July 8: Ps 68, 89

July 8: Ps 68, 89

Psalm 68New King James Version (NKJV)

The Glory of God in His Goodness to Israel

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.

68 Let God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
² As smoke is driven away,
So drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
³ But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.

⁴ Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,^[a]
By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.

⁵ A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
⁶ God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

⁷ O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah
⁸ The earth shook;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
⁹ You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance,
When it was weary.
¹⁰ Your congregation dwelt in it;
You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.

¹¹ The Lord gave the word;
Great was the company of those who proclaimed it:
¹² “Kings of armies flee, they flee,
And she who remains at home divides the spoil.
¹³ Though you lie down among the sheepfolds,
You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And her feathers with yellow gold.”
¹⁴ When the Almighty scattered kings in it,
It was white as snow in Zalmon.

¹⁵ A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
¹⁶ Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks?
This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in;
Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.

¹⁷ The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
Even thousands of thousands;
The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.
¹⁸ You have ascended on high,
You have led captivity captive;
You have received gifts among men,
Even from the rebellious,
That the Lord God might dwell there.

¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation! Selah
²⁰ Our God is the God of salvation;
And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.

²¹ But God will wound the head of His enemies,
The hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses.
²² The Lord said, “I will bring back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
²³ That your foot may crush them^[b] in blood,
And the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”

²⁴ They have seen Your procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
²⁵ The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after;
Among them were the maidens playing timbrels.
²⁶ Bless God in the congregations,
The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
²⁷ There is little Benjamin, their leader,
The princes of Judah and their company,
The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸ Your God has commanded^[c] your strength;
Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
²⁹ Because of Your temple at Jerusalem,
Kings will bring presents to You.
³⁰ Rebuke the beasts of the reeds,
The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
Till everyone submits himself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the peoples who delight in war.
³¹ Envoys will come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.

³² Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah
³³ To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which were of old!
Indeed, He sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
³⁴ Ascribe strength to God;
His excellence is over Israel,
And His strength is in the clouds.
³⁵ O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.

Blessed be God!

Psalm 89New King James Version (NKJV)

Remembering the Covenant with David, and Sorrow for Lost Blessings

A Contemplation^[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

89 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
² For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

³ “I have made a covenant with My chosen,
I have sworn to My servant David:
⁴ ‘Your seed I will establish forever,
And build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah

⁵ And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
⁶ For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?
⁷ God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
⁸ O Lord God of hosts,
Who is mighty like You, O Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
⁹ You rule the raging of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
¹⁰ You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain;
You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all 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;
Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Mercy and truth go before Your face.
¹⁵ Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength,
And in Your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one,^[b]
And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
²⁰ I have found My servant David;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,
²¹ With whom My hand shall be established;
Also My arm shall strengthen him.
²² The enemy shall not outwit him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
²³ I will beat down his foes before his face,
And plague those who hate him.

²⁴ “But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,
And in My name his horn shall be exalted.
²⁵ Also I will set his hand over the sea,
And his right hand over the rivers.
²⁶ He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
²⁷ Also I will make him My firstborn,
The highest of the kings of the earth.
²⁸ My mercy I will keep for him forever,
And My covenant shall stand firm with him.
²⁹ His seed also I will make to endure forever,
And his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰ “If his sons forsake My law
And do not walk in My judgments,
³¹ If they break My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
³² Then I will punish their transgression with the rod,
And their iniquity with stripes.
³³ Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him,
Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.
³⁴ My covenant I will not break,
Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
³⁵ Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David:
³⁶ His seed shall endure forever,
And his throne as the sun before Me;
³⁷ It shall be established forever like the moon,
Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

³⁸ But You have cast off and abhorred,
You have been furious with Your anointed.
³⁹ You have renounced the covenant of Your servant;
You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
⁴⁰ You have broken down all his hedges;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
⁴¹ All who pass by the way plunder him;
He is a reproach to his neighbors.
⁴² You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
⁴³ You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
And have not sustained him in the battle.
⁴⁴ You have made his glory cease,
And cast his throne down to the ground.
⁴⁵ The days of his youth You have shortened;
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 futility have You created all the children of men?
⁴⁸ What man can live and not see death?
Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah

⁴⁹ Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses,
Which You swore to David in Your truth?
⁵⁰ Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants—
How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,
⁵¹ With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord,
With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

⁵² Blessed be the Lord forevermore!
Amen and Amen.