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Psalms 89

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A Commitment to Praise God's Faithfulness 1–4

1
Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD 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 shalt 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 LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. ​
6
For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? ​
7
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
8
O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
9
Thou rulest the raging 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 thy strong arm. ​
11
The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
12
The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
13
Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14
Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. ​
15
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. ​
16
In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17
For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
18
For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. ​

Recitation of the Davidic Covenant 19–37

19
Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, 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 upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23
And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
24
But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25
I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
26
He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
27
Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. ​
28
My mercy 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 my judgments; ​
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
Nevertheless 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 that 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, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. ​

The Complaint: God Has Rejected His Anointed 38–45

38
But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed. ​
39
Thou hast made void 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 strong holds to ruin.
41
All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.
42
Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
43
Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
44
Thou hast made his glory 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, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire? ​
47
Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? ​
48
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
49
Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth? ​
50
Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;
51
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
52
Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · 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 (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 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.