1
Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
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For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
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I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
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Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
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And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
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For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? [who] among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
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God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all [them that are] about him.
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O LORD God of hosts, who [is] a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
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Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
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Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
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The heavens [are] thine, the earth also [is] thine: [as for] the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
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The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
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Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, [and] high is thy right hand.
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Justice and judgment [are] the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
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Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
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In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
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For thou [art] the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
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For the LORD [is] our defence; and the Holy One of Israel [is] our king.
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Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people.
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I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
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With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
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The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
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And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
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But my faithfulness and my mercy [shall be] with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
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I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
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He shall cry unto me, Thou [art] my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
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Also I will make him [my] firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
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My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
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His seed also will I make [to endure] for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
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If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
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If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
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Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
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Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
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My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
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Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
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His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
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It shall be established for ever as the moon, and [as] a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
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But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
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Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown [by casting it] to the ground.
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Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
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All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.
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Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
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Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
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Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.
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The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
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How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
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Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
48
What man [is he that] liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
49
Lord, where [are] thy former lovingkindnesses, [which] thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
50
Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; [how] I do bear in my bosom [the reproach of] all the mighty people;
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Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
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Blessed [be] the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.
Chapter explanations