dullard cannot know;
    the stupid cannot understand this:
though the wicked sprout like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever,(CB)
    but you, O Lord, are on high forever.(CC)
For your enemies, O Lord,
    for your enemies shall perish;
    all evildoers shall be scattered.(CD)

10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
    you have anointed me with fresh oil.
11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
    my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.(CE)

12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.(CF)
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 In old age they still produce fruit;
    they are always green and full of sap,(CG)
15 showing that the Lord is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.(CH)

Psalm 93

The Majesty of God’s Rule

The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty;
    the Lord is robed; he is girded with strength.
He has established the world; it shall never be moved;(CI)
    your throne is established from of old;
    you are from everlasting.(CJ)

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
    the floods have lifted up their voice;
    the floods lift up their roaring.
More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
    more majestic than the waves[o] of the sea,
    majestic on high is the Lord!(CK)

Your decrees are very sure;
    holiness befits your house,
    O Lord, forevermore.(CL)

Psalm 94

God the Avenger of the Righteous

O Lord, you God of vengeance,
    you God of vengeance, shine forth!(CM)
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    give to the proud what they deserve!(CN)
O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?(CO)

They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.(CP)
They crush your people, O Lord,
    and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the stranger;
    they murder the orphan,
and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”(CQ)

Understand, O dullest of the people;
    fools, when will you be wise?(CR)
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?(CS)
10 He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
    does he not chastise?(CT)
11 The Lord knows our thoughts,[p]
    that they are but an empty breath.(CU)

12 Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
    and whom you teach out of your law,(CV)
13 giving them respite from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;(CW)
15 for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?(CX)
17 If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.(CY)
18 When I thought, “My foot is slipping,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.(CZ)
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.(DA)
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who contrive mischief by statute?(DB)
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.(DC)
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold
    and my God the rock of my refuge.(DD)
23 He will repay them for their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.(DE)

Footnotes

  1. 89.1 Gk: Heb the steadfast love of the Lord
  2. 89.7 Gk Syr: Heb greatly awesome
  3. 89.12 Or Zaphon and Yamin
  4. 89.16 Cn: Heb are exalted in
  5. 89.19 Cn: Heb help
  6. 89.44 Cn: Heb removed his cleanness
  7. 89.47 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  8. 89.50 Cn: Heb bosom all of many peoples
  9. 90.1 Or our refuge
  10. 90.3 Heb humankind
  11. 90.9 Syr: Heb we bring our years to an end
  12. 90.10 Cn Compare Gk Syr Jerome Tg: Heb pride
  13. 91.1 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  14. 91.9 Cn: Heb Because you, Lord, are my refuge; you have made
  15. 93.4 Cn: Heb majestic are the waves
  16. 94.11 Heb the thoughts of humankind