Psa. 89:0 A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
Psa. 89:1 I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever;
To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.
2 For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;
In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”
3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen;
I have sworn to David My servant,
4 I will establish your seed forever
And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah.
Psa. 89:5 The heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD?
Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD,
7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,
And awesome above all those who are around Him?
8 O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
9 You rule the swelling of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.
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.
12 The north and the south, You have created them;
Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
13 You have a strong arm;
Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
15 How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
O LORD, they walk in the light of Your countenance.
16 In Your name they rejoice all the day,
And by Your righteousness they are exalted.
17 For You are the glory of their strength,
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.
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.
20 “I have found David My servant;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,
21 With whom My hand will be established;
My arm also will strengthen him.
22 “The enemy will not deceive him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
23 “But I shall crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.
24 “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,
And in My name his horn will be exalted.
25 “I shall also set his hand on the sea
And his right hand on the rivers.
26 “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 “I also shall make him My firstborn,
The highest of the kings of the earth.
28 “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever,
And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.
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,
31 If they violate My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod
And their iniquity with stripes.
33 “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,
Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.
34 “My covenant I will not violate,
Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.
35 “Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36 “His descendants shall endure forever
And his throne as the sun before Me.
37 “It shall be established forever like the moon,
And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah.
Psa. 89:38 But You have cast off and rejected,
You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.
39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant;
You have profaned his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken down all his walls;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 All who pass along the way plunder him;
He has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You also turn back the edge of his sword
And have not made him stand in battle.
44 You have made his splendor to cease
And cast his throne to the ground.
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?
47 Remember what my span of life is;
For what vanity You have created all the sons of men!
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?
50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants;
How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,
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.
Stepped-stone structure up to the Temple Mount from the city of David, 2018
LORD God Almighty,
You are faithful and true. Your Word endures forever. What You have revealed remains true and trustworthy. What You have promised, You will satisfy from the greatest pledge to the least letter and stroke. Though the grass withers and the flower fades, Your Word endures forever.
As for the days of man, he is like grass. Like the flower of the field, he flourishes. When the wind crosses over it, it is no more. Its place acknowledges it no longer. Yet Your Word endures forever, for Your Word is Your breath, captured gloriously and graciously in language created to reveal the divine to what is mortal and fleeting. Your Word endures for You are faithful and true, able to preserve what You created to endure forever. Great is your faithfulness.
Not only have You preserved Your Word from age to age, You send Your Spirit to enlighten the mind of the depraved to turn to You, the God of hope, Whose Word brings life and light to what the darkness cannot overcome. As Your Word endures, Your truth is made known, absolute and unyielding to the persuasion of a depraved world shrouded by the darkness of sin and unbelief.
Enduring and steadfast is Your lovingkindness. Your lovingkindness endures the unfaithfulness of man, for You are greater than our sin. Your Word abounds beyond our failures, refusing to be nullified by the unfaithful acts of dust creatures. As a father has compassion on His children, so You have compassion on those who revere You, Whom You have chosen to reveal the glory of Your grace.
You are the One True God Who makes and never breaks His covenants. God of Noah. God of Abraham. God of Isaac. God of Jacob. God of Moses. God of David. God of the house of Judah. God of the house of Israel. God and Father of Jesus, Your Son, our Savior, and Lord over all.
Jesus is the Messiah Who establishes Your kingdom, building a house for Your Name. You establish the throne of His kingdom forever. The house and kingdom of David will endure before You forever, and David’s throne will be established forever through his offspring, Jesus, the root and descendant of David, according to the flesh, the bright morning star.
You draw us with lovingkindness to the redemption that is in Messiah Jesus. In Messiah, all of Your promises are fulfilled. Redeemed by the blood of Your Son, You restore Your sons and Your daughters to Yourself in peace and love. The new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah was inaugurated by the blood of Your Beloved Son.
You have put Your law within us. You are our God, and we are Your people. You have forgiven our iniquity, and our sin, You remember no more. We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Messiah Jesus once for all. No longer do you remember our sins and lawless deeds. What You have forgiven and forgotten is gone forever. The new has come.
Glory and thanks to You for so great a salvation as You freely give in Messiah Jesus. Humbly and confidently, we rejoice in thanksgiving to You, our glorious God and gracious Father.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
