day 17 : e v ening pray er
89

Misericordias Domini

1  My song shall be always of the loving-kindness of the Lord; *
with my mouth will I ever be proclaiming your faithfulness, 
from one generation to another.
2  For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up for ever; *
your faithfulness shall be established in the heavens.”
3  I have made a covenant with my chosen one; *
I have sworn to David my servant:
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4  “Your seed will I establish for ever, *
and set up your throne from one generation to another.”
5  O Lord, the heavens will praise your wondrous works *
and your faithfulness in the assembly of the saints.
6  For who in the clouds can be compared unto the Lord? *
And who among the gods is like unto the Lord?
7  God is greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, *
and to be held in reverence by all those who are 
round about him.
8  O Lord God of hosts, who is like you? *
Your faithfulness, most mighty Lord, is round about you.
9  You rule the raging of the sea; *
you still the waves when they arise.
10  You have subdued Rahab of the deep, and destroyed her; *
you have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11  The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; *
you laid the foundation of the world, and all that is in it.
12  You have made the north and the south; *
Tabor and Hermon shall 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 shall go before your face.
15  Blessed are the people, O Lord, who rejoice in you; *
they shall walk in the light of your countenance.
16  Their delight shall be in your Name all the day long, *
and in your righteousness shall they make their boast.
17  For you are the glory of their strength, *
and by your favor you shall lift up our might.
18  For the Lord is our defense; *
the Holy One of Israel is our King.

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19  You spoke in a vision to your saints, and said, *
“I have set the crown upon one who 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  My hand shall hold him fast, *
and my arm shall strengthen him.
22  The enemy shall not be able to do him violence; *
the son of wickedness shall not hurt him.
23  I will smite his foes before his face *
and strike down those who hate him.
24  My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, *
and in my Name shall his horn be exalted.
25  I will give him dominion over the sea, *
and with his right hand shall he rule the rivers.
26  He shall say to me, “You are my Father, *
my God, and the rock of my salvation.”
27  And I will make him my firstborn, *
higher than the kings of the earth.
28  My mercy will I keep for him for ever, *
and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29  His seed will I make to endure for ever *
and his throne as the days of heaven.
30  But if his children forsake my law, *
and do not walk in my judgments,
31  If they break my statutes and do not keep my commandments, *
I will punish their offenses with the rod, and their sin 
with scourges.
32  Nevertheless, my loving-kindness I will not utterly take
  from him, *
nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
33  My covenant I will not break, *
nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips.
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34  I have sworn once by my holiness *
that I will not fail David.
35  His seed shall endure for ever *
and his throne as the sun before me.
36  It shall endure for evermore as the moon, *
and as the faithful witness in the heavens.
37  But you have rejected and forsaken your Anointed; *
you are full of wrath against him.
38  You have broken the covenant with your servant; *
you have defiled his crown and cast it to the ground.
39  You have overthrown all his walls *
and broken down his strongholds.
40  All those who go by plunder him, *
and he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
41  You have exalted the right hand of his enemies, *
and made all his adversaries rejoice.
42  You have turned back the edge of his sword *
and have not given him victory in the battle.
43  You have taken away his glory *
and cast his throne down to the ground.
44  The days of his youth you have shortened *
and covered him with dishonor.
45  Lord, how long will you utterly hide yourself ? *
How long shall your wrath burn like fire?
46  O remember how short my time is; *
why have you made all people for nought?
47  What man is there who lives and shall not see death, *
and shall deliver his soul from the power of the Grave?
48  Lord, where are your loving-kindnesses of old, *
which you swore to David in your faithfulness?
49  Remember, Lord, how your servants are reproached, *
and how I bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people;

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50  Remember how your enemies have reproached you, O Lord, *
how they have called after your Anointed King with cries 
of scorn. 
51  Praised be the Lord for evermore. *
Amen and Amen.