Psalms 89 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 89

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil¹ of Ethan the Ezrahite.

89:1   I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
2   For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
3   You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
4   ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah
5   Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
6   For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
    Who among the heavenly beings² is like the LORD,
7   a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?
8   O LORD God of hosts,
    who is mighty as you are, O LORD,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
9   You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.
10   You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11   The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12   The north and the south, you have created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13   You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14   Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15   Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
16   who exult in your name all the day
    and in your righteousness are exalted.
17   For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.
18   For our shield belongs to the LORD,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19   Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,³ and said:
    “I have granted help to one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20   I have found David, my servant;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him,
21   so that my hand shall be established with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
22   The enemy shall not outwit him;
    the wicked shall not humble him.
23   I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.
24   My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25   I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
26   He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27   And I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.
28   My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my covenant will stand firm⁴ for him.
29   I will establish his offspring forever
    and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30   If his children forsake my law
    and do not walk according to my rules,⁵
31   if they violate my statutes
    and do not keep my commandments,
32   then I will punish their transgression with the rod
    and their iniquity with stripes,
33   but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
    or be false to my faithfulness.
34   I will not violate my covenant
    or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35   Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
    I will not lie to David.
36   His offspring shall endure forever,
    his throne as long as the sun before me.
37   Like the moon it shall be established forever,
    a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
38   But now you have cast off and rejected;
    you are full of wrath against your anointed.
39   You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
    you have defiled his crown in the dust.
40   You have breached all his walls;
    you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41   All who pass by plunder 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   You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
    and you have not made him stand in battle.
44   You have made his splendor to cease
    and cast his throne to the ground.
45   You have cut short the days of his youth;
    you have covered him with shame. Selah
46   How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47   Remember how short my time is!
    For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48   What man can live and never see death?
    Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
49   Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
    which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50   Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
    and how I bear in my heart the insults⁶ of all the many nations,
51   with which your enemies mock, O LORD,
    with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
52   Blessed be the LORD forever!
      Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

[1] 89:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[2] 89:6 Hebrew the sons of God, or the sons of might
[3] 89:19 Some Hebrew manuscripts godly ones
[4] 89:28 Or will remain faithful
[5] 89:30 Or my just decrees
[6] 89:50 Hebrew lacks the insults

Commentary

The majesty and mercy of God. A psalm of Ethan; see title of Ps 88.

v1-14: The uniqueness and excellence of God; several references to God's faithfulness.

v1-2: God's everlasting mercy; it is for ever, and established in the heavens.

v3-5: God's faithfulness, especially His covenant with David (see v19-29). The heavens declare something of God's character. Part of His self-revelation to His "holy ones," His own people, is His faithfulness.

v6: The Lord God is beyond comparison.

v7: God is greatly to be feared; we must show Him proper respect.

v8: Unique in His faithfulness; the false gods were known to be capricious and arbitrary in their 'works.' But God is constant.

v9-13: The great power of God over nature. This great power was seen when He crushed Rahab (Egypt), bringing deliverance for His people. The uniqueness of God, that He is all-powerful. This is seen in the creation, and His continuing mighty works.

v14: Only in God is there righteousness and justice, love and faithfulness. Righteous and justice, we read, are the foundation, or habitation, of His throne; God dwells in justice, and in Him is "great righteousness," Job 37.23.

v15-18: Blessed indeed are the people who know this God ;

walking in the light of His presence;
rejoicing all day long;
knowing His righteousness.

v19-29: God's covenant with David' a covenant of election and grace. Ultimately this was fulfilled in Christ, and demonstrated in Christians.

v19: Chosen from among men, Heb 5.1; chosen and exalted by God.

v20: Anointed by God, Matt 3.16. David was found in the humble surroundings of Jesse's home; the Lord Jesus was brought up in a carpenter's home.

v21: Established and strengthened by God; Acts 10.38, God was with Him. Father and Son were never apart, always in total agreement. We need to share this same experience, of God with us, and to subject our will to His mind.

v22-23: Victorious over the enemy, Matt 8.29; Heb 2.14. David knew repeated victories over those nations that attacked Israel.

v24: His life owned and blessed by God. God's character of faithfulness and mercy seen in Him. As in Ps 87, David was known as God's man.

v25: Given authority, Matt 8.27; 28.20.

v26-27: Special relationship with God, Matt 17.5.

v28: Eternal promises in Christ; never forsaken by God.

v29: His seed will endure, Matt 16.8. This is consistent with His eternal kingdom. Here the promise to David was explicitly fulfilled in Christ, Acts 2.29-31.

v30-37: God's covenant with David; these things were fulfilled during the reigns of the kings.

v30-32: There was a rebuke upon those who departed from God's standards; they have to bear the consequences of their wrong-doing.

v33: Even in rebuke the covenant remained, for it is God's word. For us, sins may damage our relationship with God, but His promises remain. He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. The Hebrew words here are simple and clear - God cannot lie.

v34: Once spoken, God's word is settled; since God is unchangeable, His word is also unchangeable.

v35: Promises made to David; this is central to God's working for the rest of world history; in terms of blessing upon Israel, and in terms of the person of Jesus Christ, and His church.

v36: The line of David will remain, being fulfilled in Christ's eternal nature.

v37: The testimony of the eternal dynasty, showing God's character to all creation for ever.

v38-45: Israel's response and suffering. The problem of circumstances that seem to contradict God's promises. The psalmist is very honest here, as he struggles to reconcile what he sees with what he knows.

The Lord Jesus Christ, although without sin, also endured these things;

punished and rejected by God (v38);
became a reproach to man (v41);
enemies rejoiced over Him (v42);
dishonoured and abused (v44);
covered with shame (v45).

v38-39: Solomon lost out on God's blessing, as he turned from God.

v40-43: Enemies broke through, bringing destruction to Jerusalem. This began during Rehoboam's reign. The armies of Israel and Judah became impotent, as God gave victory to their enemies.

v44: The authority of the throne was diminished, as sin abounded, and the people rebelled.

v45: Life was shortened.

v46-51: Final prayer.

v46: No wonder the psalmist prays, "How long?" Our lives are so short, whilst God is eternal; we struggle to see beyond the immediate.

v47: God has made man's life short.

v48: God has also made man frail.

v49-51: Looking for the past to be restored, and promises to be remembered.

v52: Bringing the psalm, and the third book of psalms, to a close.