Psalm 89

This Psalm is actually not written by David. Ethan, who lived long after David, wrote it about God’s covenant promise to David (see 2 Samuel 7). Read all the way through it and then interact with the questions at the end.

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
¹I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
²For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
³You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
⁴I will establish your offspring forever,
and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
⁵Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
⁶For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
⁷a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
⁸O Lord God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
⁹You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them.
¹⁰You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
¹¹The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
 the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
¹²The north and the south, you have created them;
 Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
¹³You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.
¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
 steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
¹⁵Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
¹⁶who exult in your name all the day
and in your righteousness are exalted.
¹⁷For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁸For our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁹Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said:
“I have granted help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
²⁰I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
²¹so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
²²The enemy shall not outwit him;
the wicked shall not humble him.
²³I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
²⁴My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
²⁵I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
²⁶He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
²⁷And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
²⁸My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
²⁹I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.
³⁰If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,
³¹if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
³²then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
³³but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
³⁴I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
³⁵Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
³⁶His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
³⁷Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
³⁸But now you have cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your anointed.
³⁹You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust.
⁴⁰You have breached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
⁴¹All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
⁴³You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not made him stand in battle.
⁴⁴You have made his splendor to cease
and cast his throne to the ground.
⁴⁵You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame. Selah
⁴⁶How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
⁴⁷Remember how short my time is!
For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
⁴⁸What man can live and never see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
⁴⁹Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
⁵⁰Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,
⁵¹with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
⁵²Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

The psalm takes a surprising and painful twist at verse 38. Ethan grips onto the word “forever” in the promise of God made to David (1,2,4), before pointing out that the situation in his life seems to totally contradict God’s promise. Derek Kidner writes: There is a painful tension here, yet the spirit of the psalm is humble, never bitter. Instead of railing at the promise of God or explaining it away, it faces the full clash of word and event in an appeal to God to show His hand.

Like an unresolved discord it therefore impels us toward the New Testament, where we find that the fulfillment will altogether outstrip the expectation.

In Ethan’s pain, he does not call God a liar, nor does He dismiss the promise of God. He stares this seeming contradiction in the face and cries out, “I don’t understand.” This type of honest struggle is welcomed by the Bible.

Have you ever felt that God’s promises aren’t playing out in your experience? How do you respond in those moments? Have you ever taken the path of Ethan – wrestling with God? It is okay to respectfully question God and to struggle with His words. The tragedy would be to walk away from Him or dismiss His word. Honesty is the best policy. Ethan opts for an honest struggle with the Lord, and I hope you will in whatever difficult situation you encounter.

So is there any resolution for Ethan? Yes. If you continue to read the saga of the nation of Israel (1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles) you see a continued march toward evil. God warns His people generation after generation to turn from their course of action, yet they remain. He fulfills His promise of judgment by sending them into captivity in Babylon (Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah as well as a number of the prophetic books record this time of captivity). Has God broken His promise to David and sent them away for good?

God answers this question through the prophet Jeremiah. He states that God will “cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth” (33:15). Man’s sin does not break God’s covenant. God will judge the nation with the hand of the Babylonians, and then He will restore the nation. The Old Testament ends with the return of the people of God to the promised land (Nehemiah, Ezra). The Scriptures ended with the hope of restoration still in the hearts of the people however. When will the Davidic King arrive? Read Isaiah 9:6-7 and Luke 1:32-34 and then join us at Breakaway on the 10th!