Psalm 89 Commentary
Rigardless, blessed be the Lord forevermore!
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KEY THOUGHT: Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen. [Psalm 89:52 NKJV]
Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!
Psalm 89 NKJV
Remembering the Covenant with David, and Sorrow for Lost Blessings
A [a]Contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”
3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen,
I have sworn to My servant David:
4 ‘Your seed I will establish forever,
And build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah
5 And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
6 For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
8 O Lord God of hosts,
Who is mighty like You, O Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
10 You have broken [b]Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain;
You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.
12 The north and the south, You have created them;
Tabor and Hermon 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 go before Your face.
15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
16 In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
17 For You are the glory of their strength,
And in Your favor our [c]horn is exalted.
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Then You spoke in a vision to Your [d]holy one,
And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I have found My servant David;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,
21 With whom My hand shall be established;
Also My arm shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not [e]outwit him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23 I will beat down his foes before his face,
And plague those who hate him.
24 “But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,
And in My name his horn shall be exalted.
25 Also I will set his hand over the sea,
And his right hand over the rivers.
26 He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 Also I will make him My firstborn,
The highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My mercy I will keep for him forever,
And My covenant shall stand firm with him.
29 His seed also I will make to endure forever,
And his throne as the days of heaven.
30 “If his sons forsake My law
And do not walk in My judgments,
31 If they [f]break My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod,
And their iniquity with stripes.
33 Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not [g]utterly take from him,
Nor [h]allow My faithfulness to fail.
34 My covenant I will not break,
Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
35 Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David:
36 His seed shall endure forever,
And his throne as the sun before Me;
37 It shall be established forever like the moon,
Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
38 But You have cast off and abhorred,[i]
You have been furious with Your [j]anointed.
39 You have renounced the covenant of Your servant;
You have [k]profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
40 You have broken down all his hedges;
You have brought his [l]strongholds to ruin.
41 All who pass by the way plunder him;
He is a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
And have not sustained him in the battle.
44 You have made his [m]glory cease,
And cast his throne down to the ground.
45 The days of his youth You have shortened;
You have covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long, Lord?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
Will Your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my time is;
For what futility have You created all the children of men?
48 What man can live and not [n]see death?
Can he deliver his life from the power of [o]the grave? Selah
49 Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses,
Which You swore to David in Your truth?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants—
How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,
51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord,
With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your [p]anointed.
52 Blessed be the Lord forevermore!
Amen and Amen.
Footnotes
a. Psalm 89:1 Heb. Maschil
b. Psalm 89:10 Egypt
c. Psalm 89:17 Strength
d. Psalm 89:19 So with many Heb. mss.; MT, LXX, Tg., Vg. holy ones
e. Psalm 89:22 Or exact usury from him
f. Psalm 89:31 profane
g. Psalm 89:33 Lit. break off
h. Psalm 89:33 Lit. deal falsely with My faithfulness
i. Psalm 89:38 rejected
j. Psalm 89:38 Commissioned one, Heb. messiah
k. Psalm 89:39 defiled
l. Psalm 89:40 fortresses
m. Psalm 89:44 splendor or brightness
n. Psalm 89:48 experience death
o. Psalm 89:48 Or Sheol
p. Psalm 89:51 Commissioned one, Heb. messiah
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Psalm 89 Commentary
“For what futility you have created all humanity!” Verse 47b. What is the point of life? The psalmist seems to be pondering this timeless question.
He has the facts of God’s unchanging promise to David on one hand, and the ugly realities of his day on the other hand. The troubles of the nation seem too prolonged to fit the error allowance for David’s sons. It appears to go on and on.
Of what use is a parachute that only comes out after the user has hit the ground? We need salvation now. We won’t enjoy it in the grave!
This psalm has several thoughts. The first section deals with God’s love, the history-long blessing on the nation, and the specifics of the blessing as it applied to David’s dynasty.
The LORD God promised David an everlasting dynasty. The psalmist doesn’t have problems with this. He also understands the conditions on which this promise hung. Israel was to experience punishment in the event they failed to keep the terms of the contract.
But the punishment is too much and for too long, the psalmist seems to suggest.
And if the punishment lasts the entire life span of a generation, how can it be good? By this time, death will have shut down every hope of restoration for that generation.
The psalmist is toying with the concept that restoration should come in time, before the grave. But the New Testament saint knows better. Restoration does come at Calvary, though it doesn’t have the literal description and expectations of the psalmist.
The saint now knows he has experienced restoration by the new birth. They can bask in the victory that a restored community enjoys. The enemy is sin. The war must be won. Individual battlefronts of the desires of the flesh, drunkenness, sexual immorality, greediness, and hatred, among many others, must be won by the saint.
Then the saints can rejoice in God’s name all day long; they can celebrate His righteousness. They will have known that righteousness and justice are foundational elements of God’s throne. The rule of God will have come. This is everlasting. It is this dynasty that David’s imperfect model represented.
It is in the now as well as in the future. The LORD simply keeps shifting the gears of the ship. The psalmist looks back at everything and rejoices in the praise of the LORD God. And so closes Book 3 of the Psalms.
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