Psalm 89

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil[1] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

89:1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. ²For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” ³You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: ⁴‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah

⁵Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! ⁶For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings[2] is like the Lord, ⁷a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? ⁸O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? ⁹You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. ¹⁰You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. ¹¹The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. ¹²The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. ¹³You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand. ¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. ¹⁵Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, ¹⁶who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted. ¹⁷For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted. ¹⁸For our shield belongs to the Lord, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,[3] and said: “I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. ²⁰I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him, ²¹so that my hand shall be established with him; my arm also shall strengthen him. ²²The enemy shall not outwit him; the wicked shall not humble him. ²³I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him. ²⁴My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. ²⁵I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers. ²⁶He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ ²⁷And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. ²⁸My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm[4] for him. ²⁹I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. ³⁰If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules, ³¹if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, ³²then I will punish their transgression with the 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 covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. ³⁵Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. ³⁶His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. ³⁷Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

³⁸But now you have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed. ³⁹You have renounced the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown in the dust. ⁴⁰You have breached all his walls; you have laid his strongholds in ruins. ⁴¹All who pass by plunder him; he has become the 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 the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah

⁴⁶How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? ⁴⁷Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! ⁴⁸What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

⁴⁹Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David? ⁵⁰Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults[5] of all the many nations, ⁵¹with which your enemies mock, O Lord, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.

⁵²Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.

[1] Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] Hebrew the sons of God, or the sons of might [3] Some Hebrew manuscripts godly ones [4] Or will remain faithful [5] Hebrew lacks the insults

Psalm 90

Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place[6] in all generations. ²Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”^[7]⁴For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

⁵You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: ⁶in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

⁷For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. ⁸You have set our iniquities before you, our secret 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 span[8] 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?

¹²So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. ¹³Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! ¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. ¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. ¹⁶Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. ¹⁷Let the favor[9] of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

[6] Some Hebrew manuscripts (compare Septuagint) our refuge [7] Or of Adam [8] Or pride [9] Or beauty