Study Desk

A Poem of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of Jehovah forever; I will speak with my mouth Your faithfulness to all generations.

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

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

I will establish your Seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

And the heavens shall thank Your wonders, O Jehovah; also Your faithfulness in the assembly of the saints.

For who in the sky shall be ranked with Jehovah, who among the sons of the mighty is like Jehovah?

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

O Jehovah God of Hosts, who is a strong Jehovah like You? And Your faithfulness is all around You.

You rule the pride of the sea; when its waves rise high, You still them.

You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one slain; You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

The heavens are Yours, and the earth is Yours; the world and its fullness, You founded them.

You have created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.

You have a mighty arm; Your hand is strong, Your right hand is high.

Justice and righteousness are Your throne's foundation; mercy and truth go before Your face.

Blessed is the people knowing the joyful sound; O Jehovah, they shall walk in the light of Your face.

They shall rejoice in Your name always; and they are exalted in Your righteousness.

For You are the glory of their strength; and by Your favor You lift up our horn.

For Jehovah is our shield, yea, the Holy One of Israel our King.

Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one; and You said, I have laid help on a mighty one. I have exalted a chosen one from the people.

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

My hand shall be fixed with him; and My arm shall make him strong.

An enemy will not exact against him; nor the son of iniquity afflict him.

And I will beat down his foes before him, and plague those hating him.

But My faithfulness and My mercy is with him; and his horn shall be exalted in My name.

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

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

And I will make Him My first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.

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

And I have established his Seed forever, and His throne as the days of the heavens.

If his sons forsake My Law, and do not walk in My judgments;

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

then I will visit their transgressions with the rod, and their sins with stripes.

But I will not annul My mercy from him, and I will not be false in My faithfulness.

I will not profane My covenant, nor change what goes from My lips.

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

His Seed shall be forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.

Like the moon, it shall be forever; and a faithful witness in the sky. Selah.

But You have cast off and rejected us ; You have passed over on Your anointed.

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

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

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

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

And you have turned back the edge of his sword, and have not held him up in battle.

You have made his glory to cease and have hurled his throne to the ground.

You have shortened the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah.

O Jehovah, until when will You hide Yourself? Shall Your wrath burn like fire forever?

Remember, I pray, the time of life; for what vanity have you created all the sons of men?

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

Lord, where are Your former kindnesses that You swore to David in Your faithfulness?

Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, my bearing in my bosom the insults of the many peoples

with which Your enemies have cursed, O Jehovah; with which they have cursed the footsteps of Your anointed.

Blessed be Jehovah forever. Amen and Amen!