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Psalms 89

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A Commitment to Praise God's Faithfulness 1–4

1
I will sing of the lovingkindness of Jehovah for ever: With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. ​
2
For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever; Thy faithfulness wilt thou establish in the very heavens.
3
I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant: ​
4
Thy seed will I establish for ever, And build up thy throne to all generations. [Selah

The Incomparable Power of the Creator 5–18

5
And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Jehovah; Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. ​
6
For who in the skies can be compared unto Jehovah? Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto Jehovah, ​
7
A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones, And to be feared above all them that are round about him?
8
O Jehovah God of hosts, Who is a mighty one, like unto thee, O Jehovah? And thy faithfulness is round about thee.
9
Thou rulest the pride of the sea: When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. ​
10
Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; Thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength. ​
11
The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: The world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
12
The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy name.
13
Thou hast a mighty arm; Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne: Lovingkindness and truth go before thy face. ​
15
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance. ​
16
In thy name do they rejoice all the day; And in thy righteousness are they exalted.
17
For thou art the glory of their strength; And in thy favor our horn shall be exalted.
18
For our shield belongeth unto Jehovah; And our king to the Holy One of Israel. ​

Recitation of the Davidic Covenant 19–37

19
Then thou spakest in vision to thy saints, And saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. ​
20
I have found David my servant; With my holy oil have I anointed him: ​
21
With whom my hand shall be established; Mine arm also shall strengthen him.
22
The enemy shall not exact from him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23
And I will beat down his adversaries before him, And smite them that hate him.
24
But my faithfulness and my lovingkindness shall be with him; And in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25
I will set his hand also on the sea, And his right hand on the rivers.
26
He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.
27
I also will make him my first-born, The highest of the kings of the earth. ​
28
My lovingkindness will I keep for him for evermore; And my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29
His seed also will I make to endure for ever, And his throne as the days of heaven.
30
If his children forsake my law, And walk not in mine ordinances; ​
31
If they break my statutes, And keep not my commandments;
32
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes.
33
But my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. ​
34
My covenant will I not break, Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35
Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David:
36
His seed shall endure for ever, And his throne as the sun before me.
37
It shall be established for ever as the moon, Andasthe faithful witness in the sky. [Selah ​

The Complaint: God Has Rejected His Anointed 38–45

38
But thou hast cast off and rejected, Thou hast been wroth with thine anointed. ​
39
Thou hast abhorred the covenant of thy servant: Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. ​
40
Thou hast broken down all his hedges; Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
41
All that pass by the way rob him: He is become a reproach to his neighbors.
42
Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries; Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
43
Yea, thou turnest back the edge of his sword, And hast not made him to stand in the battle.
44
Thou hast made his brightness to cease, And cast his throne down to the ground.
45
The days of his youth hast thou shortened: Thou hast covered him with shame. [Selah

Petition: Remember Your Ancient Promises 46–52

46
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? How longshall thy wrath burn like fire? ​
47
Oh remember how short my time is: For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men! ​
48
What man is he that shall live and not see death, That shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? [Selah
49
Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, Which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness? ​
50
Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; How I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty peoples,
51
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Jehovah, Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
52
Blessed be Jehovah for evermore. Amen, and Amen. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 89

Verse 1

Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite — Maskil is an instructive, didactic poem. Ethan is named among the men Solomon surpassed in wisdom (1 Kings 4:31). The psalm's two keywords open here: chesed, 'mercies', and emunah, 'faithfulness', both returning in v.49 and vv.24, 33.

Verse 3

a covenant with my chosen — Berith, covenant, made with David as bachir, 'chosen'. It rests on the promise Nathan carried (2 Sam 7), and the oath is recalled in 'The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it' (Ps 132:11); Peter cites it in Acts 2:30.

Verse 5

the congregation of the saints — 'Saints' is qadosh, holy ones, the word repeated in v.7, 'the assembly of the saints'. The heavens praise the LORD's 'wonders' (peleh) and his faithfulness; the heavenly company of angels is named in Heb 12:22.

Verse 6

the sons of the mighty — Bene elim, literally sons of the mighty ones, beings of heaven and power. The question has the form of Moses' song, 'Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?' (Ex 15:11), and the answer is none; compare 'O ye mighty' in Ps 29:1.

Verse 9

the raging of the sea — Ge'uth, a rising up or swelling; 'stillest' is shabach, to calm with a word. The LORD 'stilleth the noise of the seas' (Ps 65:7); Christ did the same, 'Peace, be still' (Mark 4:39), and the disciples asked who he was (Mark 4:41).

Verse 10

Rahab — Rahab, 'boaster', a name Scripture gives to Egypt (Ps 87:4, 'Rahab and Babylon'). The verse looks to the LORD's 'wonders in the field of Zoan' (Ps 78:43). 'Broken in pieces' is daka, crushed; 'slain' is chalal, pierced through.

Verse 14

Justice and judgment — Tsedeq (righteousness) and mishpat (judgment) are the 'habitation' (makon, foundation, fixed place) of the throne; Ps 97:2 says the same. 'Mercy and truth' (chesed, emeth) go before his face (qadam, to precede).

Verse 15

the joyful sound — Teruah, a shout or trumpet blast. It is used of 'the shout of a king' among Israel (Num 23:21). The blessed people 'know' it, that is, have learned to recognise it, and walk 'in the light of thy countenance'.

Verse 18

our defence — Magen, a shield: the LORD is 'a sun and shield' (Ps 84:11). The second line gives the covenant title 'the Holy One of Israel' (Ps 71:22) and sets him as 'our king' (melek), preparing for the king of vv.19–37.

Verse 19

Then thou spakest in vision — The chazon, vision, is that of Nathan, when 'according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David' (2 Sam 7:17). 'One that is mighty' is gibbor, a warrior, as David was described (1 Sam 16:18); the 'holy one' here is chasid, a different word from v.5.

Verse 20

I have found David my servant — The anointing by Samuel with the horn of oil is told in 1 Sam 16:12–13. Paul quotes the line in Acts 13:22, 'I have found David the son of Jesse'. 'Anointed' is mashach, from which comes mashiach, the anointed one, used in vv.38, 51.

Verse 27

my firstborn — Bekor, the title of rank and privilege, here given to David, youngest of Jesse's sons. 'Higher' is 'elyon, the word for God Most High. The title is fulfilled in Christ, 'the firstborn from the dead' (Col 1:18), 'KING OF KINGS' (Rev 19:16).

Verse 30

forsake my law — Torah, the law of the LORD, which the king's sons must keep. The condition was in the covenant from the start: 'If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men' (2 Sam 7:14); compare Ps 132:12. The discipline of vv.31–32 is chastening, not rejection.

Verse 33

my lovingkindness will I not utterly take — The promise given in 2 Sam 7:15: 'my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul'. 'Suffer my faithfulness to fail' is shaqar, to deal falsely: the LORD will not prove untrue to his emunah.

Verse 37

as the moon — The moon stands as 'faithful witness' ('ed, witness; aman, faithful) in the sky, beside 'the sun before me' in v.36. The LORD uses the same pledge in Jer 31:35–36: the ordinances of sun and moon will cease before Israel ceases as a nation.

Verse 38

cast off and abhorred — Zanach and ma'as, to push aside and to spurn. Here the psalm turns from promise to complaint (vv.38–51), the verbs spoken of 'thine anointed' (mashiach, as in v.51), the king in whom the covenant rested.

Verse 39

made void the covenant — Na'ar, to abhor or reject. 'Profaned' is chalal, the verb of v.34, 'My covenant will I not break', and of v.31; the king's nezer, 'crown' (something set apart), is cast to the ground. Compare 'The crown is fallen from our head' (Lam 5:16).

Verse 46

How long, LORD? — The cry of Ps 79:5, 'How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?' 'Hide thyself' is sathar; compare 'why hidest thou thy face from me?' (Ps 88:14). 'For ever' is netsach, perpetually.

Verse 47

how short my time is — Cheled, a fleeting span of life. 'In vain' is shav', emptiness: the question asks whether man is made for nothing. Compare 'Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble' (Job 14:1).

Verse 49

thy former lovingkindnesses — Chesed again, the word of v.1, 'mercies', and 'in thy truth' is emunah, 'faithfulness' of v.1. The singer who vowed to sing of these now asks where they are. The oath to David is named in vv.3, 35 and in Ps 132:11. 'Lord' here is Adonai.

Verse 52

Blessed be the LORD for evermore — Barak, to bless; 'Amen, and Amen' repeats amen, 'so be it'. The same closing words stand at Ps 41:13 and Ps 72:19. The psalm ends in blessing, though the complaint of vv.46–51 is still unanswered in its words.