> [[psalm-88|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-90|Next →]] --- # Psalm 89 ## A Lament over God’s Promise to David 1 A *maskil* of Ethan the Ezrahite. ^psalm-89-1 ### A ### I 2 I will sing of your mercy forever, LORD ^psalm-89-2 proclaim your faithfulness through all ages. 3 For I said, “My mercy is established forever; ^psalm-89-3 my faithfulness will stand as long as the heavens. 4 I have made a covenant with my chosen one; ^psalm-89-4 I have sworn to David my servant: 5 I will make your dynasty stand forever ^psalm-89-5 and establish your throne through all ages.” *Selah* ### II 6 The heavens praise your marvels, LORD, ^psalm-89-6 your loyalty in the assembly of the holy ones. 7 Who in the skies ranks with the LORD? ^psalm-89-7 Who is like the LORD among the sons of the gods? 8 A God dreaded in the council of the holy ones, ^psalm-89-8 greater and more awesome than all those around him! 9 LORD, God of hosts, who is like you? ^psalm-89-9 Mighty LORD, your faithfulness surrounds you. 10 You rule the raging sea; ^psalm-89-10 you still its swelling waves. 11 You crush Rahab with a mortal blow; ^psalm-89-11 with your strong arm you scatter your foes. 12 Yours are the heavens, yours the earth; ^psalm-89-12 you founded the world and everything in it. 13 Zaphon and Amanus you created; ^psalm-89-13 Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. 14 You have a mighty arm. ^psalm-89-14 Your hand is strong; your right hand is ever exalted. 15 Justice and judgment are the foundation of your throne; ^psalm-89-15 mercy and faithfulness march before you. 16 Blessed the people who know the war cry, ^psalm-89-16 who walk in the radiance of your face, LORD. 17 In your name they sing joyfully all the day; ^psalm-89-17 they rejoice in your righteousness. 18 You are their majestic strength; ^psalm-89-18 by your favor our horn is exalted. 19 Truly the LORD is our shield, ^psalm-89-19 the Holy One of Israel, our king! ### III 20 Then you spoke in vision; ^psalm-89-20 to your faithful ones you said: “I have set a leader over the warriors; I have raised up a chosen one from the people. 21 I have chosen David, my servant; ^psalm-89-21 with my holy oil I have anointed him. 22 My hand will be with him; ^psalm-89-22 my arm will make him strong. 23 No enemy shall outwit him, ^psalm-89-23 nor shall the wicked defeat him. 24 I will crush his foes before him, ^psalm-89-24 strike down those who hate him. 25 My faithfulness and mercy will be with him; ^psalm-89-25 through my name his horn will be exalted. 26 I will set his hand upon the sea, ^psalm-89-26 his right hand upon the rivers. 27 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father, ^psalm-89-27 my God, the Rock of my salvation!’ 28 I myself make him the firstborn, ^psalm-89-28 Most High over the kings of the earth. 29 Forever I will maintain my mercy for him; ^psalm-89-29 my covenant with him stands firm. 30 I will establish his dynasty forever, ^psalm-89-30 his throne as the days of the heavens. 31 If his descendants forsake my teaching, ^psalm-89-31 do not follow my decrees, 32 If they fail to observe my statutes, ^psalm-89-32 do not keep my commandments, 33 I will punish their crime with a rod ^psalm-89-33 and their guilt with blows. 34 But I will not take my mercy from him, ^psalm-89-34 nor will I betray my bond of faithfulness. 35 I will not violate my covenant; ^psalm-89-35 the promise of my lips I will not alter. 36 By my holiness I swore once for all: ^psalm-89-36 I will never be false to David. 37 His dynasty will continue forever, ^psalm-89-37 his throne, like the sun before me. 38 Like the moon it will stand eternal, ^psalm-89-38 forever firm like the sky!” *Selah* ### B ### IV 39 But now you have rejected and spurned, ^psalm-89-39 been enraged at your anointed. 40 You renounced the covenant with your servant, ^psalm-89-40 defiled his crown in the dust. 41 You broke down all city walls, ^psalm-89-41 left his strongholds in ruins. 42 All who pass through seize plunder; ^psalm-89-42 his neighbors deride him. 43 You have exalted the right hand of his foes, ^psalm-89-43 have gladdened all his enemies. 44 You turned back his sharp sword, ^psalm-89-44 did not support him in battle. 45 You brought to an end his splendor, ^psalm-89-45 hurled his throne to the ground. 46 You cut short the days of his youth, ^psalm-89-46 covered him with shame. *Selah* V 47 How long, LORD? Will you hide forever? ^psalm-89-47 Must your wrath smolder like fire? 48 Remember how brief life is, ^psalm-89-48 how frail the sons of man you have created! 49 What is man, that he should live and not see death? ^psalm-89-49 Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? *Selah* VI 50 Where are your former mercies, Lord, ^psalm-89-50 that you swore to David in your faithfulness? 51 Remember, Lord, the insults to your servants, ^psalm-89-51 how I have borne in my bosom the slander of the nations. 52 Your enemies, LORD, insult; ^psalm-89-52 they insult each step of your anointed. 53 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and amen! ^psalm-89-53 --- \* (Psalm 89) The community laments the defeat of the Davidic king, to whom God promised kingship as enduring as the heavens ([Ps 89:2] – [5]). The Psalm narrates how God became king of the divine beings ([Ps 89:6] – [9]) and how the Davidic king became king of earthly kings ([Ps 89:20] – [38]). Since the defeat of the king calls into question God’s promise, the community ardently prays God to be faithful to the original promise to David ([Ps 89:39] – [52]). \* (89:3] – [5) David’s dynasty is to be as long-lasting as the heavens, a statement reinforced by using the same verbs (establish, stand) both of the divine love and loyalty and of the Davidic dynasty and throne, cf. [Ps 89:29] – [30]. \* (89:7) The sons of the gods: “the holy ones” and “courtiers” of [Ps 89:6], [8]. These heavenly spirits are members of God’s court. \* (89:11) Rahab: a mythological sea monster whose name is used in the Bible mainly as a personification of primeval chaos, cf. [Jb 9:13]; [26:12]; [Ps 74:13] – [14]; [Is 51:9]. \* (89:13) Zaphon and Amanus: two sacred mountains in northern Syria which came to designate the directions of north and south. Tabor: a high hill in the valley of Jezreel in northern Israel. Hermon: a mountain in Lebanon, forming the southern spur of the Anti-Lebanon range. \* (89:18], [25) Horn: a concrete noun for an abstract quality; horn is a symbol of strength. \* (89:26) The sea…the rivers: geographically the limits of the Davidic empire (the Mediterranean and the Euphrates); mythologically, the traditional forces of chaos. See note on [Ps 89:11]. \* (89:28) Most High: a divine title, which is here extended to David as God’s own king, cf. ([[psalm-02|Ps 2]]:7] – [9]; [Is 9:5]. As God rules over the members of the heavenly council ([Ps 89:6] – [9]), so David, God’s surrogate, rules over earthly kings. \* (89:37] – [38) Like the sun before me…like the sky: as enduring as the heavenly lights, cf. [Ps 89:2] – [5] and [Ps 72:5], [17]. \* (89:53) The doxology at the end of the third book of the Psalms; it is not part of [Ps 89]. --- a. (89:2) [Is 63:7]. b. (89:5) [Ps 61:7] – [8]; [132:11]; [2 Sm 7:8] – [16]. c. (89:6) ([[psalm-29|Ps 29]]:1]; [82:1]; [Jb 1:6]; [5:1]. d. (89:7] – [9) [Ps 35:10]; [86:8]; [113:5]; ([[exodus-15|Ex 15]]:11]; [Jer 10:6]. e. (89:10] – [11) [Ps 65:8]; [74:13] – [15]; [107:29]; [Jb 7:12]; [Is 51:9] – [10]. f. (89:12) ([[psalm-24|Ps 24]]:1] – [2]; [50:12]; [Dt 10:14]; [[1-corinthians-10|1 Cor 10]]:26]. g. (89:15) [Ps 85:11] – [12]; [97:2]. h. (89:17) [Ps 47:2]; [Zep 3:14]. i. (89:18) [Ps 112:9]; [148:14]. j. (89:19) [Ps 47:9]; [96:10]; [97:1]; [99:1]; [Is 6:3]. k. (89:20] – [21) [Ps 78:70]; [132:11] – [12]; [2 Sm 7:4], [8] – [16]; [[1-chronicles-17|1 Chr 17]]:3, [7] – [14]; [Is 42:1]; ([[acts-of-the-apostles-13|Acts 13]]:22]. l. (89:22] – [25) [1 Sm 2:9] – [10]. m. (89:27] – [28) ([[psalm-02|Ps 2]]:7]; [110:2] – [3]; [2 Sm 7:9], [14]; [Col 1:15], [18]; ([[revelation-01|Rv 1]]:5]. n. (89:29] – [30) ([[psalm-18|Ps 18]]:51]; [61:8]; [144:10]; [2 Sm 7:11]; [Is 55:3]. o. (89:31] – [33) [Lv 26:14] – [33]. p. (89:34) [Ps 40:12]; [Sir 47:22]. q. (89:35) [Jer 33:20] – [21]. r. (89:36) [Am 4:2]. s. (89:37] – [38) [Ps 61:8]; [72:5]; [Sir 43:6]. t. (89:39] – [47) [Ps 44:10] – [25]. u. (89:41] – [42) [Ps 80:13] – [14]. v. (89:43) [Lam 1:5]. w. (89:47) ([[psalm-13|Ps 13]]:2]; [44:25]; [74:10]; [79:5]; [Dt 4:24]. x. (89:48) [Ps 39:5] – [6]; [62:10]; [90:9] – [10]; [144:4]; [Jb 7:6], [16]; [14:1], [5]; [Eccl 6:12]; ([[wisdom-02|Wis 2]]:5]. y. (89:49) [Ps 90:3]. z. (89:51) [Ps 79:12]. a. (89:53) [Ps 41:14]; [72:18]; [106:48]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[psalm-88|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-90|Next →]]