Psalm 89
Lord, I will sing for ever of your loving-kindnesses
: my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness
throughout all generations.
I have said of your loving-kindness that it is built for ever
: you have established your faithfulness in the heavens.
The Lord said ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen
: I have sworn an oath to my servant David.
‘I will establish your line for ever
: and build up your throne for all generations.’
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord
: and let your faithfulness be sung in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who amidst the clouds can be compared to the Lord
: or who is like the Lord among the sons of heaven?
A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones :
great and terrible above all that are around him.
O Lord God of hosts, who is like you? :
your power and your faithfulness are all about you.
You rule the raging of the sea :
when its waves surge, you still them.
You crushed Rahab like a carcase :
you scattered your enemies by your mighty arm.
The heavens are yours, so also is the earth :
you founded the world and all that is in it.
You created the north and the south :
Tabor and Mount Hermon shall sing of your name.
Mighty is your arm :
strong is your hand, and your right hand is lifted high.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne :
loving-kindness and faithfulness attend your presence.
Happy the people who know the triumphal shout :
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance.
They rejoice all the day long because of your name :
because of your righteousness they are exalted.
For you are their glory and their strength :
and our heads are uplifted by your favour.
Our king belongs to the Lord :
he that rules over us to the Holy One of Israel.
You spoke once in a vision :
and said to your faithful one,
‘I have set a youth above a warrior :
I have exalted a young man out of the people.
‘I have found my servant David :
and anointed him with my holy oil.
‘My hand shall uphold him :
and my arm shall strengthen him.
‘No enemy shall deceive him :
no evil man shall hurt him.
‘I will crush his adversaries before him :
and strike down those that hate him.
‘My faithfulness and loving-kindness shall be with him :
and through my name his head shall be lifted high.
‘I will set the hand of his dominion upon the Western Sea :
and his right hand shall stretch to the streams of Mesopotamia.
‘He will call to me “You are my Father :
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.”
‘I will make him my first-born son :
and highest among the kings of the earth.
‘I will ever maintain my loving-kindness toward him :
and my covenant with him shall stand firm.
‘I will establish his line for ever :
and his throne like the days of heaven.
‘If his children forsake my law :
and will not walk in my judgements;
‘If they profane my statutes :
and do not keep my commandments,
‘Then I will punish their rebellion with the rod :
and their iniquity with blows.
‘But I will not cause my loving-kindness to cease from him :
nor will I betray my faithfulness.
‘I will not profane my covenant :
or alter what has passed from my lips.
‘Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness :
I will not prove false to David.
‘His posterity shall endure for ever :
and his throne be as the sun before me;
‘Like the moon that is established for ever :
and stands in the heavens for evermore.’
Yet you have been enraged against your anointed :
you have abhorred him and rejected him.
You have spurned the covenant with your servant :
and defiled his crown to the dust.
You have broken down all his walls :
and made his strongholds desolate.
All that pass by plunder him :
he has become the scorn of his neighbours.
You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries :
and gladdened all his enemies.
His bright sword you have turned backward :
you have not enabled him to stand in the battle.
You have brought his lustre to an end :
you have cast his throne to the ground.
You have cut short the days of his youth :
and clothed him with dishonour.
How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself so utterly :
how long shall your fury burn like fire?
Remember how I draw to my eternal end :
have you created all mankind for nothing?
Where is the man who can live and not see death? :
who can deliver his life from the power of the grave?
Where, O Lord, are your loving-kindnesses of old :
which you have vowed to David in your faithfulness?
Remember, O Lord, how your servant is reviled :
how I bear in my bosom the onslaught of the peoples;
Remember how your enemies taunt :
how they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
Blessed be the Lord for ever :
Amen and amen.