Psalms 89

Remembering the Covenant with David, and Sorrow for Lost Blessings

¹I will sing forever of Yahweh’s acts of loyal love.

From generation to generation

I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.

²For I say, “Forever your loyal love is built up.

The heavens you have established with your faithfulness in them.”

³“I made a covenant with my chosen one;

I swore an oath to David my servant:

⁴‘I will establish your descendants forever,

and I will build up your throne from generation to generation.’ ” Selah

⁵And so the heavens will praise your wonderful deed, O Yahweh,

even your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶For who in the sky is equal to Yahweh?[#Hebrew singular collective “clouds”]

Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God,

⁷a God feared greatly in the council of the holy ones,

and awesome above all surrounding him?

⁸O Yahweh God of hosts,

who is mighty like you, O Yah,

with your faithfulness surrounding you?

⁹You are ruling the surging of the sea.

When its waves rise, you yourself still them.

¹⁰You yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain;[#Literally “You, you crushed”]

you scattered your enemies with your strong arm.

¹¹The heavens are yours, the earth yours as well,

the world with its fullness, because you founded them.

¹²North and south, you created them;

Tabor and Hermon shout joyfully over your name.

¹³You have a mighty arm;

Your hand is strong; your right hand reaches high.

¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.

Loyal love and faithfulness come before your face.

¹⁵Blessed are the people who know the joyful shout;

O Yahweh, they walk about in the light of your countenance.

¹⁶In your name they rejoice all the day,

and in your righteousness they rise up.

¹⁷For you are the glory of their strength,

and by your favor our horn rises up,

¹⁸because our shield belongs to Yahweh,[#Or “Yahweh is our shield.”]

and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹Formerly you spoke in a vision

to your faithful ones, and said,

“I have bestowed help on a mighty man;

I have exalted one chosen from the people.

²⁰I have found David, my servant.

With my holy oil I have anointed him,

²¹with whom my hand will be steadfast.

Surely my arm will strengthen him.

²²The enemy will not deceive him,

and no evil man will afflict him.

²³But I will crush his adversaries before him,

and I will strike those who hate him.

²⁴And so my faithfulness

and my loyal love will be with him,

and in my name his horn will rise up.

²⁵And I will set his hand on the sea

and his right hand on the rivers.

²⁶He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,

my God, and the rock of my salvation.’

²⁷I will also make him the firstborn,

the highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸Forever I will keep my loyal love for him,

and my covenant will be reliable for him.

²⁹I will also establish his offspring forever,

and his throne as the days of the heavens.

³⁰If his sons forsake my law

and do not walk in my judgments,

³¹if they defile my statutes[#Hebrew “profane; treat as common”]

and do not keep my commandments,

³²then I will punish their transgression with a rod,

and their guilt with wounds.

³³But I will not break off my loyal love from him,

and I will not be false against my faithfulness.

³⁴I will not defile my covenant,[#Hebrew “profane; treat as common”]

or alter what proceeded from my lips.

³⁵Once I have sworn by my holiness,[#Hebrew “One”]

‘I will surely not lie to David,

³⁶His offspring will endure forever,[#Hebrew “be”]

and his throne as the sun before me.

³⁷Like the moon it will be steadfast forever,

and like an enduring witness in the sky.’ ” Selah

³⁸But you have spurned and rejected;

you are very angry with your anointed one.

³⁹You have repudiated the covenant with your servant;

you have defiled his crown in the dirt.

⁴⁰You have broken down all his walls;

you have made his fortifications a ruin.

⁴¹All passing along the road plunder him;

he has become a taunt to his neighbors.

⁴²You have raised the right hand of his adversaries.[#That is, given them victory]

You have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³You have also turned back the edge of his sword

and have not helped him stand his ground in the battle.

⁴⁴You have made his splendor to cease,

and cast his throne to the ground.

⁴⁵You have cut short the days of his youth;

you have covered him with shame. Selah

⁴⁶How long, O Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever?

Will your wrath burn like fire forever?

⁴⁷Remember what my lifespan is.

Remember for what vanity

you have created all the children of humankind.

⁴⁸What man can live on and not see death?

Can he deliver his life from the power of Sheol? Selah

⁴⁹Where are your former acts of loyal love, O Lord,

that you swore to David by your faithfulness?

⁵⁰Remember, O Lord the taunting of your servants,

how I bear in my bosom the taunts of all the many peoples,

⁵¹by which your enemies taunt, O Yahweh,

by which they taunt the steps of your anointed one.

⁵²Blessed be Yahweh forever.

Amen and Amen.