Bible Points

Though Psalm 89 mentions King David, it is not written by him. It is written by a wise man, Ethan the Ezrahite.

1 Kings 4:31 tells us that Ethan’s wisdom was only exceeded by the wisdom of Solomon.

This psalm seems to been written by a man who acted (at least in this psalm) like he was bipolar. In this psalm we see an extreme “mood swing” from a mountain high praise for his faithful God, to a valley low, accusing God of abandoning His people.

Psa 89:1 A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.

Psa 89:2 For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever; In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”

Psa 89:3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant,

Psa 89:4 I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah.

In verse 1-4 Ethan sings of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness to His people through His covenant that He Himself established with David and his seed. Ethan believed that the wonderful generosity and faithfulness of God in such a promise was worthy of emphasis and meditation, so he instructed the musical pause Selah.

In verse 5-13 God’s faithfulness is again praised in the context of His omnipotence in creation.

Psa 89:5 The heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

Psa 89:6 For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD,

Psa 89:7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him?

Psa 89:8 O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

Psa 89:9 You rule the swelling of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them.

Psa 89:10 You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

Psa 89:11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them.

Psa 89:12 The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.

Psa 89:13 You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.

In verse 14-17 God’s faithfulness is again on display in the righteousness and justice of God. The people are blessed as they “know” and are “exalted” in God’s righteousness, and “walk in the light of His countenance” “in His name rejoice all the day”.

Psa 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.

Psa 89:15 How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O LORD, they walk in the light of Your countenance.

Psa 89:16 In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted.

Psa 89:17 For You are the glory of their strength, And by Your favor our horn is exalted.

In verses 18-37 God’s faithfulness is also seen in how he called and anointed David and established him as king forever. Even if David’s sons are not faithful, even if they forsake His law and violate His statutes, God will be faithful to David and faithfully keep His covenant.

Psa 89:18 For our shield belongs to the LORD, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Psa 89:19 Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

Psa 89:20 “I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him,

Psa 89:21 With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him.

Psa 89:22 “The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

Psa 89:23 “But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him.

Psa 89:24 “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted.

Psa 89:25 “I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers.

Psa 89:26 “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

Psa 89:27 “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.

Psa 89:28 “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.

Psa 89:29 “So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven.

Psa 89:30 “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments,

Psa 89:31 If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments,

Psa 89:32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes.

Psa 89:33 “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.

Psa 89:34 “My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.

Psa 89:35 “Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David.

Psa 89:36 “His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me.

Psa 89:37 “It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah.

Now notice, in the following verses, the change in the tone of the psalmist Ethan.

Psa 89:38 But You have cast off and rejected, You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

Psa 89:39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his crown in the dust.

Psa 89:40 You have broken down all his walls; You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

Psa 89:41 All who pass along the way plunder him; He has become a reproach to his neighbors.

Psa 89:42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies rejoice.

Psa 89:43 You also turn back the edge of his sword And have not made him stand in battle.

Psa 89:44 You have made his splendor to cease And cast his throne to the ground.

Psa 89:45 You have shortened the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah.

Psa 89:46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?

Psa 89:47 Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men!

Psa 89:48 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.

Psa 89:49 Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?

The first 37 verses of this psalm soared with confidence in God’s incomparable greatness and in His covenant to David. Here, the tone suddenly shifted as Ethan considered some present crisis, which seemed to be all the worse when contrasted with his understanding of God’s greatness and faithfulness to the covenant with David.

i. Because we don’t know the exact time Ethan wrote, we don’t know the crisis that prompted this desperate cry.

• It might have been Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 15-18).

• It might have been the spiritual decline of Solomon (1 Kings 11).

• It might have been the rapid and radical decline of the kingdom after Solomon’s death (1 Kings 12).

• It might have been a crisis not recorded in the Bible.

James Montgomery Boice commented on this and wrote, “With an honesty found consistently in the psalms but often lacking in ourselves, it also describes a situation in which God has not seemed to be faithful, and it asks, ‘Where is your faithfulness?’”

Sometimes in life we go through trials and sufferings when it seems that God has abandoned us. We feel that the “faithfulness of God” we find throughout the Scriptures has not been made available for us. Where is God? Where is your faithfulness?

Ethan the Psalmist ends his lament the way all of us should…with a prayer of trust and faith in God and a plea for God to do something.

In verse 50-52 he uses the word “reproach” four times. We are low and despised.

Ethan also uses the word “Your” three times.

• We are “Your” servants.

• David is “Your” anointed.

• They are “Your” enemies.

Psa 89:50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,

Psa 89:51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O LORD, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

Psa 89:52 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.

In other words, the psalmist was still trusting God to deal mercifully with him. He pushed through his doubts to offer his praise to God. He knew God’s promises based upon God’s unfailing character, and trusted God to keep His word, even at a time he was experiencing difficulty.

For those of us going through some kind of trial, and that is probably most of us, let’s trust God who said that He would never leave us and never forsake us. He will see us through.