August 15, 2018 (Wednesday)
This Psalm was written during the exile. The Psalmist feels conflicted because God always does the right thing and is praised by angels and kings as incomparable. God’s covenant with David was a promise to bless David and all his successors, yet now the king (Jehoachin) is exiled to Babylon and his subjects with him. What of the promises to King David? The Psalmist prays (verse 49), “Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?” He has questions, but he praises the Lord (verse 52).
Psalm 89 contains 52 verses. Here is an outline provided by Enduring Word commentary on line:
A. The incomparable God and His covenant to David.
1. (1-2) Forever mercy and faithfulness.
2. (3-4) God’s covenant with David.
3. (5-10) God praised for His faithfulness and might.
4. (11-14) The glory and strength of God in heaven and on earth.
5. (15-18) The blessedness of those who know the incomparable God.
B. The vision to God’s holy one regarding the covenant with David.
1. (19-24) God’s help to the king.
2. (23-29) More blessings to the king.
3. (30-37) The promises of the Davidic covenant repeated.
C. The covenant and the crisis.
1. (38-45) The sense that God had forsaken His covenant promises to David.
2. (46-48) A plea for speedy rescue.
3. (49-51) A prayer for restoration of previous mercies.
4. (52) A conclusion of praise.
New International Version (NIV)
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
The Incomparable God and His Promises to David
1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant,
4 ‘I will establish your line forever
and make your throne firm through all generations.'”
5 The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
8 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it.
12 You created the north and the south;
Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm is endowed with power;
your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
16 They rejoice in your name all day long;
they celebrate your righteousness.
17 For you are their glory and strength,
and by your favor you exalt our horn.
18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
The Vision to God’s Holy One Regarding the Covenant with David
19 Once you spoke in a vision,
to your faithful people you said:
“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
I have raised up a young man from among the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
21 My hand will sustain him;
surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 The enemy will not get the better of him;
the wicked will not oppress him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down his adversaries.
24 My faithful love will be with him,
and through my name his horn will be exalted.
25 I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.’
27 And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28 I will maintain my love to him forever,
and my covenant with him will never fail.
29 I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.
30 “If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,
31 if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
32 I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
33 but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.
35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness–
and I will not lie to David–
36 that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.”
The Covenant and The Crisis
38 But you have rejected, you have spurned,
you have been very angry with your anointed one.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant
and have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
41 All who pass by have plundered him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
46 How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how fleeting is my life.
For what futility you have created all humanity!
48 Who can live and not see death,
or who can escape the power of the grave?
49 Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
51 the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked,
with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
52 Praise be to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
The Psalmist, a man by the name of Ethan, had questions concerning the covenant with David as king. David’s successor, Jehoachin, had been captured and exiled, and Ethan seems to think that God had violated his covenant with David by allowing that to happen. But Ethan needed to know that the only person qualified to be their Messiah, a descendant of David, had not yet been born. He would come and He would save.
After Jesus’ resurrection, he met two of his disciples as they traveled the road to Emmaus, “and beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). The true heir to David’s throne would usher in a new kingdom–a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of those who would believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Thankfully all who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior are citizens of that kingdom, The Kingdom of God. In the fullness of time, He came as promised. Today we await his appearance again, just as He promised. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
I hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind And it’s closer now than its ever been I can almost hear the trumpet As Gabriel sounds the call At the midnight cry we’ll be going home When Jesus steps out On a cloud and calls God’s children the dead in Christ shall rise to meet him In the air And then those that remain Will be quickly changed At the midnight cry When Jesus comes again
I look around me and the prophecies fulfilling And signs of the times their appearing everywhere I can almost hear the Father As He says son go get my children At the midnight cry The bride of Christ shall rise When Jesus steps out On a cloud and calls God’s children the dead in Christ shall rise to meet him In the air And then those that remain Will be quickly changed At the midnight cry When Jesus comes again
And then those that remain will be quickly changed At the midnight cry When Jesus comes again At the midnight cry When Jesus comes again When Jesus comes again