God's Covenant with David

891 I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever ; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth . 2 For I have said , " Lovingkindness will be built up forever ; In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness ." 3 "I have made a covenant with My chosen ; I have sworn to David My servant , 4 I will establish your seed forever e And build up your throne to all generations ." Selah .

5 The heavens will praise Your wonders , O Lord ; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones . 6 For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord ? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord , 7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones , And awesome above all those who are around Him? 8 O Lord God of hosts , who is like You, O mighty Lord ? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. 9 You rule the swelling of the sea ; When its waves rise , You still them. 10 You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain ; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm . 11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains , You have founded them. 12 The north and the south , You have created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name . 13 You have a strong arm ; Your hand is mighty , Your right hand is exalted . 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne ; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.

15 How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound ! O Lord , they walk in the light of Your countenance . 16 In Your name they rejoice all the day , And by Your righteousness they are exalted . 17 For You are the glory of their strength , And by Your favor our horn is exalted . 18 For our shield belongs to the Lord , And our king to the Holy One of Israel .

19 Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones , And said , "I have given help to one who is mighty ; I have exalted one chosen from the people . 20 "I have found David My servant ; With My holy oil I have anointed him, 21 With whom My hand will be established ; My arm also will strengthen him. 22 "The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. 23 "But I shall crush his adversaries before e him, And strike those who hate him. 24 "My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted . 25 "I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers . 26 "He will cry to Me, 'You are my Father , My God , and the rock of my salvation .' 27 "I also shall make him My firstborn , The highest of the kings of the earth . 28 "My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever , And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. 29 "So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven . 30 "If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments , 31 If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments , 32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes . 33 "But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness . 34 "My covenant I will not violate , Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips . 35 "Once I have sworn by My holiness ; I will not lie to David . 36 "His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. 37 "It shall be established forever like the moon , And the witness in the sky is faithful ." Selah .

38 But You have cast off and rejected , You have been full of wrath against Your anointed . 39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant ; You have profaned his crown in the dust . 40 You have broken down all his walls ; You have brought his strongholds to ruin . 41 All who pass along the way plunder him; He has become a reproach to his neighbors . 42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries ; You have made all his enemies rejoice . 43 You also turn back the edge of his sword And have not made him stand in battle . 44 You have made his splendor to cease And cast his throne to the ground . 45 You have shortened the days of his youth ; You have covered him with shame . Selah . 46 How long , O Lord ? Will You hide Yourself forever ? Will Your wrath burn like fire ? 47 Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men ! 48 What man can live and not see death ? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol ? Selah . 49 Where are Your former lovingkindnesses , O Lord , Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness ? 50 Remember , O Lord , the reproach of Your servants ; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples , 51 With which Your enemies have reproached , O Lord , With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed . 52 Blessed be the Lord forever ! Amen and Amen .

God's Eternity and Man's Transitoriness

901 Lord , You have been our dwelling place in all generations . 2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world , Even from everlasting to everlasting , You are God . 3 You turn man back into dust And say , "Return , O children of men ." 4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday e when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night . 5 You have swept them away like a flood , they fall asleep ; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew . 6 In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew ; Toward evening it fades and withers away.

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed . 8 You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence . 9 For all our days have declined in Your fury ; We have finished our years like a sigh . 10 As for the days of our life , they contain seventy years , Or if due to strength , eighty years , Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow ; For soon it is gone and we fly away . 11 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury , according to the fear that is due You?

12 So teach us to number our days , That we may present to You a heart of wisdom . 13 Do return , O Lord ; how long e will it be? And be sorry for Your servants . 14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness , That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days . 15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil . 16 Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children . 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands ; Yes, confirm the work of our hands .

Those Weak in Faith

141 Now accept the one who is weak in faith , but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions . 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things , but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat , and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats , for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another ? To his own master he stands or falls ; and he will stand , for the Lord is able to make him stand . 5 One person regards one day above another , another e regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind . 6 He who observes the day , observes it for the Lord , and he who eats , does so for the Lord , for he gives thanks to God ; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat , and gives thanks to God . 7 For not one of us lives for himself , and not one dies for himself ; 8 for if we live , we live for the Lord , or if we die , we die for the Lord ; therefore whether e we live or e die , we are the Lord's . 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living . 10 But you, why do you judge your brother ? Or you again , why do you regard your brother with contempt ? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God . 11 For it is written , " AS I LIVE , SAYS THE Lord , EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD ." 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God . 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore , but rather determine this - not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself ; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean , to him it is unclean . 15 For if because of food your brother is hurt , you are no longer walking according to love . Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died . 16 Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil ; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking , but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit . 18 For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men . 19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another . 20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food . All things indeed are clean , but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense . 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine , or to do anything by which your brother stumbles . 22 The faith which you have , have as your own conviction before God . Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves . 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats , because his eating is not from faith ; and whatever e is not from faith is sin .