Psalm 89
Common English Bible
Psalm 89
A maskil[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing of the Lord’s loyal love forever.
I will proclaim your faithfulness
with my own mouth
from one generation to the next.
2 That’s why I say,
“Your[b] loyal love is rightly built—forever!
You establish your faithfulness in heaven.”
3 You said,[c] “I made a covenant with my chosen one;
I promised my servant David:
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever;
I will build up your throne from one generation to the next.’” Selah
5 Heaven thanks you for your wondrous acts, Lord—
for your faithfulness too—
in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 Is there any in the sky who could compare to the Lord?
Who among the gods is equal to the Lord?
7 God is respected in the council of the holy ones;
God is awesome and revered more than all those around him.
8 Who is like you, Lord God of heavenly forces?
Mighty Lord, your faithfulness surrounds you!
9 You rule over the surging sea:
When its waves rise up,
it’s you who makes them still.
10 It’s you who crushed Rahab like a dead body;
you scattered your enemies with your strong arm.
11 Heaven is yours! The earth too!
The world and all that fills it—
you made all of it! North and south—you created them!
12 The mountains Tabor and Hermon
shout praises to your name.
13 You have a powerful arm;
your hand is strong;
your strong hand is raised high!
14 Your throne is built on righteousness and justice;
loyal love and faithfulness stand in front of you.
15 The people who know the celebratory shout are truly happy!
They walk in the light of your presence, Lord!
16 They rejoice in your name all day long
and are uplifted by your righteousness
17 because you are the splendor of their strength.
By your favor you make us strong
18 because our shield is the Lord’s own;
our king belongs to the holy one of Israel!
19 Once you spoke in a vision
to your faithful servants:
I placed a crown on a strong man.
I raised up someone specially chosen from the people.
20 I discovered my servant David.
I anointed him with my holy oil.
21 My hand will sustain him—
yes, my arm will strengthen him!
22 No enemy will oppress him;
no wicked person will make him suffer.
23 I will crush all his foes in front of him.
I will strike down all those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and my loyal love will be with him.
He will be strengthened by my name.
25 I will set his hand on the sea.
I will set his strong hand on the rivers.
26 He will cry out to me:
“You are my father,
my God, the rock of my salvation.”
27 Yes, I’ll make him the one born first—
I’ll make him the high king of all earth’s kings.
28 I will always guard my loyal love toward him.
My covenant with him will last forever.
29 I will establish his dynasty for all time.
His throne will last as long as heaven does.
30 But if his children ever abandon my Instruction,
stop following my rules—
31 if they treat my statutes like dirt,
stop keeping my commandments—
32 then I will punish their sin with a stick,
and I will punish their wrongdoing with a severe beating.
33 But even then I won’t withdraw my loyal love from him.
I won’t betray my faithfulness.
34 I won’t break my covenant.
I won’t renege on what crossed my lips.
35 By my own holiness I’ve sworn one thing:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will be like the sun, always before me.
37 It will be securely established forever;
like the moon, a faithful witness in the sky. Selah
38 But you, God, have rejected and despised him.
You’ve become infuriated with your anointed one.
39 You’ve canceled the covenant with your servant.
You’ve thrown his crown in the dirt.
40 You’ve broken through all his walls.
You’ve made his strongholds a pile of ruins.
41 All those who pass by plunder him.
He’s nothing but a joke to his neighbors.
42 You lifted high his foes’ strong hand.
You gave all his enemies reason to celebrate.
43 Yes, you dulled the edge of his sword
and didn’t support him in battle.
44 You’ve put an end to his splendor.
You’ve thrown his throne to the ground.
45 You’ve shortened the prime of his life.
You’ve wrapped him up in shame. Selah
46 How long will it last, Lord?
Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my life is!
Have you created humans for no good reason?
48 Who lives their life without seeing death?
Who is ever rescued from the grip of the grave?[d] Selah
49 Where now are your loving acts
from long ago, my Lord—
the same ones you promised to David
by your own faithfulness?
50 Remember your servant’s abuse, my Lord!
Remember how I bear in my heart
all the insults of the nations,[e]
51 the ones your enemies, Lord, use—
the ones they use to abuse
every step your anointed one takes.
52 Bless the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen!
Footnotes
- Psalm 89:1 Perhaps instruction
- Psalm 89:2 Heb lacks Your.
- Psalm 89:3 Heb lacks You said.
- Psalm 89:48 Heb Sheol
- Psalm 89:50 Correction; MT all of many peoples
Psalm 89
EasyEnglish Bible
This is a special song that Ethan the Ezrahite wrote.
God's special love[a]
89 I will always sing about the Lord's faithful love.
I will tell my children and my grandchildren
that you are always faithful.
2 Yes! Your faithful love will always continue to be strong.
You will always be faithful,
as the skies will always be there.
3 The Lord has said,
‘I have made a covenant with the king that I chose.
I have made this strong promise to my servant David:
4 “Someone from your family will always be king.
They will rule for ever.” ’
Selah.
5 Lord, everything in heaven praises you
for the great things that you have done.
Yes, your angels meet together to praise you,
because you are always faithful.
6 In all the heavens,
there is no one like you, Lord!
No angel in heaven is equal to you.
7 When the angels meet together in heaven,
they respect you with fear.
All who meet round your throne in heaven respect you,
as you deserve.
8 Lord God Almighty,
no one is as powerful as you!
You are always faithful in all that you do!
9 You rule over the powerful sea.
When the waves rise up,
you make them quiet again.
10 You caught the monster Rahab
and you killed it!
With your power,
you chased away your enemies.
11 The heavens belong to you
and so does the earth.
You made the world
and everything that is in it.
12 You made everything,
from the north to the south.
Tabor and Hermon are happy to praise your name.[b]
13 You have great strength,
and you can do great things.
You hold up your right hand,
as you win against your enemies.
14 As King, you rule with justice,
and you always do what is right.
You show your faithful love and you are faithful.
15 You have truly blessed the people
who know how to praise you, Lord.
They know that you are pleased with them.
16 They praise your name all the time.
Your justice makes them happy.
17 You give strength and glory to your people.
Because you are kind to us,
we win against our enemies.
18 Yes! Our king belongs to the Lord,
and he protects us like a shield.
Our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.
God's covenant with David
19 A long time ago, Lord,
you spoke to your servants.
In a vision, you said to them,
‘I have helped a brave soldier to be strong.
I have chosen as king
a young man from among the people.
20 I have found David, my servant.
I have poured my special oil on him,
to make him king.
21 I will help him with my power,
so that he is strong.
22 No enemy will win against him.
No cruel people will have power to hurt him.
23 I will destroy his enemies in front of him
I will kill those who hate him.
24 I will always be faithful
and show him my faithful love.
By my name he will win against his enemies.
25 I will cause his kingdom to reach
beyond the sea and the rivers.
26 The king will say to me, “You are my Father.
You are my God.
You protect me and you rescue me.”
27 Also, I will make him my firstborn son.
He will be the greatest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will always love him with my faithful love.
I will never change the covenant
that I have made with him.
29 Someone from his family will always be king.
They will rule for ever,
as long as there are skies above us.
30-31 But I will punish his descendants,
if they do not accept my laws.
If they do not obey my teaching, my rules, or my commands,
32 I will punish them.
Because of their sins,
I will give them much pain.
33 But I will not take my faithful love away from David.
I will always be faithful,
and I will do what I have promised to him.
34 I will not spoil the covenant that I have made with him.
I will always keep my promises.
35 I made that promise to David at one time,
and that will not change.
I promised him by my holy name
and I will never deceive him.
36 His descendants will always rule.
His kingdom will continue to be there for ever,
as long as the sun shines.
37 As the moon is always there in the sky,
to show that God is faithful,
David's kingdom will also continue.’
Selah.
A sad song
38 But now you have turned against your king.
You have become angry with the king that you have chosen.
39 You have spoiled the covenant
that you made with your servant.
You have thrown his crown into the dirt.
40 You have knocked down all the walls of his city.
You have destroyed all his strong places.
41 Every stranger robs him of his things.
His neighbours laugh at him.
42 You have made his enemies strong,
so that they win against him and they are happy.
43 You have made his weapons useless,
so that he cannot beat his enemies in war.
44 You have taken away his authority as king.
You have knocked down his throne to the ground.
45 He no longer has the strength of a young man.
You have dressed him in clothes of shame.
Selah.
46 Lord, how long will this continue?
Will you hide yourself from us for ever?
Will your anger continue to burn like a fire?
47 Remember that my life is very short!
People are weak and their lives seem useless.
Why do you make people like that?
48 Nobody can continue to live and never die.
Nobody can escape from the power of death.
49 My Lord, where is the faithful love
that you showed to us in past times?
Where are the blessings that you promised to David?
50 My Lord, look at how people are insulting me!
People from all nations laugh at me, your servant.
51 Lord, your enemies insult the king that you have chosen.
Wherever I go, they insult me!
52 Praise the Lord as he deserves!
Yes! Amen! We agree!
Footnotes
- 89:1 God had made special promises to David as part of a covenant. See 2 Samuel 7:12-17. He promised that someone from David's family would always be king. In this psalm, the writer sees that all these promises have not yet become true. So the writer is sad. He wants to know if God has forgotten about his promises to David.
- 89:12 Tabor and Hermon are the names of mountains in Israel.
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