Thy faithfulness is from generation to generation thou hast established the earth, and it standeth.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
Settled in heaven, proved on earth
The psalmist has just looked up and seen God's word fixed in heaven, out of reach of anything happening below. Verse 90 brings that certainty down to earth: God keeps faith with every generation, and the ground under our feet proves it.
God's purpose stays fixed where He is. But He also acts out of heaven, and that action reaches the generations of men.
There, where He is, it remains in its own character of God's settled and expressed purpose. But God has acted out of heaven, though His purpose is settled in it. His faithfulness means He stands by what He is and has said. It continues through the changing generations of men. So when we have His word, we can count on it as sure as what is in heaven; it does not change, any more than God Himself. He established the earth, and it lasts.
"It stands fast"
The steadiness of the earth points somewhere. One writer links it to the Person and the words of the Lord Jesus.
The New Testament tells us that the blessed Person of the Lord Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8). The Lord Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Matt. 24:35). This is the solid rock we stand on, the right foundation for our spiritual maturity. Nothing can shake either the Person of the Lord or His precious word. "You have founded the earth and it stands still" is the literal rendering from the Hebrew. What God does lasts! Someone has said, "Every time you set your foot on the ground, remember the stability of God's promises."
Creation as a standing witness
Why should anyone trust that God keeps His word? Look at everything around us that keeps running.
God's word is settled in the heavens. On earth, too, God is faithful in fulfilling His word throughout all generations. What is more, creation is the abiding witness of God's faithfulness to His word. All created things continue according to the fixed laws by which they were set in motion. They are His servants doing His bidding. So the purpose of God is settled in the heavens. His faithfulness to carry out that purpose continues on earth. And all created things in heaven and earth bear continual witness to this faithfulness of God.
Why the psalmist needed this
This is not comfort in the abstract. It is comfort for people whose enemies want them destroyed.
What comfort and rest of heart for the saints to know that the word of the Lord is unmovable and heavenly, and that He is always faithful! Everything down here is under His control and serves His will. This stable, heavenly word is the preserving power of the righteous where the wicked seek their destruction. It is the word of Him to whom they belong, the One who is their Saviour.
The obedience creation models
The earth keeps the place God gave it. That raises a question about us.
The earth, heaven, hail, rain, wind, snow and all the elements are His servants. How much more should you and I be His servants, as redeemed and intelligent creatures! These elements work in the place God appointed for them, and in this way they are an example to us all.
How far "it stands fast" reaches
One writer takes this further still. He reads the earth's lasting as reaching into eternity itself.
"You have established the earth, and it stands fast" (Ps. 119:90); "the earth remains forever" (Eccl. 1:4). These divine statements are now fulfilled. Many Christians have a very vague idea of the eternal state of the earth and the home of the redeemed. They think of it as a spiritual state with no location. But it is not so. The earth and the heaven remain as definite places throughout all eternity.
Summary
- Settled — God fixed His word in heaven. Nothing on earth can touch it. His purpose does not change, because He does not change.
- Faithful — God carries that purpose out down here. He stands by His word through every changing generation.
- Established — the ground you stand on is the evidence. What God does lasts, so every step is a reminder of the stability of His promises.
- Serving — creation keeps the course God gave it. That is the witness to His faithfulness and the pattern for ours.
- Steadying — a man under threat is speaking here. The unmovable word preserves the righteous when the wicked seek their ruin.