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89. Psalm 89

¹ I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever;
   with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
   through all generations.
² I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
   that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
³ You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
   I have sworn to David my servant,
⁴ ‘I will establish your line forever
   and make your throne firm through all generations.’” The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 37, 45 and 48.

    ⁵ The heavens praise your wonders, LORD,
   your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
⁶ For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD?
   Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
⁷ In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
   he is more awesome than all who surround him.
⁸ Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?
   You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

    ⁹ You rule over the surging sea;
   when its waves mount up, you still them.
¹⁰ You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;
   with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
¹¹ The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
   you founded the world and all that is in it.
¹² You created the north and the south;
   Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.
¹³ Your arm is endowed with power;
   your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.

    ¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
   love and faithfulness go before you.
¹⁵ Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
   who walk in the light of your presence, LORD.
¹⁶ They rejoice in your name all day long;
   they celebrate your righteousness.
¹⁷ For you are their glory and strength,
   and by your favor you exalt our horn. Horn here symbolizes strong one.
¹⁸ Indeed, our shield Or sovereign belongs to the LORD,
   our king to the Holy One of Israel.

    ¹⁹ Once you spoke in a vision,
   to your faithful people you said:
“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
   I have raised up a young man from among the people.
²⁰ I have found David my servant;
   with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
²¹ My hand will sustain him;
   surely my arm will strengthen him.
²² The enemy will not get the better of him;
   the wicked will not oppress him.
²³ I will crush his foes before him
   and strike down his adversaries.
²⁴ My faithful love will be with him,
   and through my name his horn Horn here symbolizes strength. will be exalted.
²⁵ I will set his hand over the sea,
   his right hand over the rivers.
²⁶ He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
   my God, the Rock my Savior.’
²⁷ And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,
   the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
²⁸ I will maintain my love to him forever,
   and my covenant with him will never fail.
²⁹ I will establish his line forever,
   his throne as long as the heavens endure.

    ³⁰ “If his sons forsake my law
   and do not follow my statutes,
³¹ if they violate my decrees
   and fail to keep my commands,
³² I will punish their sin with the rod,
   their iniquity with flogging;
³³ but I will not take my love from him,
   nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
³⁴ I will not violate my covenant
   or alter what my lips have uttered.
³⁵ Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
   and I will not lie to David—
³⁶ that his line will continue forever
   and his throne endure before me like the sun;
³⁷ it will be established forever like the moon,
   the faithful witness in the sky.”

    ³⁸ But you have rejected, you have spurned,
   you have been very angry with your anointed one.
³⁹ You have renounced the covenant with your servant
   and have defiled his crown in the dust.
⁴⁰ You have broken through all his walls
   and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
⁴¹ All who pass by have plundered him;
   he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
⁴² You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
   you have made all his enemies rejoice.
⁴³ Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword
   and have not supported him in battle.
⁴⁴ You have put an end to his splendor
   and cast his throne to the ground.
⁴⁵ You have cut short the days of his youth;
   you have covered him with a mantle of shame.

    ⁴⁶ How long, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?
   How long will your wrath burn like fire?
⁴⁷ Remember how fleeting is my life.
   For what futility you have created all humanity!
⁴⁸ Who can live and not see death,
   or who can escape the power of the grave?
⁴⁹ Lord, where is your former great love,
   which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
⁵⁰ Remember, Lord, how your servant has Or your servants have been mocked,
   how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
⁵¹ the taunts with which your enemies, LORD, have mocked,
   with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.

⁵² Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.

5. And the heavens shall praise thy wondrous work. The prophet, having spoken of God’s covenant, even as faith ought to begin at the word, now descends to a general commendation of his works. It is, however, to be observed, that when he treats of the wonderful power of God, he has no other end in view than to exalt and magnify more highly the holiness of the covenant. He exclaims, that this is the God who has rightful claims to be served and feared, who ought to be believed, and upon whose power the most unhesitating confidence may be reposed. The words wondrous work, in the first clause, I would therefore limit to the power which God displays in preserving and maintaining his Church. The heavens, it is true, are most excellent witnesses and preachers of God’s wonderful power; but from attending to the scope of the passage, it will be still more evident, that the encomiums here pronounced have all a special reference to the end of which I have spoken. Some interpreters judiciously explain the word heavens, of the angels, among whom there is a common joy and congratulation in the salvation of the Church. This interpretation is confirmed from the last clause of the verse, in which it is asserted, that God’s truth will be celebrated in the congregation of the saints There is no doubt, that the same subject is here prosecuted, and that by the word truth, it is intended to signalise the remarkable deliverances by which God had manifested his faithfulness to the promises made to his servants.