God is faithful: he directs history and he guides our lives according to his promises which never fail.
① 1* 2I will sing forever, O Lord, of your love and proclaim your faithfulness from age to age.
3I will declare how steadfast is your love, how firm your faithfulness.
4You said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen one; I have made a pledge to my servant. 5I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”
6The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord; the assembly of the holy ones recalls your faithfulness. 7Who in the skies can compare with the Lord; who of the heaven-born is like him?
8A God feared in the council of the holy ones, awesome to those who approach him.
9O Lord God of hosts, who is like you, clothed in might and faithfulness?
10You reign over the surging sea; you calm its raging waves. 11You split Rahab like a carcass; with your strong arm you routed your foes.
12Yours are the heavens and the earth; you founded the world and everything in it.
13You created the north and the south – Tabor and Hermon rejoice at your name.
14You have a powerful arm, mighty and exalted is your right hand!
15Justice and righteousness are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
16Blessed is the people who know your praise. They walk in the light of your face. 17They celebrate all day your name and your protection lifts them up.
18You give us glory and power; and your favor gives us victory. 19Our king is in the hands of the Lord; the God of Israel is our shield.
20In the past you spoke in a vision; you said of your faithful servant:
“I have set the crown upon a mighty one; on one chosen from the people.
21I have found David my servant, and with my holy oil I have anointed him.
22My hand will be ever with him and my arm will sustain him, 23no enemy shall outwit him nor the wicked oppress him.
24I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries.
25My faithfulness and love will be with him, and by my help he will be strong.
26I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers.
27He will call on me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Savior.’
28I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
29I will keep my covenant firm forever, and my love for him will endure.
30His dynasty will last forever, and his throne as long as the heavens.
31If his sons forsake my law and fail to follow my decrees, 32if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
33I will punish their crime with the rod and their offenses with the scourge; 34yet I will not withdraw my love from him, nor will I withdraw my faithfulness.
35I will be true to my promises and not break my covenant. 36Did I not swear by my holiness? I will not lie to David.
37His dynasty will last forever, and his throne endure as the sun before me.
38It will shine forever like the moon, the unfailing watch of heavens.”
39But now you have rejected, disowned and raged at your anointed.
40You have disregarded your covenant and cast off the crown of your servant.
41You have destroyed his walls and reduced his strongholds to rubble. 42The victim of despoilers, he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
43You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made his enemies rejoice.
44You have turned the edge of his sword, and have not stood by him in battle. 45You have wrenched the scepter from his hand and flung his throne to the ground.
46You have shortened the time of his splendor and covered him with shame.
47How long, O Lord, will you hide? How long will anger burn like a fire?
48Consider how short my life is, how shadowy the human destiny.
49What mortal can live and never see death? Who will escape from the netherworld?
50O Lord, where is your former great love, the faithfulness you pledged to David?
51Remember, O Lord, how your servant is despised, how I suffer the scorn of the peoples, 52the taunts with which your enemies have mocked every step of your anointed.
53Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen, Amen.
- Love and fidelity are the theme of this psalm. These two dominant qualities of God are emphasized throughout the Bible. Love or grace, goodness, tenderness, mercy; fidelity or loyalty, truth. The day after the great defeats, the author of this psalm remembers God’s promises: Where is the Savior-King who is to give glory and prosperity to his people? Similarly today, the believer sometimes asks: Lord, what has happened to your promises? Why is there no bread for your children? Where is your justice? Why does your Church not live the Gospel?
