Psalms 89
1 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].
A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations.
2 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.
For I have said, “Loving devotion is built up forever; in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”
3 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:
You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant:
4 ‘I will enable various ones of your descendants to always be kings; the line of kings descended from you [MTY] will never end.’”
‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’”
5 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].
The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD— Your faithfulness as well— in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 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.
For who in the skies can compare with the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?
7 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!
In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared, and awesome above all who surround Him.
8 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.
O LORD God of Hosts, who is like You? O mighty LORD, Your faithfulness surrounds You.
9 You rule over the powerful seas; when their waves rise up, you calm them.
You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.
10 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].
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; and everything on the earth is yours, because you created it all.
The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.
12 You created [everything from] the north to the south. Tabor [Mountain] and Hermon [Mountain] joyfully praise you [MTY].
North and south You created; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
13 (You/Your arms) are very powerful; (you/your hands) are extremely strong.
Mighty is Your arm; strong is Your hand. Your right hand is exalted.
14 (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].
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.
15 Yahweh, happy are the people who worship you with joyful shouts, who live knowing that you are always watching over them.
Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.
16 Every day, throughout the day, they rejoice in what you [MTY] [have done], and they praise you for being very good [to them].
They rejoice in Your name all day long, and in Your righteousness they exult.
17 You give us your glorious strength; because you act in our favor, we defeat [MET] [our enemies].
For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted.
18 Yahweh, you gave us [the one who] protects us [MET]; you, the holy God whom we Israelis worship, chose a king for us.
Surely our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 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.
You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 That man is David, the one who will serve me [faithfully], and I anointed him with sacred olive oil [to make him king].
I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
21 I [MTY] will always strengthen him; with my power [MTY] I will make him strong.
My hand will sustain him; surely My arm will strengthen him.
22 His enemies will never find ways to defeat him, and wicked people will never defeat him.
No enemy will exact tribute; no wicked man will oppress him.
23 I will crush his enemies in front of him and get rid of those who hate him.
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
24 I will always be loyal to him and faithfully love him and enable him to defeat [MET] [his enemies].
My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him, and through My name his horn will be exalted.
25 I will cause (his kingdom/the area that he rules) to include all the land from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Euphrates] River.
I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand upon the rivers.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the one who protects [MET] and saves me.’
He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
27 I will give him [the rights/privileges that a man’s] firstborn son has [MET]; he will be the greatest king on the earth.
I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will always be loyal to him, and my agreement [to bless] him will last forever.
I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him, and My covenant with him will stand fast.
29 I will establish a line of his descendants that will never end, various ones of his descendants will always be kings.
I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.
30 But, if [some of] his descendants disobey my laws, and do not not behave like my commands say that they should,
If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
31 if they disregard my requirements and do not do the right things that I have told them to do,
if they violate My statutes and fail to keep My commandments,
32 I will punish them severely [MTY] and cause them to suffer for doing wrong.
I will attend to their transgression with the rod, and to their iniquity with stripes.
33 But I will not stop faithfully loving [David], and I will always do what I promised him.
But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness.
34 I will not break the agreement that I made with him; I will not change even one word that I spoke [to him].
I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips.
35 Once I made a solemn promise to David, and that will never change, and because I am God, I will never lie to David.
Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness— I will not lie to David—
36 [I promised that] the line of kings descended from him will go on forever; it will last as long as the sun [shines].
his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun,
37 That line will (be as permanent/last as long) as the moon that is always watching everything from the sky.
like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.”
38 But [Yahweh], now you have rejected [DOU] David! You are very angry with the king whom you appointed.
Now, however, You have spurned and rejected him; You are enraged by Your anointed one.
39 [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.
You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.
40 You have torn down the walls [that protect] his [city], and allowed all his forts to become ruins.
You have broken down all his walls; You have reduced his strongholds to rubble.
41 All those who pass by plunder/steal his possessions; his neighbors (laugh at/ridicule) him.
All who pass by plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have enabled his enemies to defeat him; you have made them all happy.
You have exalted the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have caused his sword to become useless, and you have not helped him in his battles.
You have bent the edge of his sword and have not sustained him in battle.
44 You have caused his splendor to end (OR, You have taken away his power by knocking his throne to the ground.
You have ended his splendor and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have caused him to look old when he is still young and caused him to be very shamed/disgraced.
You have cut short the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame.
46 O Yahweh, how long [will this continue]? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like a fire?
How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
47 Do not forget that life is very short; have you created all us people in vain?
Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
48 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)
What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? (Sheol h7585)
49 Yahweh, you promised long ago that you would faithfully love us; why are you not doing that? You solemnly promised that to David!
Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old, which You faithfully swore to David?
50 Yahweh, do not forget that people insult me! (Heathen people/People who do not know you) curse me!
Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my heart from so many people—
51 Yahweh, your enemies insult your chosen king! They insult/ridicule him wherever he goes.
how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!
52 I hope/desire that Yahweh will be praised forever! Amen! May it be so!
Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and amen.
