This is the last psalm in book 3 of the Psalms. This is another lament, but with a different slant to it.
Steadfast Love\Covenant With David
89:1-4
This psalm begins with a praise of God’s steadfast love. As we have seen, this term refers to God’s covenant love. The difference here is that the psalmist is not referring to the Mosaic Covenant, the covenant God made with Israel through Moses. Here, he praises God’s faithfulness to keep his covenant with David.
The psalmist quotes the Lord, saying God had made a covenant with his chosen one, David. We remember that Saul was the first man God chose to be the king of Israel. (1 Samuel 9) However, Saul did not obey the Lord. He offered burnt offerings that were only to be offered by the priests. (1 Samuel 13) He did not destroy the Amalekites, but kept some livestock for himself and saved the king, Agag. Then he lied to Samuel about it. So, the Lord rejected Saul as king. (1 Samuel 15:26-28)
After rejecting Saul, the Lord chose David to be king and had Samuel the prophet anoint him. (1 Samuel 16) He would not let David build the temple, but made a covenant with him, saying “Your throne shall be established forever”. (2 Samuel 7:16) This covenant was expressed to David by Nathan the prophet. So, God chose David. David was the chosen one. And, he made a covenant to establish his throne forever. The psalmist alludes to that in verse 4.
A Doxology (Praise
89:5-18
In this section, the psalmist praises God’s attributes. First, he says there is no one like God, even among the heavenly beings. This is an important theological truth: there is no other god and there is no one equal to God. That is why the first commandment God gave Israel was “You shall have no other gods before (or besides) me”. (Exodus 20:3)
A corollary of this truth is that we do not believe in a type of dualism that makes Satan and God equal but opposing forces. This dualistic belief is the basis for the Star Wars movies: there is a light side and a dark side to the Force, which must be balanced for peace to exist. Dualism is also part of the Zoroastrian religion.
In contrast, the Bible tells us God is all powerful (omnipotent). Sometimes the word “almighty” is used. (8) Since he is all powerful, no other being can fully contend with him. He has no equal.
The psalmist gave examples of God’s omnipotence. He rules the raging sea. (8) Jesus also demonstrated this power when he calmed the Sea of Galilee. (Mark 4:35-41) He crushed Rahab, the sea monster (and also a symbol of Egypt). (10-12) He is a strong and mighty. (13)
Additionally, God is the creator of all things. (11; also Genesis 1) This includes the devil himself. All things are created and are subject to the Creator. The devil is defeated by Jesus Christ and will ultimately face eternal punishment in the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:10) There is no one like God and, therefore, he is to be feared and held in awe by all beings. (7)
The psalmist also wrote that God is righteous\just. (14) Moses said that all of God’s ways are justice. (Deuteronomy 32:4) He always acts in accordance to what is right. Of course, God is the standard of righteousness and declares what is right. (Isaiah 45:19)
Because of God’s excellent attributes, his people are blessed when they praise him (the festal shout) and when they obey him (walk). (15-16) When they do so, the find God is their strength. He lifts them up and protects them. (17-18)
God’s Promise To David
89:19-37
After praising God for his attributes, the psalmist tuned to God’s choosing of David to be king. First, God spoke to the prophet Samuel concerning David. The English Standard Version says God spoke to “your godly one”. That is singular and would refer to Samuel.
God told Samuel to go find David and anoint him king. (1 Samuel 16) Samuel had already prophesied to Saul that God rejected him and sought out a man after his own heart, commanding him to be prince over his people. (1 Samuel 13:14) It was God’s initiative to choose David, not David choosing to be king.
The New International Version says God spoke to his “faithful people”, which is plural and would seem to refer to Israel as a whole. The New American Standard Version 1973 says “thy godly ones” which again is plural, and would refer to both Samual and Nathan.
David would call God his Father. God would make him the “firstborn”, the highest of earthly kings. (26-27) Israel was first to be called God’s firstborn, as God instructed Moses to tell pharaoh. (Exodus 4:22) When pharaoh refused to let God’s firstborn leave Egypt, God took the firstborn of Egypt.
David was certainly a triumphant king, but these verses are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. Paul wrote that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15) This does not mean that Jesus was created. It means he has all the privileges of the first son of a king. He was raised to sit at the right hand of the father, reigning in heaven, exalted by the Father, given a name above every name. Every knee bows before him in heaven and on earth and under the heart and all will confess that he is Lord. (Philippians 2:9-10)
The psalmist went on to recite the Old Testament accounts of God’s covenant with David, including that, even if his descendants did not obey God, God would punish them but would not remove his steadfast love and would not violate his covenant to have a descendant of David on the throne forever. The word forever is used several times from verse 28 through 37.
The psalmist was building a case here, using God’s word about his covenant to David as a basis for the complaint of the next section.
The Complaint
89:38-45
After reciting God’s promises, the psalmist starts this section with the word “but”. He seems to say, you promised all this but you do not seem to be doing it.
He says the anointed, the David king, is cast off, rejected, and subject to God’s wrath (38) This gives us the impression that this psalm may have been written in exile. He goes even further to say God renounced his covenant with David. This is a serious charge, since God promised he would not do that.
The rant continues as the psalmist speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem. The walls were breached and the strongholds ruined. (40) Israel was subject to scorn. (41) It enemies were exalted and Israel had no defense. In fact, the king lost his splender and even his throne. He was shamed. (42-45)
All of this happened. Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and burned it. King Zedekiah was captured, his eyes put out, and he was put in prison in chains. His sons were slaughtered. (2 Kings 25) The point of this recitation is that, by all appearances, God did not keep his covenant with David.
The Questions
89:46-51
As in other laments we read, the psalmist asked God how long this wold go on. He was afraid he would not live to see the kingdom restored. He wanted to know where God’s steadfast love had gone.
The Closing
89:52
Despite the severity of this lament, it closes with a praise, blessing the Lord forever. This blessing ends every book of the psalms.
The psalmist asked God to deliver his people based on his covenant with David. It appeared to the psalmist that God had rejected the covenant, despite his promise of steadfast love forever and a descendant who would occupy the throne forever.
But God did keep his promise to David, and in a greater way than David or the psalmist seemed to understand. David’s descendant would not just be the king of the small nation of Israel, but the king of kings and lord of lords.
As time progressed, the Jews came to see that God’s covenant with David would be fulfilled in the Messiah, God’s anointed one. That is why Matthew began his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus. He called him “Jesus Christ, the son of David”. (Matthew 1:1) He showed Jesus as a descendant of David.
Some people during Jesus’ ministry recognized him as the Messiah, and called him Son of David. And Jesus identified himself as such in Revelation 22:16, saying “I am the root and the descendant of David”.
God always keeps his promises, although he may do it differently than we expect. He often goes beyond the basics of the promise and gives much more or fulfills it in a more wonderful way than we expect.
We also need to learn that God is always working toward the fulfillment of his plan even when it looks bleak from our perspective. He calls us to be faithful to the end, not just until it looks bad. So, even when it looks bad, and sometimes it will look bad, we continue to believe and to hope, because we believe he will do what he says he will do.
Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.
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