Psalm 88

Psalm 88
Of understanding, for Ethan the Ezrahite.

The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.

For thou hast said:
Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens:
thy truth shall be prepared in them.

I have made a covenant with my elect:
I have sworn to David my servant:
Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation.

The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord:
and thy truth in the church of the saints.

For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord:
or who among the sons of God shall be like to God?

God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints:
great and terrible above all them that are about him.

O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.

Thou rulest the power of the sea:
and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof.

Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain:
with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.

Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth:
the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded:
The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name:
Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted:
Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face:
Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance:
And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy justice they shall be exalted.

For thou art the glory of their strength:
and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted.

For our protection is of the Lord, and of our king the holy one of Israel.

Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst:
I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people.

I have found David my servant:
with my holy oil I have anointed him.

For my hand shall help him:
and my arm shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall have no advantage over him:
nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him.

And I will cut down his enemies before his face; and them that hate him I will put to flight.

And my truth and my mercy shall be with him:
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

And I will set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in the rivers.

He shall cry out to me:
Thou art my father:
my God, and the support of my salvation.

And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.

I will keep my mercy for him for ever:
and my covenant faithful to him.

And I will make his seed to endure for evermore:
and his throne as the days of heaven.

And if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments:
If they profane my justices:
and keep not my commandments:
I will visit their iniquities with a rod and their sins with stripes.

But my mercy I will not take away from him:
nor will I suffer my truth to fail.

Neither will I profane my covenant:
and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void.

Once have I sworn by my holiness:
I will not lie unto David:
His seed shall endure for ever.

And his throne as the sun before me:
and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.

But thou hast rejected and despised:
thou hast been angry with my anointed.

Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant:
thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the earth.

Thou hast broken down all his hedges:
thou hast made his strength fear.

All that pass by the way have robbed him:
he is become a reproach to his neighbours.

Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him:
thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and hast not assisted him in battle.

Thou hast made his purification to cease:
and thou hast cast his throne down to the ground.

Thou hast shortened the days of his time:
thou hast covered him with confusion.

How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? shall thy anger burn like fire?

Remember what my substance is:
for hast thou made all the children of men in vain?

Who is the man that shall live, and not see death:
that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?

Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth?

Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I have held in my bosom) of many nations:
Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed.

Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.