A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
1LORD, remember David and all the times he didn’t do what he wanted.2LORD, he made a promise. Mighty One of Jacob, he made a promise to you.3He said, ‘I won’t enter my house or go to bed.4I won’t let my eyes sleep. I won’t close my eyelids5until I find a place for the LORD. I want to build a house for the Mighty One of Jacob.’6Here are the words we heard in Ephrathah. We heard them again in the fields of Kiriath Jearim.7‘Let us go to the LORD’s house. Let us worship at his feet. Let us say,8“LORD, rise up and come to your resting place. Come in together with the ark. It’s the sign of your power.9May your priests put on godliness as if it were their clothes. May your faithful people sing for joy.” ’10In honour of your servant David, don’t turn your back on your anointed king.11The LORD made a promise to David. It is a firm promise that he will never break. He said, ‘After you die, I will place one of your own sons on your throne.12If your sons keep my covenant and the laws I teach them, then their sons shall sit on your throne for ever and ever.’13The LORD has chosen Zion. That’s the place where he wants to live.14He has said, ‘This will be my resting place for ever and ever. Here I will sit on my throne, because that’s what I want.15I will greatly bless Zion with everything it needs. I will give plenty of food to the poor people living there.16I will put salvation on its priests as if it were their clothes. God’s faithful people will always sing for joy.17‘Here in Jerusalem I will raise up a mighty king from the family of David. I will set up the lamp of David’s kingdom for my anointed king. Its flame will burn brightly for ever.18I will put shame on his enemies as if it were their clothes. But he will wear on his head a shining crown.’