Old/New Testament
An instruction[a]. By Ethan, the Ezrahite
God’s Covenant with David
89 I will sing forever about the gracious love of the Lord;
from generation to generation
I will declare your faithfulness with my mouth.
2 I will declare that your gracious love was established forever;
in the heavens itself, you have established your faithfulness.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise to David, my servant.
4 “I will establish your dynasty forever,
and I will lift up one who will build[b] your throne
from generation to generation.”
5 Even the heavens praise your awesome deeds, Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies compares to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the divine beings?
7 God is feared in the council of the holy ones,
revered by all those around him.
8 Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,
who is as mighty as you, Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the majestic[c] sea;
when its waves surge,
you calm them.
10 You crushed the proud one[d] to death;
with your powerful arm
you scattered your enemies.
11 Heaven and the earth belong to you,
the world and everything it contains—
you established them.
12 The north and south—you created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 Your arm is strong;
your hand is mighty;
indeed, your right hand is victorious.[e]
14 Righteousness and justice make up
the foundation of your throne;
gracious love and truth meet before you.
15 How happy are the people who can worship joyfully![f]
Lord, they walk in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice all day long;
they exult in your justice.[g]
17 For you are their strength’s grandeur;
by your favor you exalted our power.[h]
18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
God’s Describes His Anointed
19 You spoke to your faithful[i] ones through a vision:[j]
“I will set a helper over[k] a warrior.
I will raise up a chosen one from the people.
20 I have found my servant David;
I have anointed him with my sacred oil,
21 with whom my power[l] will be firmly established;
for my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will deceive him;
no wicked person[m] will afflict him.
23 I will crush his enemies before him
and strike those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and gracious love will be with him,
and in my name his power[n] will be exalted.
25 I will place his hand[o] over the sea,
and his right hand[p] over the rivers.
26 He will announce to me
‘You are my father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 “Indeed, I myself made him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will show[q] my gracious love toward him forever,
since my covenant is securely established with him.
29 I will establish his dynasty[r] forever,
and his throne as long as heaven endures.[s]
30 “But if his sons abandon my laws and
do not follow my ordinances,
31 if they profane my statutes;
and do not keep my commands,
32 then I will punish their disobedience with a rod
and their iniquity with lashes.
33 But I will not cut off[t] my gracious love from him,
and I will not stop being faithful.
34 I will not dishonor my covenant,
because I will not change what I have spoken.[u]
35 I have sworn by my holiness once for all:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty[v] will last forever
and his throne will be like the sun before me.
37 It will be established forever like the moon,
a faithful witness in the sky.”
A Commitment to Persevere
38 But you have spurned, rejected,
and became angry with your anointed one.
39 You have dishonored the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown on the ground.
40 You have broken through all his[w] walls;
you have laid his fortresses in ruin.
41 All who pass by on their way plunder him;
he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
you have caused all of his enemies to rejoice.
43 Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and did not support him in battle.
44 You have caused his splendor[x] to cease
and cast down his throne to the ground.
45 You have caused the days of his youth to be cut short;
you have covered him with shame.
46 How long, Lord, will you hide yourself? Forever?
Will your anger continuously burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my lifetime is!
How powerless have you created all human beings![y]
48 What valiant man can live and not see death?
Who can deliver himself[z] from the power[aa] of Sheol.[ab]
49 Where is your gracious love of old, Lord,
that in your faithfulness you promised to David?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servant!
I carry inside me all the insults of many people,
51 when your enemies reproached you, Lord,
when they reproached the footsteps[ac] of your anointed.
52 Blessed is the Lord forever!
Amen and amen!
BOOK IV (Psalms 90-106)
A prayer by Moses, the godly man
Life is Short
90 Lord, you’ve been our refuge[ad]
from generation to generation.
2 Before the mountains were formed
or the earth and the world were brought forth,
you are God from eternity to eternity.
3 You return people to dust
merely by[ae] saying, “Return, you mortals!”
4 One thousand years in your sight are but a single day
that passes by, just like a night watch.
5 You will sweep them away while they are asleep—
by morning they are like growing grass.
6 In the morning it blossoms and is renewed,
but toward evening, it fades and withers.
7 Indeed, we are consumed[af] by your anger
and terrified by your wrath.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
what we have concealed in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass[ag] away in your wrath;
our years fade away[ah] and end like a sigh.
10 We live for 70 years,
or 80 years if we’re healthy,[ai]
yet even in the prime years[aj] there are troubles and sorrow.
They pass by quickly and we fly away.
11 Who can know the intensity of your anger?
Because our fear of you matches your wrath,
12 teach us to keep account of our days
so we may develop inner wisdom.
13 Please return, Lord! When will it be?
Comfort your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your gracious love
so we may sing for joy
and rejoice every day.
15 Cause us to rejoice throughout the time when you have afflicted us,
the years when we have known[ak] trouble.
16 May your awesome deeds be revealed to your servants,
as well as your splendor to their children.
17 May your favor be on us, Lord our God;
make our endeavors successful;
yes, make our endeavors secure!
How to Treat Weak Believers
14 Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of arguing over differences of opinion. 2 One person believes that he may eat anything, while the weak[a] person eats only[b] vegetables. 3 The person who eats any kind of food[c] must not ridicule the person who does not eat them,[d] and the person who does not eat certain foods[e] must not criticize the person who eats them,[f] for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant? He stands or falls before his own Lord—and stand he will, because the Lord[g] makes him stand.
5 One person decides in favor of one day over another, while another person decides that all days are the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind: 6 The one who observes a special day,[h] observes it to honor the Lord. The one who eats, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. And the one who does not eat, refrains from eating to honor the Lord; yet he, too, gives thanks to God.
7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live to honor the Lord; and if we die, we die to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this reason the Messiah[i] died and returned to life, so that he might become the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God.[j] 11 For it is written,
“As certainly as I live, declares the Lord,[k]
every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will praise[l] God.”[m]
12 Consequently, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Acting in Love
13 Therefore, let’s no longer criticize[n] each other. Instead, make up your mind not to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know—and have been persuaded by the Lord Jesus—that nothing is unclean in and of itself, but it is unclean to a person who thinks it is unclean. 15 For if your brother is being hurt by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not destroy the person for whom the Messiah[o] died by what you eat. 16 Do not allow what seems good to you to be spoken of as evil. 17 For God’s kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit. 18 For the person who serves the Messiah[p] in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people. 19 Therefore, let’s keep on pursuing those things that bring peace and that lead to building up one another.
20 Do not destroy God’s action for the sake of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make another person stumble because of what you eat. 21 The right thing to do is to avoid eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that makes your brother stumble, upset, or weak.[q] 22 As for the faith you do have, have it as your own conviction before God. How blessed is the person who has no reason to condemn himself because of what he approves! 23 But the person who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act in faith; and anything that is not done in faith is sin.
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