A Hymn in Time of National Trouble
1 O Lord, I will always sing of your constant love;
I will proclaim your faithfulness forever.
2 I know that your love will last for all time,
that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with the man I chose;
I have promised my servant David,
4 ‘A descendant of yours will always be king;
I will preserve your dynasty forever.’”
5 The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do;
the holy ones sing of your faithfulness, Lord.
6 No one in heaven is like you, Lord;
none of the heavenly beings is your equal.
7 You are feared in the council of the holy ones;
they all stand in awe of you.
8 Lord God Almighty, none is as mighty as you;
in all things you are faithful, O Lord.
9 You rule over the powerful sea;
you calm its angry waves.
10 You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it;
with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies.
11 Heaven is yours, the earth also;
you made the world and everything in it.
12 You created the north and the south;
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you for joy.
13 How powerful you are!
How great is your strength!
14 Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice;
love and faithfulness are shown in all you do.
15 How happy are the people who worship you with songs,
who live in the light of your kindness!
16 Because of you they rejoice all day long,
and they praise you for your goodness.
17 You give us great victories;
in your love you make us triumphant.
18 You, O Lord, chose our protector;
you, the Holy God of Israel, gave us our king.
God's Promise to David
19 In a vision long ago you said to your faithful servants,
“I have given help to a famous soldier;
I have given the throne to one I chose from the people.
20 I have made my servant David king
by anointing him with holy oil.
21 My strength will always be with him,
my power will make him strong.
22 His enemies will never succeed against him;
the wicked will not defeat him.
23 I will crush his foes
and kill everyone who hates him.
24 I will love him and be loyal to him;
I will make him always victorious.
25 I will extend his kingdom
from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River.
26 He will say to me,
‘You are my father and my God;
you are my protector and savior.’
27 I will make him my first-born son,
the greatest of all kings.
28 I will always keep my promise to him,
and my covenant with him will last forever.
29 His dynasty will be as permanent as the sky;
a descendant of his will always be king.
30 “But if his descendants disobey my law
and do not live according to my commands,
31 if they disregard my instructions
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish them for their sins;
I will make them suffer for their wrongs.
33 But I will not stop loving David
or fail to keep my promise to him.
34 I will not break my covenant with him
or take back even one promise I made him.
35 “Once and for all I have promised by my holy name:
I will never lie to David.
36 He will always have descendants,
and I will watch over his kingdom as long as the sun shines.
37 It will be as permanent as the moon,
that faithful witness in the sky.”
Lament over the Defeat of the King
38 But you are angry with your chosen king;
you have deserted and rejected him.
39 You have broken your covenant with your servant
and thrown his crown in the dirt.
40 You have torn down the walls of his city
and left his forts in ruins.
41 All who pass by steal his belongings;
all his neighbors laugh at him.
42 You have given the victory to his enemies;
you have made them all happy.
43 You have made his weapons useless
and let him be defeated in battle.
44 You have taken away his royal scepter
and knocked his throne to the ground.
45 You have made him old before his time
and covered him with disgrace.
A Prayer for Deliverance
46 Lord, will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your anger burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my life is;
remember that you created all of us mortal!
48 Who can live and never die?
How can we humans keep ourselves from the grave?
49 Lord, where are the former proofs of your love?
Where are the promises you made to David?
50 Don't forget how I, your servant, am insulted,
how I endure all the curses of the heathen.
51 Your enemies insult your chosen king, O Lord!
They insult him wherever he goes.
52 Praise the Lord forever!
Amen! Amen!
1 A Psalme to give instruction, of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing the mercies of the Lord for euer: with my mouth will I declare thy trueth from generation to generation. 2 For I said, Mercie shalbe set vp for euer: thy trueth shalt thou stablish in ye very heauens. 3 I haue made a couenant with my chosen: I haue sworne to Dauid my seruant, 4 Thy seede will I stablish for euer, and set vp thy throne from generation to generation. Selah. 5 O Lord, euen the heauens shall prayse thy wonderous worke: yea, thy trueth in the Congregation of the Saints. 6 For who is equall to the Lord in the heauen? and who is like the Lord among the sonnes of the gods? 7 God is very terrible in the assemblie of the Saints, and to be reuerenced aboue all, that are about him. 8 O Lord God of hostes, who is like vnto thee, which art a mightie Lord, and thy trueth is about thee? 9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waues thereof arise, thou stillest them. 10 Thou hast beaten downe Rahab as a man slaine: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy mightie arme. 11 The heauens are thine, the earth also is thine: thou hast layde the foundation of the world, and all that therein is. 12 Thou hast created the North and the South: Tabor and Hermon shall reioyce in thy Name. 13 Thou hast a mightie arme: strong is thine hand, and high is thy right hand. 14 Righteousnesse and equitie are the stablishment of thy throne: mercy and trueth goe before thy face. 15 Blessed is the people, that can reioyce in thee: they shall walke in the light of thy countenance, O Lord. 16 They shall reioyce continually in thy Name, and in thy righteousnes shall they exalt them selues. 17 For thou art the glory of their strength, and by thy fauour our hornes shall be exalted. 18 For our shield apperteineth to the Lord, and our King to the holy one of Israel. 19 Thou spakest then in a vision vnto thine Holy one, and saydest, I haue layde helpe vpon one that is mightie: I haue exalted one chosen out of the people. 20 I haue found Dauid my seruant: with mine holy oyle haue I anoynted him. 21 Therefore mine hande shall be established with him, and mine arme shall strengthen him. 22 The enemie shall not oppresse him, neither shall the wicked hurt him. 23 But I will destroy his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. 24 My trueth also and my mercie shall be with him, and in my Name shall his horne be exalted. 25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the floods. 26 He shall cry vnto mee, Thou art my Father, my God and the rocke of my saluation. 27 Also I wil make him my first borne, higher then the Kings of the earth. 28 My mercie will I keepe for him for euermore, and my couenant shall stande fast with him. 29 His seede also will I make to endure for euer, and his throne as the dayes of heauen. 30 But if his children forsake my Lawe, and walke not in my iudgements: 31 If they breake my statutes, and keepe not my commandements: 32 Then will I visite their transgression with the rod, and their iniquitie with strokes. 33 Yet my louing kindnesse will I not take from him, neither will I falsifie my trueth. 34 My couenant wil I not breake, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. 35 I haue sworne once by mine holines, that I will not fayle Dauid, saying, 36 His seede shall endure for euer, and his throne shalbe as the sunne before me. 37 He shalbe established for euermore as the moone, and as a faythfull witnes in the heauen. Selah. 38 But thou hast reiected and abhorred, thou hast bene angry with thine Anoynted. 39 Thou hast broken the couenant of thy seruant, and profaned his crowne, casting it on the ground. 40 Thou hast broken downe all his walles: thou hast layd his fortresses in ruine. 41 All that goe by the way, spoyle him: he is a rebuke vnto his neighbours. 42 Thou hast set vp the right hand of his enemies, and made all his aduersaries to reioyce. 43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sworde, and hast not made him to stand in the battell. 44 Thou hast caused his dignitie to decay, and cast his throne to the ground. 45 The dayes of his youth hast thou shortned, and couered him with shame. Selah. 46 Lord, howe long wilt thou hide thy selfe, for euer? shall thy wrath burne like fire? 47 Remember of what time I am: wherefore shouldest thou create in vaine all the children of men? 48 What man liueth, and shall not see death? shall hee deliuer his soule from the hande of the graue? Selah. 49 Lord, where are thy former mercies, which thou swarest vnto Dauid in thy trueth? 50 Remember, O Lord, the rebuke of thy seruants, which I beare in my bosome of all the mightie people. 51 For thine enemies haue reproched thee, O Lord, because they haue reproched the footesteps of thine Anointed. 52 Praised be the Lord for euermore. So be it, euen so be it.