Psalm 89

A maskil* from Ethan the Ezrahite.

¹I will sing forever about the Lord’s love. I will sing about his loyalty forever and ever! ²Lord, I truly believe your love is forever. Your loyalty continues like the skies! ³God said, “I made an agreement with my chosen king. I made a promise to my servant, David: ⁴David, I will make your family continue forever. I will make your kingdom continue forever and ever.” SELAH* ⁵Lord, you do amazing things. The heavens praise you for this. People can depend on you. The assembly of holy ones sing about this. ⁶No one in heaven is equal to the Lord. None of the “gods” can compare to the Lord. ⁷God meets together with the holy ones. Those angels are all around him. They fear and respect God. They stand in awe of him. ⁸Lord God All-Powerful, there is no one like you. We can trust you completely. ⁹You proudly rule the sea. You can calm its angry waves. ¹⁰God, you defeated Rahab.* You scattered your enemies with your own powerful arm. ¹¹Everything in heaven and earth belong to you, God. You made the world and everything in it. ¹²You created everything north and south. Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing praises to your name. ¹³God, you have the power! Your power is great! The victory is yours! ¹⁴Your kingdom is built on truth and justice. Love and faithfulness are servants before your throne. ¹⁵God, your loyal followers are truly happy. They live in the light of your kindness. ¹⁶Your name always makes them happy. They praise your goodness. ¹⁷You are their amazing strength. Their power comes from you. ¹⁸Lord, you are our Protector. The Holy One of Israel is our King. ¹⁹You spoke to your followers in a vision and said, “I chose a young man from the crowd. And I made that young man important. I made that young soldier strong. ²⁰I found my servant David. And I anointed* him with my special oil. ²¹I supported David with my right arm. And with my power, I made him strong. ²²The enemy could not defeat the chosen king. Wicked people could not defeat him. ²³I finished his enemies. I defeated the people who hated my chosen king. ²⁴I will always love and support my chosen king. I will always make him strong. ²⁵I put my chosen king in charge of the sea. He will control the rivers. ²⁶He will say to me, ‘You are my father. You are my God, my Rock,* my Savior.’ ²⁷And I will make him my firstborn* son. He will be the great king on earth. ²⁸My love will protect the chosen king forever. My agreement with him will never end. ²⁹His family will continue forever, his kingdom as long as the heavens. ³⁰If his descendants* quit following my law, and if they quit obeying my commands, then I will punish them. ³¹If the chosen king’s descendants* break my laws and ignore my commands, ³²then I will punish them very hard. ³³But I will never take my love away from those people. I will always be loyal to them. ³⁴I will not break my agreement with David. I will not change our agreement. ³⁵By my holiness, I made a promise to him. And I would not lie to David! ³⁶David’s family will continue forever. His kingdom will last as long as the sun. ³⁷It will continue forever, like the moon. The skies are the proof of the agreement. That agreement can be trusted.” SELAH* ³⁸But God, you became angry at your chosen king,* and you left him all alone. ³⁹You rejected your agreement. You threw the king’s crown into the dirt. ⁴⁰You pulled down the walls of the king’s city. You destroyed all his fortresses. ⁴¹People passing by steal things from him. His neighbors laugh at him. ⁴²You made all the king’s enemies happy. You let his enemies win the war. ⁴³God, you helped them defend themselves. You did not help your king win the battle. ⁴⁴You didn’t let him win. You threw his throne to the ground. ⁴⁵You cut his life short. You shamed him. SELAH* ⁴⁶Lord, how long will this continue? Will you ignore us forever? Will your anger burn like a fire forever? ⁴⁷Remember how short my life is: You created us to live a short life, and then die. ⁴⁸No person will live and never die. No person will escape the grave. SELAH* ⁴⁹God, where is the love you showed in the past? You promised David that you would be loyal to his family. ^50–51Master, please remember how people insulted your servant. Lord, I had to listen to all those insults from your enemies. Those people insulted your chosen king! ⁵²Bless the Lord forever! Amen and Amen!*

maskil The exact meaning of “maskil” is not known. It might mean “a poem of meditation,” “a poem of instruction,” or “a skillfully-written poem.” SELAH This word is for the musicians. It probably means the singers should pause here or the music should be louder here. Rahab A sea monster. Some ancient stories say the sea monster was an enemy of God. anoint(ed) To pour olive oil on things or people to show that they were chosen by God for a special work or purpose. Rock A name for God to show he is a strong place of safety. firstborn The first child born into a family. The firstborn son was very important in ancient times. descendants A person’s children and their future families. SELAH This word is for the musicians. It probably means the singers should pause here or the music should be louder here. chosen king Literally, “anointed person.” Amen A Hebrew word meaning “truly,” “indeed.” It shows that a person agrees with what has been said.

BOOK 4

Psalm 90

The prayer of Moses, the man of God.*

¹Master, you have been our home forever and ever. ²God, you were God before the mountains were born and the earth and the world were made. God, you have always been, and you will always be, God! ³You bring people into this world. And you change them into dust again. ⁴To you, a thousand years is like yesterday, like last night. ⁵You sweep us away. Our life is like a dream, and in the morning, we are gone. We are like grass. ⁶In the morning the grass grows, and in the evening it is dry and dying. ⁷{God,} your anger could destroys us. Your anger scares us! ⁸You know about all our sins. You see every one of our secret sins. ⁹Your anger can end our life. Our lives fade away like a whisper. ¹⁰We live maybe 70 years. And if we are strong, maybe 80 years. Our lives are filled with hard work and pain. Then suddenly, our lives are finished! And we fly away. ¹¹No person really knows the full power of your anger, God. But God, our fear and respect for you is as great as your anger. ¹²Teach us how short our lives really are, so we can become really wise. ¹³Lord, always come back to us. Be kind to your servants. ¹⁴Fill us with your love every morning. Let us be happy and enjoy our lives. ¹⁵You gave us much sadness and troubles in our lives. Now make us happy. ¹⁶Let your servants see the wonderful things you can do for them. And let their children see your glory. ¹⁷May our God and Master be kind to us. May everything we do provide for us, and may God provide everything we do.*

man of God Another name for a prophet. May our God … do Or, “May the things we make with our hands establish us, and may He establish the things we make with our hands.”