1 A Poem of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever; You shall establish Your faithfulness in the heavens.

3 I have cut a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant,

4 Your seed will I establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

5 And the heavens shall praise Your wonders, O LORD, Your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

6 For who in the sky can be ranked [with] the LORD? Who among the mighty is like the LORD?

7 God is greatly to be feared in the congregation of the saints, and to be adored by all around Him.

8 O LORD God of hosts, who [is] a strong LORD like You? And Your faithfulness is round about You?

9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves arise, You still them.

10 You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; You have scattered Your enemies with Your strong arm.

11 The heavens [are] Yours, the earth also [is] Yours; You have founded the world and its fullness.

12 The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Your name.

13 You have a mighty arm; Your hand is strong, [and] Your right hand is high.

14 Justice and judgment [are] the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth shall go before Your face.

15 Blessed [is] the people that knows the joyful sound; they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Your face.

16 In Your name they shall rejoice all the day; and in Your righteousness they shall be lifted up.

17 For You [are] the glory of their strength; and in Your favor our horn shall be lifted up.

18 For the LORD [is] our shield; yea, our king [is] the Holy One of Israel.

19 Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, and You said, I have laid help on a mighty one; I have lifted up a chosen one out of the people.

20 I have found David, My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him.

21 My hand shall be always with him; My arm also shall make him strong.

22 The enemy shall not use force on him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him.

24 But My faithfulness and My mercy [shall be] with him; and in My name his horn [shall be] lifted up.

25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

26 He shall cry to Me, My Father, You [are] my God, and the rock of my salvation.

27 And I will make him [My] first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.

28 I will keep My mercy for him forever, and My covenant shall stand fast with him.

29 Also I have set his seed forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens.

30 If his children forsake My law, and do not walk in My judgments;

31 if they profane My statutes, and do not keep My commandments;

32 then I will visit their wickedness with the rod, and their sin with stripes.

33 But I will not completely take My loving-kindness from him, and I will not be false in My faithfulness.

34 I will not break My covenant, nor change the thing that has gone out of My lips.

35 Once I have sworn by My holiness that I will not lie to David.

36 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.

37 It shall be established forever like the moon, and [like] a faithful witness in the heavens. Selah.

38 But You have cast off and rejected [us]; You have been angry with Your anointed.

39 You have turned away from the covenant of Your servant; You have defiled his crown to the ground.

40 You have broken down all his hedges; You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

41 All who pass by the way plunder him; he is a curse to his neighbors.

42 You have set up the right hand of his enemies; You have made all [his] enemies rejoice.

43 You also have turned back the edge of his sword and have not made him stand in the battle.

44 You have made his glory to cease, and have thrown his throne down to the ground.

45 The days of his youth You have shortened; You have covered him [with] shame. Selah.

46 How long, LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Shall Your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember, I pray, how short my time is; why have You made all men in vain?

48 What man lives and never sees death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

49 O Lord, where [are] Your former loving-kindnesses [which] You swore to David in Your truth?

50 Remember, Lord, the scorn of Your servants; [how] I bear in my bosom the insult of all the mighty people,

51 [with] which Your enemies have cursed, O LORD; [with] which they have cursed the footsteps of Your anointed.

52 Blessed [is] the LORD forevermore. Amen and Amen.