Psalm 089

Introduction

Psalm 89 is one of the long psalms. When we studied Psalm 78, which is another long psalm, I explained that one way to deal with the long psalms is to divide them up into parts and to study each part over several weeks. So, we could divide Psalm 89 into three parts and we could spend three Wednesday evenings on it. However, the problem with that approach is that each psalm is a complete whole and they shouldn’t really be divided up in that way. And so, what I did with Psalm 78 and what I’m going to do this evening is to go through the whole psalm. But instead of going verse by verse, we’ll go part by part. And I’ll read each part before commenting on it.

You should also note that Psalm 89 is the last psalm in Book 3 of Psalms. When we were studying Psalm 41, which comes at the end of Book 1, and when we were studying Psalm 72, which comes at the end of Book 2, I explained that the book of Psalms is divided into five books; and each of the five books ends with a doxology or an expression of praise to God. In fact, the fifth book ends with five psalms of praise to God. And so, this psalm, Psalm 89, ends with a brief doxology:

Praise be to the Lord for ever!
Amen and Amen.

And that’s significant, because while Psalm 89 begins with praise to the Lord, it eventually turns to lamentation. ‘But you have rejected us’, the psalmist says in verse 38. ‘You have renounced the covenant’, he says in verse 39. ‘You have put an end to [the king’s] splendour’, he says in verse 44. ‘How long, O Lord?’ he asks in verse 46. ‘Will you hide yourself for ever?’ The psalmist turns from praise to lamentation. But then, as the psalm ends, and as the third book of Psalms ends, he returns to praise. And he returns to praise because lamentation and sorrow and suffering and humiliation are never the end of our story. Those things are never the end of our story, because we can always trust in the Lord to help us and to bring our sorrow and suffering to an end and to bring us into his presence where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore for all of God’s people. And so, even in the midst of trials, we can still praise the Lord.

The psalm can be divided into two halves: verses 1 to 39 are praise to God for his steadfast love and faithfulness; and verses 40 to 51 contain the lamentation. But we’ll divide it up into shorter parts as we go through it now.

Verses 1 to 4

He says he’ll sing of the Lord’s great love. He using the Hebrew word hesed which refers to God’s covenant love. God has bound himself with a promise to love his people always. And so, this is his steadfast love or his never-ending love. He also refers to God’s faithfulness. God is faithful to his people and to his promises. His people can always rely on him and his word, because his commitment to his people and to his promises is firm.

The psalmist refers to God’s love and faithfulness seven times throughout the psalm. And in verse 2 he says God’s love is firm and his faithfulness is established. We can always count on God’s love and faithfulness.

And then the Lord himself speaks in verses 3 and 4, where he declares that he has made a covenant with his chosen one. He’s referring to David his servant. So, God made a covenant with David in which God swore to establish and maintain David’s line for ever and to make his throne, or his kingdom, secure through all generations. In other words, God promised that one of David’s descendants would remain on the throne as king over God’s people. This goes back to 2 Samuel 7 when David wanted to build a house, or temple, for the Lord, and the Lord announced that he would build a house, or dynasty, for David so that his house and kingdom shall endure for ever and his throne will be established for ever.

When we get to the lamentation, we’ll see that the kingdom was in trouble. And it seemed that the Lord had gone back on his word. And so, that’s why the psalm begins with praise to God for his steadfast love and faithfulness. The psalmist is counting on the Lord, and on God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, to restore the king.

Verses 5 to 18

The psalmist continues to praise the Lord. The heavens, or his holy angels in the heavens, praise the Lord for his wonders and for his faithfulness. No-one can compare with the Lord and he is greatly feared among his holy angels and he is more awesome than all the angels who surround his throne. There is no one like him and he is both mighty and faithful. That’s in verses 5 to 8.

He then praises God, because he rules over the surging sea and he’s able to still the waves. He also crushed Rahab. Rahab was a mythical sea-monster, which represented chaos and evil. The commentators also explain that Rahab often stood for Egypt. And so, the psalmist could be alluding to what God did in the days of Moses when he divided the surging Red Sea to provide a way of escape for his people, before scattering the Egyptian soldiers by drowning them in the sea. This was not only evidence of God’s power, but of his love and faithfulness to his people in those days.

He then goes on to say that the heavens and the earth belong to God, because he made them. And when he refers to the heavens and earth, he means everything belongs to the Lord. God created the north and the south and everything in between. And God’s hand and arm are strong.

But he’s not a tyrant, because he is also righteous and just. So, he doesn’t misuse his power, but he uses it to do what is right and good. And the psalmist then personifies love and faithfulness. They are God’s companions who are always with him and who go before him.

In verse 15 he refers to those who walk in the light of his presence. The word translated ‘presence’ is really the Hebrew word for ‘face’. When someone is angry with us, there’s a dark scowl on their face. But when someone is pleased with us, there’s a bright, warm smile on their face. And so, blessed are those who walk with God’s smiling face looking down on them. They rejoice before him and praise him for his righteousness.

And right at the end of this part, the psalmist refers to ‘our horn’ and to ‘our shield’. He’s referring to the king, who is their shield because he protects them from their enemies. And that leads into the next part of the psalm.

Verses 19 to 29

He refers to how the Lord spoke to his people about exalting a young man from among the people to be their king. He’s referring to David. God found him in the sense that he chose him and he anointed him with oil to make clear that God had set David apart from all the rest to be king. And God promised to sustain him and to strengthen him so that no enemy would be able to overcome him or oppress him. He wouldn’t be forced to pay tribute to a foreign power. God promised to crush the king’s foes and to strike down his adversaries and to exalt him so that he would rule over, not only the land, but over the sea and rivers too.

This king will call God his Father and his God and his Rock and his Saviour. And God will regard the king as his firstborn. The firstborn son in Bible times was granted certain privileges and rights. And so, the psalmist is referring to the honour bestowed on the king by the Lord. In fact, the king of God’s people was greater than all the other kings in the world. And God promised to maintain his love to him for ever and the Lord would keep his covenant to David always so that the royal line coming from David would last for ever. His throne, or his kingdom, will last as long as the heavens endure.

Verses 30 to 37

These verses recall what the Lord said back in 2 Samuel 7. So, if David descendants are disobedient to the Lord, then the Lord will punish them as any parent will punish a wayward child. However, just as parents continue to love their children, even when the parents are punishing the children, so the Lord will not take his love away from a disobedient king. That’s in verse 33. So, God will not betray his faithfulness. He will not violate his covenant by breaking his promise. He will not alter what his lips have said. Once and for all, I have sworn by my holiness, says the Lord in verse 35. What has he sworn? That David’s royal line will continue for ever. His throne will endure like the sun and the moon.

So, he may have to punish or discipline David’s descendants when they go astray. But he will not give them up completely, because he will remain true to his promise to David.

Verses 38 to 45

The mood changes in these verses.

So, the psalmist has celebrated God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. You can always count on the Lord to remain faithful to his promises and to keep his word. And God has promised that David’s royal line will endure for ever. But now it seems that the Lord has rejected the king. God has spurned him. God has been very angry with his anointed king. And it seems that the Lord has renounced his covenant with David. The crown which once sat on the king’s head is now lying in the dust. And God has done it. God has broken through the walls and has reduced their fortresses to rubble. God has let their enemies plunder the king’s possessions; and the neighbouring nations scorn the king. They treat him with contempt. Whereas the Lord promised to exalt the king, the Lord has now exalted his foes. God has not supported him in battle, but has left him alone against mighty enemies. The king’s splendour has been brought to an end and his throne has been toppled to the ground. God has covered the king with shame.

Verses 46 to 52

It seems that the Lord has renounced his covenant with David and he’s turned on the king in his anger. And so, the psalmist asks, ‘How long, O Lord?’ Will the Lord hide himself for ever or will he come out to help the king? And how long will your anger burn against the king?

These questions show us that, although it may seem that the Lord has renounced his covenant with David, the psalmist still trusts in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness; and he still expects the Lord to restore the king. And so, he asks the Lord in verse 49: ‘Where is your former great love which in your faithfulness you swore to David?’ This is similar to what we were thinking about on Sunday evening when the Lord asked his disciples, ‘Where is your faith?’ You have faith, but you need to take it out and use it. And so, the psalmist is asking God: Where is your love? I know you love your king and his people, but you need to take it out and show it to us. He says to God: remember how the king has been mocked; and remember how your enemies have mocked your anointed king. And he really means: remember to act. Bring it to mind and act on it. Take out your love and faithfulness and use them to restore the king to his former glory. Do what you have promised and save the king and exalt him over his enemies.

And having brought his complaint to the Lord, he concludes this psalm and Book 3 of the Psalms with praise:

Praise be to the Lord for ever!
Amen and Amen.

Explanation

We don’t know when this psalm was written, but it certainly applies to the time of the exile, when God let the Babylonians overthrow the city of Jerusalem and they blinded King Zedekiah and they bound him in chains and took him to Babylon. They set fire to Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and every other important building and they broke down the walls of the city. And so, Judah went into captivity and they remained in exile for 70 years or so.

And in that time, it may have seemed that the Lord had renounced his covenant with David and that David’s royal line had come to an end despite the promises of God. And yet, what the psalmist did not know, but what we know, is that God had not renounced his covenant with David and that David’s royal line had not come to an end, because when the time had come, an angel appeared to Mary to announce to her that she would give birth to a son, from the line of David, who will rule for ever and for ever and whose kingdom will never end. God had sent a new king from the line of David to rule over his people.

And, of course, whenever the Lord was taken away and crucified and buried, it may have seemed to his disciples that God has once again renounced his covenant with David, because Christ the King had been killed by his enemies who mocked him and who taunted him. But three days later it became clear that God has not abandoned his king, because God restored him to life and exalted him to the highest place, far above all his enemies and every rule and authority on earth and in heaven. And, of course, it’s important to say that when our King suffered as he did, and when God’s anger burned against him, he was not being punished for his own sins, because he never did anything wrong, unlike all the previous kings. He was suffering for our sins, taking the blame for what we have done wrong so that we can have peace with God. So, he was scorned and mistreated because of us. But in the end, God the Father raised him from the dead and exalted him to the highest place to rule over all things and to extend his kingdom throughout the world.

An unbelieving world still mocks Christ our King. They do not believe in him and they do not honour him. Instead they despise him and they despise his people. And we might often ask ourselves and God: How long, O Lord? How long must Christ and his people be mocked and despised and mistreated and disregarded? And why is his kingdom so often small and hidden and rejected by the world, when we were expecting Christ’s kingdom to be glorious and powerful and triumphant? And so, in a sense, we’re still waiting for this psalm to be fulfilled, because we’re still waiting for Christ the King to come again with glory and in power to establish his kingdom of glory over the heavens and earth for ever. We’re still waiting for it. But we believe that God, who is full of love and faithfulness, and who is almighty and all-powerful, will keep his promises and will do all that he has said he will do; and that, in the end, Christ will rule over all and we will reign with him in his never-ending and glorious kingdom.