Psalm 88 — The Holy Bible

Concerning understanding; for Ethan the Israelite.

O Lord, I will sing of Your mercies forever;

I will proclaim Your truth with my mouth from generation to generation;

For You said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;

Your truth shall be prepared in the heavens.

I made a covenant with My chosen ones;

I swore to David My servant,

I shall prepare your seed forever,

And I shall build your throne from generation to generation.”

(Pause)

The heavens shall confess Your wonders, O Lord,

And Your truth in the church of the saints.

For who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord,

And who among the sons of God shall be compared to the Lord?

God is glorified in the counsel of saints;

He is great and fearful toward all round about Him.

O Lord God of hosts, who is like You?

You are powerful, O Lord, and Your truth is around You.

You are master of the sea's strength,

And You calm the surging of its waves.

You humbled the arrogant man as though he were wounded,

And with the arm of Your power You scattered Your enemies.

The heavens belong to You, and the earth is Yours;

You founded the world and all its fullness.

You created the north wind and the seas;

Tabor and Hermon shall greatly rejoice in Your name.

Your arm rules with power;

Let Your hand be strengthened; let Your right hand be exalted.

The foundation of Your throne is righteousness and judgment;

Mercy and truth shall go before Your face.

Blessed are the people who know glad shouting;

O Lord, they shall walk in the light of Your face,

And shall greatly rejoice in Your name the whole day long;

And they shall be exalted in Your righteousness.

For You are the boast of their power,

And in Your good pleasure our horn shall be exalted.

For our defense is from the Lord

And from the Holy One of Israel, our King.

Then You spoke to Your holy ones in a vision,

And You said, “I established help for a mighty one;

I raised up a chosen one from My people;

I found David My servant;

I anointed him with My holy oil.

For My hand shall support him,

And My arm shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall have no advantage against him,

And the son of lawlessness shall not continue doing evil to him;

I will cut his enemies to pieces before his face,

And I shall put to flight those who hate him.

My truth and My mercy are with him,

And in My name shall his horn be exalted;

I will put his hand in the sea

And his right hand in the rivers.

He shall call upon Me, saying,

‘You are my Father,

My God, and the protector of my salvation’;

I shall make him, my firstborn,

Higher than the kings of the earth.

I shall keep My mercy for him forever,

And My covenant shall be trustworthy with him.

I shall establish his seed unto ages of ages

And his throne as the days of heaven.

If his sons forsake My law

And do not walk in My judgments,

If they profane My ordinances

And do not keep My commandments,

I shall visit their transgressions with a rod

And their sins with a whip;

But I will not turn away My mercy from him,

Nor will I act unjustly with My truth,

Nor will I profane My covenant,

And I will not reject the things that proceeded from My lips.

Once for all I swore in My holy place,

That I would not lie to David:

His seed shall remain forever,

And his throne as the sun before Me,

And as the moon that is established forever

And is a faithful witness in heaven.”

(Pause)

But You pushed him away and scorned him;

You rejected Your anointed;

You overturned the covenant of Your servant;

You profaned his sanctuary to the ground.

You pulled down all his walls;

You put cowardice in his stronghold;

All who traveled through there robbed him;

He was a disgrace to his neighbors.

You exalted the right hand of his enemies;

You delighted all his adversaries;

You turned away Your help from his sword,

And did not support him in his war.

You deprived him of purification;

You broke his throne to pieces on the ground;

You shortened the days of his time;

You poured down shame upon him.

(Pause)

How long, O Lord: will You turn away to the end?

Will Your wrath always burn like fire?

Let my substance be remembered, as to what sort it is,

For did You create all the sons of men in vain?

What kind of man is there who will live and not see death?

Will he deliver his soul from the hand of Hades?

(Pause)

Where, O Lord, are Your mercies of old,

Which in Your truth You swore to David?

Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants I bore in my bosom,

The reproach of many nations,

Wherewith Your enemies scorned, O Lord,

Wherewith they scorned the change of Your anointed.

Blessed is the Lord forever.

Amen! Amen!