Psalm 89

1 I will sing of the loving kindness of the LORD 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 offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah.

5 The heavens will praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

6 For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like the LORD,

7 a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him?

8 LORD, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you? LORD, 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 You have created the north and the south. 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, LORD.

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 the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, “I have given strength to 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 forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him.

29 I will also make his offspring 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 I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David.

36 His offspring 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, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my time is, for what vanity you have 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, LORD, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.

52 Blessed be the LORD forever more. Amen, and Amen.

Around Psalm 89

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes