1 «Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.» I willThough the horrible confusion of things might cause them to despair of God's favour, yet the manifold examples of his mercies cause them to trust in God though to man's judgment they saw no reason to.sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I haveAs he who surely believed in heart.said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thouAs your invisible heaven is not subject to any alteration and change: so shall the truth of your promise be unchangeable.establish in the very heavens.
3 The prophet shows what the promise of God was, on which he grounded his faith.I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
4 Thy seede will I stablish for euer, & set vp thy throne from generation to generation. Selah.
5 And theThe angels will praise your power and faithfulness in delivering your Church.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 theMeaning, the angels.sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of theIf the angels tremble before God's majesty and infinite justice, what earthly creature by oppressing the Church dares to set himself against God?saints, and to be had in reverence of all [them that are] about him.
8 O Lorde God of hostes, who is like vnto thee, which art a mightie Lord, and thy trueth is about thee?
9 For as he delivered the Church by the Red sea, and by destroying Rahab, that is, the Egyptians, so will he deliver it, when the dangers are great.Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
10 Thou hast beaten downe Rahab as a man slaine: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy mightie arme.
11 The heauens are thine, the earth also is thine: thou hast layde the foundation of the world, and all that therein is.
12 The north and the south thou hast created them:Tabor is a mountain west from Jerusalem, and Hermon to the East, so the prophet signifies that all parts and places of the world will obey God's power for the deliverance of his Church.Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
13 Thou hast a mightie arme: strong is thine hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 For by this he judges the world and shows himself to be a merciful father and faithful protector to his.Justice and judgment [are] the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
15 Blessed [is] the people thatFeeling in their conscience that God is their father.know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thyThey will be preserved by your fatherly providence.countenance.
16 They shall reioyce continually in thy Name, and in thy righteousnes shall they exalt them selues.
17 For thou [art] theIn that they are preserved and continue, they should give the praise and glory to you alone.glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
18 For the LORD [is] ourIn that our King has power to defend us, it is the gift of God.defence; and the Holy One of Israel [is] our king.
19 Then thou spakest in vision toTo Samuel and to others, to assure that David was the chosen one.thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon [one that is]Whom I have both chosen and given strength to execute his office, as in (Psa_89:21).mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people.
20 I haue found Dauid my seruant: with mine holy oyle haue I anoynted him.
21 Therefore mine hande shall be established with him, and mine arme shall strengthen him.
22 The enemie shall not oppresse him, neither shall the wicked hurt him.
23 And I willThough there will always be enemies against God's kingdom yet he promises to overcome them.beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
24 But my faithfulness and myI will mercifully perform my promise to him despite his infirmities and offences.mercy [shall be] with him: and in my name shall hisHis power, glory and estate.horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in theHe will enjoy the land around him.rivers.
26 He shall cry unto me, Thou [art] myHis excellent dignity will appear in this, that he will be named the son of God and the firstborn in which he is a figure of Christ.father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
27 Also I wil make him my first borne, higher then the Kings of the earth.
28 My mercie will I keepe for him for euermore, and my couenant shall stande fast with him.
29 His seed also will I make [to endure]Though for the sins of the people the state of the kingdom decayed, yet God reserved still a root till he had accomplished this promise in Christ.for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 But if his children forsake my Lawe, and walke not in my iudgements:
31 If they breake my statutes, and keepe not my commandements:
32 Then will I visite their transgression with the rod, and their iniquitie with strokes.
33 Though the faithful answer not in all points to their profession, yet God will not break his covenant with them.Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
34 My covenant will I not break, norFor God in promising has respect to his mercy, and not to man's power in performing.alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 I haue sworne once by mine holines, that I will not fayle Dauid, saying,
36 His seede shall endure for euer, and his throne shalbe as the sunne before me.
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and [as] a faithfulAs long as the Sun and Moon endure, they will be witnesses to me of this promise.witness in heaven. Selah.
38 But thou hast reiected and abhorred, thou hast bene angry with thine Anoynted.
39 Thou hastBecause of the horrible confusion of things, the prophet complains to God, as though he did not see the performance of his promise and thus discharging his cares on God, he resists doubt and impatience.made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned hisBy this he means the horrible dissipation and tearing of the kingdom which was under Jeroboam, or else by the Spirit of prophecy Ethan speaks of those great miseries which came to pass soon after at the captivity of Babylon.crown [by casting it] to the ground.
40 Thou hast broken downe all his walles: thou hast layd his fortresses in ruine.
41 All that goe by the way, spoyle him: he is a rebuke vnto his neighbours.
42 Thou hast set vp the right hand of his enemies, and made all his aduersaries to reioyce.
43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sworde, and hast not made him to stand in the battell.
44 Thou hast caused his dignitie to decay, and cast his throne to the ground.
45 The days of hisHe shows that the kingdom fell before it came to perfection or was ripe.youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
46 How long,The prophet in joining prayer with his complaint, shows that his faith never failed.LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
47 RememberSeeing man's life is short, and you have created man to bestow your benefits on him, unless you hasten to help, death will prevent you.how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
48 What man liueth, and shall not see death? shall hee deliuer his soule from the hande of the graue? Selah.
49 Lord, where are thy former mercies, which thou swarest vnto Dauid in thy trueth?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; [how] I do bear in myHe means that God's enemies not only slandered him behind his back, but also mocked him to his face and as it were cast their injuries in his bosom.bosom [the reproach of] all the mighty people;
51 WherewithSo he calls them who persecute the Church.thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached theThey laugh at us who patiently wait for the coming of your Christ.footsteps of thine anointed.
52 Praised be the Lord for euermore. So be it, euen so be it.
