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1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?

7 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.

8 O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

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

16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

18 For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

19 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.

20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

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

26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;

31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.

36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.

39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.

41 All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.

42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

44 Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

46 How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

47 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;

51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

52 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

<html><b>of Ethan the Ezrahite</b> He, too, was one of the five musician brothers. [See above 88:1.] But our Sages (B.B. 15a) explained it as referring to our father Abraham, based on (Isa. 41:2): “Who aroused from the East (ממזרח).”</html>

<html><b>I shall make known Your faithfulness, with my mouth</b> What I know of You: that You keep Your promise and fulfill Your words.</html>

<html><b>For I said, “Forever will it be built with kindness”</b> For I said, “Forever the throne of David will be built with kindness,” as it is said (II Sam. 7:13): “and I shall establish the throne of his kingdom, etc.” Another explanation: I thought that the world would be built with Your kindness and that You would establish Your faithfulness in the heavens, to be established and made permanent. Now what is the faithfulness? That promise You promised David through Nathan the prophet, saying, “I formed a covenant with My chosen one to establish his seed until eternity.”</html>

<html><b>And the heavens acknowledge Your wonder</b> If You had kept Your promise. <b>and Your faithfulness in the congregation of the holy ones</b> The realization of Your words they will acknowledge in the congregation of the holy ones.</html>

<html><b>is equal to the Lord</b> Can be evaluated like Him.</html>

<html><b>in the great council of the holy ones</b> In the great council of the angels.</html>

<html><b>when it raises its waves</b> When its waves are raised. <b>You humble them</b> Heb. תשבחם, You humble them, and similarly, (Prov. 29:11): “but afterwards a wise man will quiet it (ושבחנה)”; and similarly (above 65:8): “Who humbles (משביח) the roaring of the seas.”</html>

<html><b>Rahab</b> Egypt.</html>

<html><b>that know the blasting of the shofar</b> Who know how to appease their Creator on Rosh Hashanah with the blasts, upon which they arrange the blessings of “malchuyoth” (manifestations of God’s dominion), “zichronoth” (remembrances), and “shofaroth.”</html>

<html><b>and with Your favor</b> that You are appeased by them (apayement in Old French), propitiation.</html>

<html><b>to Your pious ones</b> Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer. <b>“I placed help”</b> on David, to help him constantly.</html>

<html><b>No enemy will exact from him</b> No enemy will overwhelm him to become as his creditor.</html>

<html><b>shall make him a firstborn</b> I shall make him great.</html>

<html><b>I shall punish their transgression with a rod</b> So did Nathan the prophet say to him concerning Solomon (II Sam. 7:14): “so that when he goes astray, I will chasten him with the rod of men.” This refers to Rezon the son of Eliada, who rose up as an adversary to him: “and with the stripes of the sons of Adam.” This refers to Ashmadai, according to the Sages of blessed memory.</html>

<html><b>that I will not fail David</b> Heb. אכזב, an expression of (Isa. 58:11): “whose water does not fail (יכזבו),” faliance in Old French, failure; possibly from the Latin fallera, deception.</html>

<html><b>and it is a witness in the sky, true</b> The moon and the sun are witnesses to him that as long as they exist, his kingdom will exist, as it is written (Jer. 33:20f.): “If you break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, etc. Also My covenant with David will be broken.”</html>

<html><b>But You abandoned</b> You dealt strictly with his children in counting their iniquity until You abandoned them and You rejected them in the days of Zedekiah.</html>

<html><b>You abrogated</b> You nullified.</html>

<html><b>all his fences</b> which he built in Jerusalem. <b>his fortifications</b> The Temple Mount and the stronghold of Zion.</html>

<html><b>You even turned back the sharp edge of his sword</b> You turned back and reversed the sharp edge of his sword, as (Josh. 5:2): “sharp (צרים) knives,” and likewise (Isa. 54:17): “Any weapon whetted (יוצר) against you.” <b>and You did not raise him up in battle</b> And You did not hold him upright so that he should not fall.</html>

<html><b>You have brought an end to his shining</b> Heb. מטהרו, his shining, as צהרים, noon, is translated טהרא, and like (Exod. 24:10): “and like the appearance of the heaven for splendor (לטהר).” <b>You have cast down to the earth</b> Heb. מגרת. You have humbled and destroyed. Every expression of bending down is, in Targum Jonathan, מגר.</html>

<html><b>I am mindful what my old age is</b> Heb. חלד. What old age do I have? Are not my days few? It should suffice You to punish me with my premature death. <b>for what futility</b> Heb. שוא. For nothing and for vanity have You created all the sons of man?</html>

<html><b>which I bear in my bosom, of all great nations</b> In exile I bear their burden and their load.</html>

<html><b>the ends of Your anointed</b> Heb. עקבות, the ends of the King Messiah. This is the language of the Mishnah (Sotah 49b): At the ends of the Messiah, audacity will increase; i.e., at the end of the exile, prior to the advent of the Messiah.</html>

<html><b>Blessed is the Lord forever</b> For all that He did for us.</html>