Psalm 89

A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: 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 forever and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

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 of 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 rules 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 fullness 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 favor our horn shall be exalted.

18 For the Lord is our defense; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

19 Then thou spoke in vision to thy holy one, and said, 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 forever, 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 loving-kindness 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 forever, 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.

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 neighbors.

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.

46 How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself forever? 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 lives, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

49 Lord, where are thy former loving-kindnesses, which thou sworn 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. (KJV)

This psalm is a story of the promise savior given to mankind thru the line of David.  The start of this psalm “I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” sets the stage for the rest of this psalm.  The Lord’s great love for mankind can never be fully understand by anyone.  This is one of the psalms that was forward looking from the time it was written to the time of the cross.  Just like the Passover feast points to God’s deliverance of the first born at the time of the Exodus, this psalm gives us a picture of the ministry of the rejected anointed one.

Reading this psalm from my KJV study Bible verse one made me recall one of my favorite hymns of the past.  Verse one in the King James Version reads ” I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”  these words which were used in a hymn written by James Fillmore in the early 1900s.  These words are so important in today’s world as we strive to make known God’s faithfulness to all generations. 

Studying this psalm in detail the first four verses are a praise to God for his faithfulness to David, his chosen one and to whom he promise to establish his kingdom forever.  Verses five through fourteen speak of the praises that all of heaven gives to the Lord.  He is greatly feared and held in reverence by all who know him.  The heaven are his as well as the earth.  These four words make up his habitation: justice, judgment, mercy and truth.   Verses fifteen through eighteen describe the people who walk in his ways: they are blessed, they rejoice all day, in his righteousness shall they be exalted, we are in the favor of God, and shall be exalted.  The Lord is our defense; and he is our king.  Verses nineteen through twenty-nine are God’s promises to David and how he has established David, his servant, and his seed forever.  

However, verses thirty through thirty-seven is a warning to Israel not to break the law of the Lord and to walk in his judgments.  If they break the Lord’s statutes and keep not his commandments when he will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes; however, in his loving kindness he will not utterly forsake them for the sake of his promise covenant to David.  This covenant was sworn by God’s holiness and established forever.  Verses thirty-eight through forty-five describes the punishment of God for abandoning his way.  Verses forty- six through forty-eight ask the important question of how long Lord will your judgment last.  The last four verses are a plead to God to remember his former loving-kindness which he had sworn to David in truth.  He ends this psalm with blessed be the Lord for evermore. 

I love the question that is asked in verse forty-nine “What man is he that lives, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?”

This question is answered for us by Paul in I Corinthians chapter fifteen verses fifty-three through fifty-seven “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (KJV) One of my favorite verses is Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  In this simple verse Paul gives us both the purpose of living and the reward of living this life.  If we make glorifying Christ, the center of our everyday lifestyle then the fear of missing out on anything else in our life disappears.  Once we make walking with Christ as our guiding light in this world the more, we look forward to being in his presence for eternity in heaven.