I Will Sing of His Love Forever

1(88:1) A Psalm of instruction for Aetham the Israelite. I will sing of thy mercies, O Lord, for ever: I will declare thy truth with my mouth to all generations.

2(88:2) For thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy truth shall be established in the heavens.

3(88:3) I made a covenant with my chosen ones, I sware unto David my servant.

4(88:4) I will establish thy seed for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Pause.

5(88:5) The heavens shall declare thy wonders, O Lord; and thy truth in the assembly of the saints.

6(88:6) For who in the heavens shall be compared to the Lord? and who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?

7(88:7) God is glorified in the council of the saints; great and terrible toward all that are round about him.

8(88:8) O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.

9(88:9) Thou rulest the power of the sea; and thou calmest the tumult of its waves.

10(88:10) Thou has brought down the proud as one that is slain; and with the arm of thy power thou has scattered thine enemies.

11(88:11) The heavens are thine, and the earth is thine: thou hast founded the world, and the fullness of it.

12(88:12) Thou hast created the north and the west: Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

13(88:13) Thine is the mighty arm: let thy hand be strengthened, let thy right hand be exalted.

14(88:14) Justice and judgment are the establishment of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

15(88:15) Blessed is the people that knows the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

16(88:16) And in thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

17(88:17) For thou art the boast of their strength; and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted,

18(88:18) for our help is of the Lord; and of the Holy One of Israel, our king.

19(88:19) Then thou spokest in vision to thy children, and saidst, I have laid help on a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of my people.

20(88:20) I have found David my servant; I have anointed him by my holy mercy.

21(88:21) For my hand shall support him; and mine arm shall strengthen him.

22(88:22) The enemy shall have no advantage against him; and the son of transgression shall not hurt him again.

23(88:23) And I will hew down his foes before him, and put to flight those that hate him.

24(88:24) But my truth and my mercy shall be with him; and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

25(88:25) And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

26(88:26) He shall call upon me, saying, Thou art my Father, my God, and the helper of my salvation.

27(88:27) And I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.

28(88:28) I will keep my mercy for him for ever, and my covenant shall be firm with him.

29(88:29) And I will establish his seed for ever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

30(88:30) If his children should forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;

31(88:31) if they should profane my ordinances, and not keep my commandments;

32(88:32) I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their sins with scourges.

33(88:33) But my mercy I will not utterly remove from him, nor wrong my truth.

34(88:34) Neither will I by any means profane my covenant; and I will not make void the things that proceed out of my lips.

35(88:35) Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie to David.

36(88:36) His see shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me;

37(88:37) and as the moon that is established for ever, and as the faithful witness in heaven. Pause.

38(88:38) But thou hast cast off and set at nought, thou has rejected thine anointed.

39(88:39) Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant; thou has profaned his sanctuary, casting it to the ground.

40(88:40) Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast made his strong holds a terror.

41(88:41) All that go by the way have spoiled him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours.

42(88:42) Thou hast exalted the right hand of his enemies; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

43(88:43) Thou hast turned back the help of his sword, and hast not helped him in the battle.

44(88:44) Thou hast deprived him of glory: thou hast broken down his throne to the ground.

45(88:45) Thou hast shortened the days of his throne: thou hast poured shame upon him. Pause.

46(88:46) How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn away, for ever? shall thine anger flame out as fire?

47(88:47) Remember what my being is: for hast thou created all the sons of men in vain?

48(88:48) What man is there who shall live, and not see death? shall any one deliver his soul from the hand of Hades? Pause.

49(88:49) Where are thine ancient mercies, O Lord, which thou swarest to David in thy truth?

50(88:50) Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants, which I have borne in my bosom, even the reproach of many nations;

51(88:51) wherewith thine enemies have reviled, O Lord: wherewith they have reviled the recompense of thine anointed.

52(88:52) Blessed be the Lord for ever. So be it, so be it.