The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, That this man was born there.

Selah.

As well the singers as the players on instruments

shall be there:

All my springs are in thee.

LXXXVIII

A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite

O Lord God of my salvation,

I have cried day and night before thee:
Let my prayer come before thee:

Incline thine ear unto my cry;

For my soul is full of troubles:

And my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:

Free among the dead,

Like the slain that lie in the

grave,

Whom thou rememberest no more:
And they are cut off from thy hand.
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the deeps.

Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,

And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me;

Thou hast made me an abomination unto them:

I am shut

Mine

up, and I cannot come forth.
eye mourneth by reason of affliction:
Lord, I have called daily upon thee:

I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead?

Shall the dead arise and praise thee?

Selah.

Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in destruction?

Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?

And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But unto thee have I cried, O Lord;

And in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. Lord, why castest thou off my soul?

Why hidest thou thy face from me?

I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up:
While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Thy fierce wrath goeth over me;

Thy terrors have cut me off.

They came round about me daily like water;

They compassed me about together.

Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,
And mine acquaintance into darkness.

LXXXIX

Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite

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

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

I have made a covenant with my chosen,

I have sworn unto David my servant,

Thy seed will I establish for ever,

And build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord?

Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?

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.

O Lord God of hosts,

Who is a strong Lord like unto thee?

Or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

Thou rulest the raging of the sea:

When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

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

arm.

The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine:

As for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. Thou hast a mighty arm:

Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: Mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy coun

tenance.

In thy name shall they rejoice all the day:

And in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength:

And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
For the Lord is our defence;

And the Holy One of Israel is our king.

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.
I have found David my servant;

With my holy oil have I anointed him:

With whom my hand shall be established:

Mine arm also shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall not exact upon him;

Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

And I will beat down his foes before his face,

And plague them that hate him.

But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him:

And in my name shall his horn be exalted.

I will set his hand also in the sea,

And his right hand in the rivers.

He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.
Also I will make him my firstborn,
Higher than the kings of the earth.

My mercy will I keep for him for evermore,
And my covenant shall stand fast with him.
His seed also will I make to endure for ever,
And his throne as the days of heaven.
If his children forsake my law,

And walk not in my judgments;

If they break my statutes,

And keep not my commandments;

Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,

And their iniquity with stripes.

Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly

take from him,

Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

My covenant will I not break,