God's Covenant with David

891 I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever.
With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2 I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever.
You established the heavens.
Your faithfulness is in them.” 3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David, my servant, 4 ‘I will establish your seed forever,
and build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah.

5 The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh;
your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh?
Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh, 7 a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones,
to be feared above all those who are around him? 8 Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you?
Yah, your faithfulness is around you. 9 You rule the pride of the sea.
When its waves rise up, you calm them. 10 You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain.
You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 11 The heavens are yours.
The earth also is yours;
the world and its fullness.
You have founded them. 12 The north and the south, you have created them.
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. 13 You have a mighty arm.
Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loving kindness and truth go before your face.

15 Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you.
They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh. 16 In your name they rejoice all day.
In your righteousness, they are exalted. 17 For you are the glory of their strength.
In your favor, our horn will be exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to Yahweh;
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Then you spoke in vision to your saints,
and said, “I have bestowed strength on the warrior.
I have exalted a young man from the people. 20 I have found David, my servant.
I have anointed him with my holy oil, 21 with whom my hand shall be established.
My arm will also strengthen him. 22 No enemy will tax him.
No wicked man will oppress him. 23 I will beat down his adversaries before him,
and strike those who hate him. 24 But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him.
In my name, his horn will be exalted. 25 I will set his hand also on the sea,
and his right hand on the rivers. 26 He will call to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation!’ 27 I will also appoint him my firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 I will keep my loving kindness for him forevermore.
My covenant will stand firm with him. 29 I will also make his seed endure forever,
and his throne as the days of heaven. 30 If his children forsake my law,
and don’t walk in my ordinances; 31 if they break my statutes,
and don’t keep my commandments; 32 then I will punish their sin with the rod,
and their iniquity with stripes. 33 But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him,
nor allow my faithfulness to fail. 34 I will not break my covenant,
nor alter what my lips have uttered. 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness,
I will not lie to David. 36 His seed will endure forever,
his throne like the sun before me. 37 It will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah.

38 But you have rejected and spurned.
You have been angry with your anointed. 39 You have renounced the covenant of your servant.
You have defiled his crown in the dust. 40 You have broken down all his hedges.
You have brought his strongholds to ruin. 41 All who pass by the way rob him.
He has become a reproach to his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries.
You have made all of his enemies rejoice. 43 Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword,
and haven’t supported him in battle. 44 You have ended his splendor,
and thrown his throne down to the ground. 45 You have shortened the days of his youth.
You have covered him with shame. Selah. 46 How long, Yahweh?
Will you hide yourself forever?
Will your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my time is!
For what vanity have you created all the children of men! 48 What man is he who shall live and not see death,
who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. 49 Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses,
which you swore to David in your faithfulness? 50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples, 51 With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh,
with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one. 52 Blessed be Yahweh forevermore.
Amen, and Amen.

BOOK IV

A Song of Praise

961 Sing to Yahweh a new song!
Sing to Yahweh, all the earth. 2 Sing to Yahweh!
Bless his name!
Proclaim his salvation from day to day! 3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples. 4 For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised!
He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but Yahweh made the heavens. 6 Honor and majesty are before him.
Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of nations,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name.
Bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9 Worship Yahweh in holy array.
Tremble before him, all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.”
The world is also established.
It can’t be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity. 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice.
Let the sea roar, and its fullness! 12 Let the field and all that is in it exult!
Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy 13 before Yahweh; for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
the peoples with his truth.

An Exhortation to Thanksgiving

1001 Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands! 2 Serve Yahweh with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing. 3 Know that Yahweh, he is God.
It is he who has made us, and we are his.
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, and bless his name. 5 For Yahweh is good.
His loving kindness endures forever,
his faithfulness to all generations.

A Pledge to Live Righteously

1011 I will sing of loving kindness and justice.
To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises. 2 I will be careful to live a blameless life.
When will you come to me?
I will walk within my house with a blameless heart. 3 I will set no vile thing before my eyes.
I hate the deeds of faithless men.
They will not cling to me. 4 A perverse heart will be far from me.
I will have nothing to do with evil. 5 I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor.
I won’t tolerate one who is haughty and conceited. 6 My eyes will be on the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in a perfect way,
he will serve me. 7 He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house.
He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes. 8 Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land;
to cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh’s city.

The LORD's Wonders in Behalf of Israel

1051 Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name!
Make his doings known among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him!
Tell of all his marvelous works. 3 Glory in his holy name.
Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. 4 Seek Yahweh and his strength.
Seek his face forever more. 5 Remember his marvelous works that he has done;
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, 6 you seed of Abraham, his servant,
you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is Yahweh, our God.
His judgments are in all the earth.

8 He has remembered his covenant forever,
the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, 9 the covenant which he made with Abraham,
his oath to Isaac, 10 and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute;
to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
the lot of your inheritance;” 12 when they were but a few men in number,
yes, very few, and foreigners in it. 13 They went about from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people. 14 He allowed no one to do them wrong.
Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes, 15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones!
Do my prophets no harm!” 16 He called for a famine on the land.
He destroyed the food supplies. 17 He sent a man before them.
Joseph was sold for a slave. 18 They bruised his feet with shackles.
His neck was locked in irons, 19 until the time that his word happened,
and Yahweh’s word proved him true. 20 The king sent and freed him;
even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. 21 He made him lord of his house,
and ruler of all of his possessions; 22 to discipline his princes at his pleasure,
and to teach his elders wisdom. 23 Israel also came into Egypt.
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24 He increased his people greatly,
and made them stronger than their adversaries.

25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
to conspire against his servants. 26 He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They performed miracles among them,
and wonders in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and made it dark.
They didn’t rebel against his words. 29 He turned their waters into blood,
and killed their fish. 30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spoke, and swarms of flies came,
and lice in all their borders. 32 He gave them hail for rain,
with lightning in their land. 33 He struck their vines and also their fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their country. 34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
and the grasshoppers, without number, 35 ate up every plant in their land;
and ate up the fruit of their ground. 36 He struck also all the firstborn in their land,
the first fruits of all their manhood. 37 He brought them forth with silver and gold.
There was not one feeble person among his tribes. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for the fear of them had fallen on them. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
fire to give light in the night. 40 They asked, and he brought quails,
and satisfied them with the bread of the sky. 41 He opened the rock, and waters gushed out.
They ran as a river in the dry places. 42 For he remembered his holy word,
and Abraham, his servant. 43 He brought forth his people with joy,
his chosen with singing. 44 He gave them the lands of the nations.
They took the labor of the peoples in possession, 45 that they might keep his statutes,
and observe his laws.
Praise Yah!

A Prayer for Blessing on the Sanctuary

1321 Yahweh, remember David and all his affliction, 2 how he swore to Yahweh,
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 “Surely I will not come into the structure of my house,
nor go up into my bed; 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes,
or slumber to my eyelids; 5 until I find out a place for Yahweh,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah.
We found it in the field of Jaar: 7 “We will go into his dwelling place.
We will worship at his footstool. 8 Arise, Yahweh, into your resting place;
you, and the ark of your strength. 9 Let your priest be clothed with righteousness.
Let your saints shout for joy!” 10 For your servant David’s sake,
don’t turn away the face of your anointed one.

11 Yahweh has sworn to David in truth.
He will not turn from it:
“I will set the fruit of your body on your throne. 12 If your children will keep my covenant,
my testimony that I will teach them,
their children also will sit on your throne forevermore.” 13 For Yahweh has chosen Zion.
He has desired it for his habitation. 14 “This is my resting place forever.
Here I will live, for I have desired it. 15 I will abundantly bless her provision.
I will satisfy her poor with bread. 16 Her priests I will also clothe with salvation.
Her saints will shout aloud for joy. 17 There I will make the horn of David to bud.
I have ordained a lamp for my anointed. 18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but on himself, his crown will be resplendent.”