Psalm 89–90

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

89A Maskil¹ of ^hEthan the Ezrahite.

¹ⁱI will sing of ^jthe steadfast love of the Lord forever;

with my mouth I will make known your ^kfaithfulness to all generations.

²For I said, ^j“Steadfast love will be built up forever;

in the heavens ^lyou will establish your ^kfaithfulness.”

³You have said, “I have made ^ma covenant with my ⁿchosen one;

I have ^osworn to David my servant:

⁴‘I will establish your ^poffspring forever,

and build your ^qthrone for all generations.’ ” Selah

⁵Let ^rthe heavens praise your ^swonders, O Lord,

your faithfulness in the assembly of ^tthe holy ones!

⁶For ^uwho in the skies can be compared to the Lord?

^uWho among the heavenly beings² is like the Lord,

⁷a God greatly ^vto be feared in the council of ^tthe holy ones,

and awesome above all ^wwho are around him?

⁸O Lord God of hosts,

^xwho is mighty as you are, O ^yLord,

with your faithfulness all around you?

⁹You rule the raging of the sea;

when its waves rise, you ^zstill them.

¹⁰You ^acrushed ^bRahab like a carcass;

you ^cscattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

^11dThe heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;

^ethe world and all that is in it, you have ^ffounded them.

^12gThe north and the south, you have created them;

^hTabor and ⁱHermon ^jjoyously praise your name.

¹³You have a mighty arm;

strong is your hand, high your right hand.

^14kRighteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

^lsteadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

¹⁵Blessed are the people who know ^mthe festal shout,

who walk, O Lord, in ⁿthe light of your face,

¹⁶who exult in your ^oname all the day

and in your righteousness are ^pexalted.

¹⁷For you are ^qthe glory of their strength;

by your favor our ^rhorn is exalted.

¹⁸For our ^sshield belongs to the Lord,

our king to ^tthe Holy One of Israel.

^19uOf old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,³ and said:

“I have ^vgranted help to one who is ^wmighty;

I have exalted one ^xchosen from the people.

^20yI have found David, my servant;

with my holy oil I have ^zanointed him,

²¹so that my ^ahand shall be established with him;

my arm also shall strengthen him.

²²The enemy shall not outwit him;

^bthe wicked shall not humble him.

²³I will ^ccrush his foes before him

and strike down those who hate him.

²⁴My ^dfaithfulness and my ^dsteadfast love shall be with him,

and in my name shall his ^ehorn be exalted.

²⁵I will set his hand on ^fthe sea

and his right hand on ^fthe rivers.

²⁶He shall cry to me, ‘You are my ^gFather,

my God, and ^hthe Rock of my salvation.’

²⁷And I will make him the ⁱfirstborn,

^jthe highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,

and my ^kcovenant will stand firm⁴ for him.

²⁹I will establish his ^loffspring forever

and his ^lthrone as ^mthe days of the heavens.

³⁰ⁿIf his children forsake my law

and do not walk according to my rules,⁵

³¹if they violate my statutes

and do not keep my commandments,

³²then I will punish their transgression with ^othe rod

and their iniquity with stripes,

³³but I will not remove from him my steadfast love

or be false to my faithfulness.

³⁴I will not violate my ^kcovenant

or alter the word that went forth from my lips.

³⁵Once for all I have sworn ^pby my holiness;

I will not ^qlie to David.

³⁶His ^loffspring shall endure forever,

^rhis ^lthrone as long as ^sthe sun before me.

³⁷Like ^sthe moon it shall be established forever,

^ta faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

³⁸But now you have ^ucast off and rejected;

you are full of wrath against your ^vanointed.

³⁹You have ^wrenounced ^xthe covenant with your servant;

you have ^ydefiled his ^zcrown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have ^abreached all his walls;

you have laid his strongholds in ruins.

^41aAll who pass by plunder him;

he has become ^bthe scorn of his neighbors.

⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his foes;

you have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³You have also turned back the edge of his sword,

and you have not made him stand in battle.

⁴⁴You have made his splendor to cease

and cast his throne to the ground.

⁴⁵You have cut short ^cthe days of his youth;

you have ^dcovered him with shame. Selah

^46eHow long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your wrath ^fburn like fire?

^47gRemember ^hhow short my ⁱtime is!

For what vanity you have created all the children of man!

^48jWhat man can live and never ^ksee death?

Who can deliver his soul from the power of ^lSheol? Selah

⁴⁹Lord, where is your ^msteadfast love of old,

which by your ^mfaithfulness you swore to David?

⁵⁰ⁿRemember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,

and how I bear in my ^oheart the insults⁶ of all the many nations,

⁵¹with which your enemies mock, O Lord,

with which they mock ^pthe footsteps of your ^qanointed.

^52rBlessed be the Lord forever!

Amen and Amen.

Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

90A ^sPrayer of Moses, the ^tman of God.

¹Lord, you have been our ^udwelling place¹

in all generations.

^2vBefore the ^wmountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

^xfrom everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You return man to dust

and say, ^y“Return, ^zO children of man!”²

⁴For ^aa thousand years in your sight

are but as ^byesterday when it is past,

or as ^ca watch in the night.

⁵You ^dsweep them away as with a flood; they are like ^ea dream,

like ^fgrass that is renewed in the morning:

⁶in ⁱthe morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it ^jfades and ^kwithers.

⁷For we are brought to an end by your anger;

by your wrath we are dismayed.

⁸You have ^lset our iniquities before you,

our ^msecret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹For all our days pass away under your wrath;

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

¹⁰The years of our life are seventy,

or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span³ is but toil and trouble;

they are soon gone, and we fly away.

¹¹Who considers the power of your anger,

and your wrath according to the fear of you?

¹²ⁿSo teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

^13oReturn, O Lord! ^pHow long?

Have ^qpity on your servants!

¹⁴Satisfy us in the ^smorning with your steadfast love,

that we may ^trejoice and be glad all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have ^uafflicted us,

and for as many years as we have seen evil.

¹⁶Let your ^vwork be shown to your servants,

and your glorious power to their children.

¹⁷Let the ^xfavor⁴ of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish ^ythe work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!