Psalms · 52 verses

Psalms 89

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

A throne promised to last as long as the heavens endure is later cast to the ground, and the voice that notices this ends with “Amen and amen.”

The Maker and the mountainsvv. 1–18

Ethan begins with loving devotion and faithfulness, then looks upward to the heavens, across the raging sea, and down upon the earth. Rahab is crushed like a carcass, while Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at the divine name—a wonderfully unlikely choir. The section settles among those who know the joyful sound and rejoice in the name of the LORD.

The covenant with Davidvv. 19–37

The song now recalls what was spoken in a vision: David was found, anointed, strengthened, and appointed above the kings of the earth. His line and throne are promised permanence, though his sons may be corrected for breaking the commandments. Even then, the speech insists that loving devotion will not be withdrawn and that the covenant will not be altered; the throne is set before God like the sun and moon, faithful witnesses in the sky.

The throne in the dustvv. 38–52

Then comes the sharp turn: “Now, however.” The anointed one has been rejected, the crown sullied, the walls broken, and the throne cast down; enemies plunder and rejoice. Ethan asks how long the hiddenness and wrath will last, remembers the brevity of human life, and asks where the old loving devotion sworn to David has gone. The lament carries the taunts of enemies and then, with no explanation supplied, closes in praise.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

Ps 89:1A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving devotion of the LORD forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations.
Ps 89:2For I have said, “Loving devotion is built up forever; in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”
Ps 89:3You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant:
Ps 89:4‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah
Ps 89:5The heavens praise Your wonders, O LORD—Your faithfulness as well—in the assembly of the holy ones.
Ps 89:6For who in the skies can compare with the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD?
Ps 89:7In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared, and awesome above all who surround Him.
Ps 89:8O LORD God of Hosts, who is like You? O mighty LORD, Your faithfulness surrounds You.
Ps 89:9You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.
Ps 89:10You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
Ps 89:11The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.
Ps 89:12North and south You created; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
Ps 89:13Mighty is Your arm; strong is Your hand. Your right hand is exalted.
Ps 89:14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.
Ps 89:15Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.
Ps 89:16They rejoice in Your name all day long, and in Your righteousness they exult.
Ps 89:17For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted.
Ps 89:18Surely our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
Ps 89:19You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
Ps 89:20I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
Ps 89:21My hand will sustain him; surely My arm will strengthen him.
Ps 89:22No enemy will exact tribute; no wicked man will oppress him.
Ps 89:23I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
Ps 89:24My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him, and through My name his horn will be exalted.
Ps 89:25I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand upon the rivers.
Ps 89:26He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
Ps 89:27I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
Ps 89:28I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him, and My covenant with him will stand fast.
Ps 89:29I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.
Ps 89:30If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
Ps 89:31if they violate My statutes and fail to keep My commandments,
Ps 89:32I will attend to their transgression with the rod, and to their iniquity with stripes.
Ps 89:33But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness.
Ps 89:34I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips.
Ps 89:35Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness—I will not lie to David—
Ps 89:36his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun,
Ps 89:37like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
Ps 89:38Now, however, You have spurned and rejected him; You are enraged by Your anointed one.
Ps 89:39You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.
Ps 89:40You have broken down all his walls; You have reduced his strongholds to rubble.
Ps 89:41All who pass by plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
Ps 89:42You have exalted the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.
Ps 89:43You have bent the edge of his sword and have not sustained him in battle.
Ps 89:44You have ended his splendor and cast his throne to the ground.
Ps 89:45You have cut short the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah
Ps 89:46How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
Ps 89:47Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
Ps 89:48What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
Ps 89:49Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old, which You faithfully swore to David?
Ps 89:50Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my heart from so many people—
Ps 89:51how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!
Ps 89:52Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and amen.

01 — Also here

Who else the chapter reaches

Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 600 passages were voted onto 52 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

9 Psalms 65:7You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
34 Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
34 Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
34 James 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
9 Psalms 107:25–29For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.
34 Malachi 3:6“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
34 Romans 11:29For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
9 Mark 4:41Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
14 Psalms 97:2Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
9 Matthew 8:24–27Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was engulfed by the waves. But Jesus was sleeping.
9 Mark 4:39Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
11 1 Chronicles 29:11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.
14 Proverbs 16:12Wicked behavior is detestable for kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.
34 Jeremiah 14:21For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.
9 Psalms 93:3–4The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
14 Psalms 45:6–7Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

Onward

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