We continue our study of Psalm 89, of Ethan, from last time. In verses 1 through 18, the psalmist exults in the power of God over all beings, over all the earth. Briefly mentioned (in verses 3 & 4) is the choice of David as the leader of an eternal dynasty.
In verses 19-24, the psalmist returns to this promise to David, looking back to the days of 2 Samuel 7 but eventually moving forward in David's line. We will review those verses before moving on to the second half of the psalm.
Psalm 89:19-26, One warrior anointed
Once you spoke in a vision,
to your faithful people you said:
"I have bestowed strength on a warrior;
I have exalted a young man from among the people.
I have found David my servant;
with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
My hand will sustain him;
surely my arm will strengthen him.
No enemy will subject him to tribute;
no wicked man will oppress him.
I will crush his foes before him
and strike down his adversaries.
My faithful love will be with him,
and through my name his horn will be exalted.
I will set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
He will call out to me, `You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.'
David (or his dynastic representative) will put his left hand over the sea (Mediterranean Sea) and his right hand over the rivers (most likely the Euphrates River), reclaiming the ancient land promised to Israel in the time of Moses (Exodus 23:31.)
Psalm 89:27-29, As long as the stars endure
I will also appoint him my firstborn,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
I will maintain my love to him forever,
and my covenant with him will never fail.
I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.
There are echoes of Psalm 2 here, especially verses 6-9 of that psalm. Again is given the promise that David's line will continue forever, "as long as the heavens endure." But how that happens is conditional, as the next stanzas attest.
Psalm 89:30-33, If his sons...
"If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,
if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
The tone of the psalm changes. The wonderful blessing of the Davidic dynasty have conditions. The people of Israel are to follow God's statutes; there are penalties for turning away. But the penalties are temporary; YHWH's love still covers David's line.
Psalm 89:34-37, I will not lie to David
I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.
Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness--
and I will not lie to David--
that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;
it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky."
Selah.
Once again the heavens are involved in praise, this time the sun and moon as witnesses to God's faithfulness. David's line will endure like the sun and moons. The psalmist repeats the promises of the covenant, with the emphatic statement, "I will not lie to David." There is a reason for this emphasis, as the next stanzas make clear.
Psalm 89:38-45, But what of these times?
But you have rejected,
you have spurned,
you have been very angry with your anointed one.
You have renounced the covenant with your servant
and have defiled his crown in the dust.
You have broken through all his walls
and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
All who pass by have plundered him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
You have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
Selah.
The song turns into a lament. The Covenant is broken; it is in ruins and Jerusalem destroyed. (Jeremiah will write a similar lament, see, for example, Lamentations 2.)
After reviewing God's covenant with David, the psalmist laments a current defeat, a defeat in which enemies have overrun the city. This does not coincide with an incident in David's time and appears to be later. The city of Jerusalem was overrun several times before the final destruction by Babylon -- could any of these times be the event described here? For example, this could be the experience of 2 Kings 24:9-17 when the youth, King Jehoichin was deposed. If so, the Ethan of the title is a descendant of the Ethan of David and Solomon.
Some have argued that the psalmist has taken an earlier psalm, verses 1-37, and in a time of defeat, added to those verses a lament as Jerusalem is overrun.
The effect of this lament is to ask,
"Where did God's promises go when we are defeated?"
The answer is messianic -- there will some day be a conquering king in the line of David.
Psalm 89:46-51, How long? Forever?
How long, O LORD?
Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
Remember how fleeting is my life.
For what futility you have created all men!
What man can live and not see death,
or save himself from the power of the grave?
Selah.
Like all laments, the question "How long?" is either implied or explicit. Here it is explicit. How long will God delay in His restoration of victory for David? It feels like it will be forever! As the psalmist remembers God's eternal covenant, he reminds YHWH what it is like to be mortal. Mortal life is fleeting; death comes quickly; one's life is futile, vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2.)
Psalm 89:46-51, Please remember
O Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O LORD,
with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
The psalmist, like Moses before God in Exodus 32:9-14, reminds YHWH of His promise and points out the mockery that he, the righteous servant, must endure.
The psalm essentially ends here. Like other psalms, the author addresses God, makes his fervent plea and then waits.
Psalm 89:52. Final word
Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.
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