Psalms 89
1 Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
Yahweh, I will sing forever about the ways you faithfully love me; people not yet born will hear that you faithfully [do all that you have promised].
2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
I will tell people that you will faithfully love us forever, and that your being faithful [to do what you have promised] is as permanent as the sky.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
Yahweh said, “I have made an agreement with David, whom I chose [to serve me]. I have made this solemn (agreement with/promise to) him:
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. (Selah)
‘I will enable various ones of your descendants to always be kings; the line of kings descended from you [MTY] will never end.’”
5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
Yahweh, I desire that all [those beings who are in] [MTY] heaven will praise you for the wonderful things that you do, and that all your holy angels will sing about how you faithfully [do what you promise].
6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? [who] among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
There is no one [RHQ] in heaven who can be compared with you, Yahweh. There are no angels [RHQ] in heaven who are equal to you.
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all [them that are] about him.
When your holy angels gather together, they declare that you must be revered; they say that you are more awesome than all the angels that surround your throne!
8 O LORD God of hosts, who [is] a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
O Yahweh, God Almighty, there is no one [RHQ] who is powerful like you are; your faithfully doing [all that you promise] is [like a cloak that] [MET] [always] surrounds you.
9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
You rule over the powerful seas; when their waves rise up, you calm them.
10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
You are the one who crushed [and killed the great sea monster named] Rahab. You [defeated and] scattered your enemies with your great power [MTY].
11 The heavens [are] thine, the earth also [is] thine: [as for] the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; and everything on the earth is yours, because you created it all.
12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
You created [everything from] the north to the south. Tabor [Mountain] and Hermon [Mountain] joyfully praise you [MTY].
13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, [and] high is thy right hand.
(You/Your arms) are very powerful; (you/your hands) are extremely strong.
14 Justice and judgment [are] the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
(Your rule [MTY] over us is based on/As you rule over us, you are always) treating people fairly and justly, and on/are always faithfully loving us and doing [what you promised].
15 Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
Yahweh, happy are the people who worship you with joyful shouts, who live knowing that you are always watching over them.
16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
Every day, throughout the day, they rejoice in what you [MTY] [have done], and they praise you for being very good [to them].
17 For thou [art] the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
You give us your glorious strength; because you act in our favor, we defeat [MET] [our enemies].
18 For the LORD [is] our defence; and the Holy One of Israel [is] our king.
Yahweh, you gave us [the one who] protects us [MET]; you, the holy God whom we Israelis worship, chose a king for us.
19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people.
Long ago you spoke in a vision to one of your servants/prophets, saying, “I have helped a famous soldier; I chose him from among all the people to be a king.
20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
That man is David, the one who will serve me [faithfully], and I anointed him with sacred olive oil [to make him king].
21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
I [MTY] will always strengthen him; with my power [MTY] I will make him strong.
22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
His enemies will never find ways to defeat him, and wicked people will never defeat him.
23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
I will crush his enemies in front of him and get rid of those who hate him.
24 But my faithfulness and my mercy [shall be] with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will always be loyal to him and faithfully love him and enable him to defeat [MET] [his enemies].
25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
I will cause (his kingdom/the area that he rules) to include all the land from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Euphrates] River.
26 He shall cry unto me, Thou [art] my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
He will say to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the one who protects [MET] and saves me.’
27 Also I will make him [my] firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
I will give him [the rights/privileges that a man’s] firstborn son has [MET]; he will be the greatest king on the earth.
28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
I will always be loyal to him, and my agreement [to bless] him will last forever.
29 His seed also will I make [to endure] for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
I will establish a line of his descendants that will never end, various ones of his descendants will always be kings.
30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
But, if [some of] his descendants disobey my laws, and do not not behave like my commands say that they should,
31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
if they disregard my requirements and do not do the right things that I have told them to do,
32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
I will punish them severely [MTY] and cause them to suffer for doing wrong.
33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
But I will not stop faithfully loving [David], and I will always do what I promised him.
34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
I will not break the agreement that I made with him; I will not change even one word that I spoke [to him].
35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
Once I made a solemn promise to David, and that will never change, and because I am God, I will never lie to David.
36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
[I promised that] the line of kings descended from him will go on forever; it will last as long as the sun [shines].
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and [as] a faithful witness in heaven. (Selah)
That line will (be as permanent/last as long) as the moon that is always watching everything from the sky.
38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
But [Yahweh], now you have rejected [DOU] David! You are very angry with the king whom you appointed.
39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown [by casting it] to the ground.
[It seems that] you have broken the agreement that you made with your servant, [David]; it seems as though you [have signaled that he is no longer the king by] throwing his crown into the dust/dirt.
40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
You have torn down the walls [that protect] his [city], and allowed all his forts to become ruins.
41 All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.
All those who pass by plunder/steal his possessions; his neighbors (laugh at/ridicule) him.
42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
You have enabled his enemies to defeat him; you have made them all happy.
43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
You have caused his sword to become useless, and you have not helped him in his battles.
44 Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.
You have caused his splendor to end (OR, You have taken away his power by knocking his throne to the ground.
45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. (Selah)
You have caused him to look old when he is still young and caused him to be very shamed/disgraced.
46 How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
O Yahweh, how long [will this continue]? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like a fire?
47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
Do not forget that life is very short; have you created all us people in vain?
48 What man [is he that] liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? (Selah) (Sheol h7585)
No one can [RHQ] keep on living and never die; (No one can [RHQ] avoid going/Everyone will go) to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
49 Lord, where [are] thy former lovingkindnesses, [which] thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
Yahweh, you promised long ago that you would faithfully love us; why are you not doing that? You solemnly promised that to David!
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; [how] I do bear in my bosom [the reproach of] all the mighty people;
Yahweh, do not forget that people insult me! (Heathen people/People who do not know you) curse me!
51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
Yahweh, your enemies insult your chosen king! They insult/ridicule him wherever he goes.
52 Blessed [be] the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.
I hope/desire that Yahweh will be praised forever! Amen! May it be so!
