My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him;
Psalm 89 celebrates God's covenant with David, and this verse is its heart. Two questions press on the reader: who is the "him" God speaks of, and what makes a covenant with a failing family "stand firm"?
The verse is the closing line of a long recital of what God swore to David. One writer traces the sequence of promises that leads up to it.
The verses that follow set out the covenant made with David in detail. They also show God's faithfulness to that covenant. God had spoken in a vision to Nathan (2 Samuel 7:4-17) about David. He is the one chosen from the people and lifted high. He is anointed as the servant of the Lord (v. 20). He triumphs over all his enemies (vv. 21-23). God's faithfulness and mercy set him up to reign over the whole land promised to Abraham. For him God's mercy will be kept forever, and "with him" God's covenant will stand firm (v. 28).
This covenant stands on mercy, not on law. That one difference decides where it ends.
In Psalm 89 the wisdom of Ethan instructs us. What does this wise man speak of? Grace! This Psalm is about the unchangeable promises of God and the sure mercies of David. If the people stand before God on the ground of law, it can only lead to the darkness of judgment and death. If they stand on the ground of the covenant of grace made with David, it leads to this: "Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness" (v. 2) — in the heavens, where nothing can ever touch it.
Israel broke the covenant of law. Nothing can break this one.
God's mercy and God's covenant would stand firm with Him, never to be broken, as Israel broke their covenant of law (v. 28). God would also make the objects of His grace (His seed) last forever. That reminds us that those who are His are secure forever (v. 29).
The verses immediately after this one speak of children who forsake God's law and are disciplined for it. God did not promise in ignorance of what was coming.
For many centuries that was the end of David's throne. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise. No failure of man could set it aside. In fact, when He gave the promise, God had that failure in view, and He said what He would do: "I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules... then I will punish their transgression with the rod... but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips" (Psalm 89:29-36).
The guarantee is not David's family but God's own character.
The holiness of God is a witness that God cannot change His word, the word by which blessing is made sure to David and his descendants.
David died, and his throne fell. So the promise looks past him to a greater Son, and the psalm's own language points that way.
Paul preached in the synagogue at Antioch. He quoted the words "the sure mercies of David" and linked them to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. These words also connect with Psalm 89, especially verses 19-29. That Psalm puts special weight on mercies. Its "David" is God's "Holy One" (verse 19). God will make Him "My Firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth" (verse 27), and says, "My covenant shall stand fast with Him" (verse 28). Clearly the Psalm has in view the Son of David; David himself was only a picture of Him. All the mercies of the Psalm are made good only in Christ risen from the dead.
A promise held by a mortal man is only as durable as the man. That is why the New Testament ties these mercies to an empty tomb.
He begins by presenting a brief history of the people of Israel, quickly leading up to the point that God fulfilled His promise to His people Israel by giving them Christ in incarnation (vv. 32-33). But Israel rejected and killed their Messiah. Humanly speaking, at this point, all was lost. But what did God do? He "raised Him from among the dead, no more to return to corruption," and He said, "I will give to you the faithful mercies of David." God had promised David a descendant to sit on his throne (2 Samuel 7:16). That promise is certain, sure and unchangeable. To fulfil it, God raised up Christ from among the dead.
- Mercy — the covenant rests on God's kindness, not on Israel's obedience. Law could only end in judgment. Grace is built up forever.
- Kept — God set His faithfulness in the heavens, where nothing can touch it.
- Unbreakable — God promised while knowing His people would fail. He named the discipline in advance and kept the covenant.
- Him — the "him" reaches past David to the Son of David, made firstborn and higher than the kings of the earth.
- Sure — God raised Christ from the dead, never to return to corruption. In Him the mercies are certain, and those who are His share that security forever.
And I will establish his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
Psalm 89 is a song about a promise: God swore to David that his family line and his throne would last. Verse 29 sets the length of that guarantee, and raises two questions: who this "seed" finally is, and how the promise survived the fall of David's throne.
The psalm ties two promises together and gives both the same time-word.
The song joins David's throne and his seed together, just as the promise to David joined them. It gives both the same length of time — "for ever." "I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations" (verse 4)… Verses 38–51 sound a note of failure about David's offspring. Anything committed into the hands of men results in sad and grievous failure. The psalm in its fullness and blessing waits to be fulfilled in another Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything in the psalm rests on one thing: the mercy of God.
The subject of this psalm is the mercies of Jehovah — His kindness towards Israel — and how they never change. They are the sure mercies. There was faith to say "for ever," because it was grace… He said in faith: mercy, goodness shown to us, will be built up for ever. God set His faithfulness where nothing could reach it… He then repeats the covenant God first made with David. That covenant expresses mercy, and it is what Jehovah would be faithful to — the sure mercies of David.
So who is this "seed"? Commentators point past David's own children.
Our Lord Jesus is the David, or David's seed, here spoken of… The psalm says with force that all shall be well in the end, and for ever. The mercies of the Lord are "for ever" — mercy is built up "for ever" — the seed of David is established "for ever" — and the like… Despite all appearances, the believer can be sure that "the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." And we know that the resurrection of Christ has made David's mercies "sure." (Acts 13)
The promise reaches everyone who belongs to Him.
God would also make the objects of His grace (His seed) endure for ever. This reminds us that those who are His are eternally secure (v. 29). "His throne as the days of the heavens" testifies that His rule lasts for ever.
Older translations use this same picture of heaven's days elsewhere in Scripture.
Scripture had said that it would be "as the days of heaven upon earth" (Deuteronomy 11:21). Of the throne of the King it says, "his throne as the days of the heavens" (Psalm 89:29). And the Gentiles were to know that "Heaven rules" (Daniel 4:26).
David's throne did fall. The promise still stood.
For many centuries, that was the end of the throne of David. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise. No failure of man could set it aside. In fact, when God gave the promise, He had already taken the failure into account, and He said what He would do: "I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law… then I will punish their transgression with the rod… but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness."
Commentators differ on how far "for ever" reaches. One writer notes that the psalm measures the promise by things God made — the sun, the moon, the days of heaven.
How long does the blessing last? "I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens." Again, "his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies." This wording is all the more striking because it describes what is eternal, as the New Testament fully reveals — the throne. That throne never passes from David's Son, though He gives it up as man to take it as "God all in all." Yet even when the psalm speaks of the part of the blessing that is eternal in itself, its language never goes beyond the outer limit of time.
- Mercy is the ground. The psalm is about Jehovah's unchanging mercies. Faith could say "for ever" because the covenant was grace.
- Mercy is sworn. Seed and throne are bound together in the promise to David, and God attached "for ever" to both.
- Mercy is centred in Christ. David's true Seed is the Lord Jesus, and His resurrection is what made David's mercies sure.
- Mercy reaches His own. Those who belong to Him share the enduring line — a picture of eternal security.
- Mercy survives failure. God knew David's children would fail. He promised the rod, not abandonment. So His faithfulness, and the throne, stand unbroken.
If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in mine ordinances;
God Himself speaks these words as He recites the covenant He made with David. He raises the possibility of failure before any of David's descendants had failed — so can disobedience cancel a promise God has already sworn?
One writer contrasts what stands under law with what stands under this promise:
Then Psalm 89 gives us the mercies and faithfulness of the LORD, tied to the promise made to David, to David's Son, and to David's throne — a throne to be disciplined if needed, and never abandoned. But now it was overthrown and left in ruins… Under law there was no hope. Here there was a sure promise, even though everything lay in ruins at the time. And it was exactly this, through grace, that drew out the appeal to the promise.
One writer weighs the long collapse of David's line against the promise that outlasted it:
So for many centuries that was the end of David's throne. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise no human failure could set aside. In fact, when He gave it, God had already taken the failure into account, and had said what He would do.
What God allowed for as a possibility became the record of the nation:
Sadly, David's descendants failed completely. They abandoned the law and did not walk in God's judgments. They broke His statutes and did not keep His commandments (vv. 30-31). So the rod God had threatened (v. 32) has fallen on the nation. They are cast off, and it looks as if the covenant has been cancelled. Their land is ruined and they are in disgrace. Their enemies have the upper hand over them. Their glory is gone, their throne is brought down, and shame covers them.
Another writer traces the same loss generation by generation:
Psalm 89 quotes this covenant, but it adds a condition about David's children: if they were not faithful, they would know the judgment of the Lord. And we know how that turned out. The promise that was made conditional on the faithfulness of David's children was lost by them and lost to them. Generation after generation in the history of the kingdom of Judah showed it.
The threatened stripes are real, yet they belong to relationship rather than rejection:
And so Israel as God's nation could not be consumed, because God's gifts and calling are without repentance (Rom. 11:29), because His compassion towards them could not fail (Lam. 3:22). Their transgressions were to be visited with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes, but the divine loving-kindness was not to be utterly taken from David and his nation (Ps. 89:33). Correction is ever in covenant love.
The same writer draws the conclusion for a throne lying in the dust — the long silence is not amnesia:
From this we can see that discipline is not forgetfulness. It is the sign of being remembered. David's throne lies in the dust for a time because of transgression, but it has not been forgotten… The covenant is as full and fresh in God's memory as it was in the days of David himself.
One writer explains why God handles the sins of His own people differently:
God's covenant dealings in Psalm 89:32 include punishing their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. God cannot overlook the sins of His own people as He does the sins of the world. He brings them under discipline now. Sin in one of God's people is far more serious than sin in an unbeliever, because God's glory suffers so much more at our hands.
One writer looks past David's line for the psalm's fulfilment:
Verses 38-51 sound a note of failure about David's seed. Anything placed in human hands ends in sad and serious failure. The psalm's full blessing waits for another Seed to fulfil it: the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Promise first. God guaranteed the throne with a promise no human failure could set aside — and He had already taken the failure into account when He gave it.
- Condition real. The "if" was not decoration. What hung on the faithfulness of David's children was lost by them, generation after generation.
- Rod, not rejection. God meets transgression with the rod and iniquity with stripes. He disciplines the throne He promised; He does not abandon it.
- Discipline remembers. A throne in the dust is not a forgotten throne; the covenant stays as fresh in God's memory as in the days of David himself.
- Christ secures. Everything placed in human hands broke down. The psalm's full blessing waits on another Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ.
If they profane my statutes, and keep not my commandments
God's oath to David includes a clause about failure. What happens if the king's descendants break the statutes and commandments God gave them? The answer shapes everything that follows. God promises discipline, but He never puts the covenant itself at risk.
The condition is not an afterthought. One writer looks back at the long collapse of David's line and finds that God had already said what He would do.
For many centuries this was the end of the throne of David. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise which no human failure could ever set aside. In fact, when He gave it, God had that failure in view, and He said what He would do.
Why introduce the possibility at all? Because the ones in view are the seed, not the King Himself, and God's own character is at stake in how He treats them.
When His seed come into view, and not Himself — as if there could be doubt about Him — the necessary conditions of divine holiness appear. His seed too will be established forever, just as His throne is unchangeable. But here God foresees failure as possible, and He provides for it. In this case chastening must show His holiness. God must maintain His character.
The two words are not just repetition. One writer gives each word its own force.
The word translated "statutes" comes from the word for engraving. That implies these are unchangeable words. "Commandments" call for obedience.
The possibility in verse 31 became the nation's actual history. The psalm's later verses record the result.
Sadly, the seed of David completely broke down. They forsook the law and did not walk in God's judgments; they violated His statutes and did not keep His commandments (vv. 30-31). So the threatened rod (v. 32) has fallen upon the nation. They are cast off, and the covenant seems to be void.
The "then" of the next verse is part of the covenant, not a break in it.
"Then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes" is among the covenant dealings of Psalm 89:32. God cannot pass over the sins of His saints as He does over those of the world. He brings them under present discipline. Sin in a saint of God is far more serious than in an unbeliever, since the glory of God suffers so much more at our hands. What might seem a small thing in another is not so in us.
God's government and God's grace are two different things. Both run at the same time.
God has ways in government with His people, and He has ways in grace. It is most necessary to notice the difference. Under the righteous government of God, the Jews have been and still are under His chastening hand. Their sins and their refusal to repent brought this on. But the grace and love of His heart towards them never change. Notice the terms of the covenant: "And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever" (1 Kings 11:39). This is a principle of immense importance, not only for Israel and the church, but for the individual Christian.
Seen that way, the rod says something positive about the relationship it never breaks.
Notice from this that discipline is not forgetfulness, but a sign of remembrance. David's throne is for a time in the dust because of transgression, but it has not been forgotten.
The "if" belongs to David's line, not to the One that line points to.
But with Christ, the true David, there can be no failure — and therefore no breach of covenant in His case. Here holiness itself is pledged on His behalf, for God has sworn to Him by it, and cannot take it back.
One writer uses these verses to separate God's correction of His own from His judgment of the world.
The sins a child of God commits must come under God's governmental chastening in this life. But he cannot come into God's penal judgment when the world is condemned. 1 Corinthians 11:32 makes the distinction clear between God's chastening and God's eternal judgment: "But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world." See also Psalm 89:31-33 and Hebrews 12:5-11. They describe His governmental chastenings in disciplining His redeemed children.
- Covenant foresaw — God saw the failure coming when He gave the promise, and He said in advance what He would do about it.
- Covenant corrects — Broken statutes bring the rod. God will not treat sin in His own as He treats sin in the world.
- Covenant holds — Government and grace run together. The hand chastens; the love behind it stays the same.
- Covenant remembers — Discipline proves you are remembered, not forgotten. The throne lies in the dust only for a time.
- Covenant secured — With Christ, the true David, no failure is possible. The promise rests where nothing can break it. So correction of His children is never condemnation.
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Psalm 89 retells the covenant God made with David, and verse 32 says what happens if his descendants abandon God's law: the promise stands, but the rod and the stripes fall. How can God punish His own people and still keep His word to them for ever?
The rod is not an afterthought, added when things went wrong. It belonged to the promise from the day God gave it.
God had guaranteed that throne with a promise that no human failure could ever set aside. In fact, in giving it, God had already taken the failure into account, and declared what He would do.
God had said the same thing to David about his son Solomon. The son in view is a man who can fail.
After this God speaks to David about Solomon, no longer as a picture of Christ, but as a fallible man who, as such, would carry responsibility. He can fall under God's discipline and correction. "When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men" (v. 14). But God will establish his line for ever.
This was not a threat left on paper. The history of Judah's kings shows God carrying it out.
God's promises about His people Israel did not depend on how they behaved. But in His governmental ways they could not escape punishment for their sins… Read the history of the kings of Judah, and you learn how necessary it was for God, in His ways, to carry out this discipline. God had to discipline even the best of the kings who sat on David's throne. In the end the nation was carried into captivity because it had turned away from the Lord.
The rod is not how God treats an enemy. It falls on the people He has bound Himself to — and that is why it falls.
God would punish their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes. But He would not completely take His loving-kindness from David and his nation (Ps. 89:33). Correction is always within covenant love. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2). To walk comfortably and without interruption, as on a level path, we must walk watchfully, as with the Lord.
One writer applies the verse to God's people today.
"I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes" is one of the covenant dealings of Psalm 89:32. God cannot pass over the sins of His saints the way He passes over those of the world. He brings them under present discipline. Sin in a saint of God is far more serious than in an unbeliever, since the glory of God suffers so much more at our hands.
Commentators differ on how far this verse reaches. One reads it as finished in the kings of Judah. That side of the promise rested on the faithfulness of David's children, and it "was lost by them and to them, as generation after generation, in the history of the kingdom of Judah, witnessed" (J. G. Bellett). Another sees the same discipline still at work in the age to come.
Verses 30 to 32 show that the millennium is in view here, not the eternal state… this verse in Psalm 89 clearly shows there may be cases of disobedience in Israel that will call for discipline from God. So they may be unfaithful to some degree. Not so with the Lord Jesus, from whom God will not take His loving-kindness.
Verse 32 does not stand alone. The next line limits it, and the limit rests on God's own character.
With the seed there is the possibility of failure and the governmental consequences that follow (vv. 30-32). Still, God will not completely take His loving-kindness from them, or let His faithfulness fail… The holiness of God is a witness that God cannot alter His word — and that word secures blessing for David and his seed.
- Foreseen. God built the rod into the covenant from the start. He promised the throne knowing His people would fail.
- Fatherly. The stripes are "the rod of men" laid on sons, not the sentence of a judge on strangers.
- Costly. God will not overlook sin in His own people. Being known by Him is the very reason He acts.
- Historical. Disciplined kings and a nation in captivity show the verse at work, not just on paper.
- Limited. The rod reaches the conduct, never the covenant. God's faithfulness outlasts every failure it corrects.
Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor belie my faithfulness;
Psalm 89 sets out God's covenant with David, and the lines just before warn of the rod if David's sons abandon God's law. Then comes the turn — "but" — can God punish His people and still keep every promise?
This mercy was not an afterthought. One writer looks back at the centuries when David's throne lay empty.
So the throne of David came to an end for many centuries. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise, and no failure of man could set it aside. In fact, when He gave the promise, God had already taken the failure into account and said what He would do.
The Hebrew word for "steadfast love" runs like a thread through this psalm. One writer traces it.
It is the same word used in verse 1: "I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever." The mercies of the Lord are concentrated in one person — the man chosen out of the people, David His servant. He is able to carry all the attributes of the Lord. He was spoken of before as the channel of them, and He makes them all mercy towards His people. It is the same word in verses 24, 28 and 33.
The rod of verse 32 and the mercy of verse 33 are not in conflict. They belong to two different lines that run together through this part of the psalm.
Psalm 89:28-37 also sets the two things before us very plainly. The first is the certainty of God's counsels, His fixed purpose. The second is the way He governs, in view of man's responsibility.
One writer ties the rod to the love behind it.
God would punish their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. But He would not take His loving-kindness away completely from David and his nation (Ps. 89:33). Correction is always in covenant love… If David had walked in integrity, and humbly with his God, God would have spared him this discipline. But now "he must bear the rod."
The same writer puts the two halves of the verse together — love and faithfulness:
In this psalm we can see mercy and faithfulness joined together… Our mercies are covenanted mercies — pledged, promised, undertaken, sealed, and in a great sense purchased. So discipline is not forgetfulness. It is a sign that God remembers. David's throne lies in the dust for a time because of transgression, but God has not forgotten it.
One writer takes the promise past Israel's history and applies it to every child of God.
Let the weak-hearted believer notice this, for his comfort. God's unchangeable purpose of salvation is held safe for him for ever in the changeless character of God. And one written clause of the covenant of blessing is this: the Father of spirits graciously disciplines every son He brings near to Himself in Jesus… He has undertaken to bless us. In true faithfulness, He uses whatever discipline He sees will lead us to fuller joy in Him.
That is why the Bible can record the sins of its best men without embarrassment.
It is a great comfort to see that God can record the failures of His saints in His word. He does not hesitate to record them. These failures were written down to teach us. In them, and through them, God shows that His faithfulness never fails, despite man's failure… He cannot let His truth fail; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim. 2:13.)
Where does this promise finally rest? One writer follows it to Christ.
The "everlasting covenant" assured David of this: through his seed, God would establish his kingdom and throne for ever (see 2 Samuel 7:12-17; Ps. 89:34-37; Jer. 33:19-32). Acts 13:34 shows that the Spirit of God points to Christ as the promised seed of David. It also shows that God secures the sure mercies of David through Christ risen from the dead.
- Foreseen — God made the promise knowing the failure would come. Man's breakdown was written into the terms, not a surprise that cancels them.
- Both — the rod and the steadfast love stand side by side. God keeps His fixed purpose and still governs man's responsibility.
- Correction — the stripes prove covenant love, not forgetting. A throne in the dust is still a throne God remembers.
- Comfort — for the believer, discipline is one clause of the covenant of blessing. The Father who uses it has already promised to bless.
- Secured — the mercy never rested on David's sons keeping their side. It rests in David's risen Son, where it cannot fail.
My covenant will I not profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
In Psalm 89 God speaks about His covenant with David. He stakes His faithfulness on words He has already said — yet David's line failed, so in what sense did God keep His word?
The psalm does not celebrate a promise being fulfilled. It holds on to one while the visible facts point the other way.
Psalm 89 has one remarkable feature we should notice here. It rests on the faithfulness of God according to His original word of promise, at a time when everything on the outside is against it. And it expects that word to be fulfilled on the ground of mercy — in fact on Christ, in whom all promised mercies come together.
The verses just before speak of children who forsake God's law and feel the rod. Verse 34 does not ignore that failure. It answers it, and God's holiness stands behind the answer.
With the seed there can be failure, and the consequences that God's government brings (vv. 30-32). Still, God will not take His loving-kindness away from them completely, nor let His faithfulness fail. God will not break His covenant, nor alter the word that has gone out of His lips (vv. 33-34). The holiness of God is a witness that God cannot change the word by which He secures blessing to David and his seed.
Commentators draw a line between David's other descendants and the One David pictures. With Him the question of a broken covenant never arises.
But with Christ, the true David, there can be no failure — and so no breach of covenant in His case. Here holiness itself is pledged on His behalf, for by it God has sworn to Him; and God cannot take it back.
Israel stood before God in two ways. The two lead to opposite ends.
This Psalm is about the unchangeable promises of God and the sure mercies of David. On the footing of the law, the people's relationship to God can only lead to the darkness of judgment and death. On the basis of the covenant of grace made with David, that relationship leads to this: "Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness" (v. 2) — in the heavens, where nothing shall ever touch it.
The New Testament shows where this unaltered word lands. It names the seed God had in view from the start.
In the "everlasting covenant" God assured David that, through his seed, He would establish his kingdom and throne for ever (see 2 Samuel 7:12–17; Ps. 89:34–37; Jer. 33:19–32). Acts 13:34 shows us that the Spirit of God points to Christ as the promised seed of David. It also shows that God secures the sure mercies of David through Christ risen from the dead.
Resurrection is not a side detail here. Without it, nothing in the promise held.
Israel could not have these mercies without death and resurrection. So the sure mercies of David are proof of resurrection. Nothing was sure until then. If they trusted in a living man, everything failed.
The law required a man to keep whatever came out of his mouth. Who has ever fully answered to that?
The first case we read of in the chapter is a man who vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge. He must not break his word. He must do everything that comes out of his mouth. Do we not know who this is? We know the One who never needs to recall a word: indeed, there is none other. His word stands; we can trust it without fear.
- Spoken. God's covenant with David has already left His lips. The psalm rests on that, not on how things look.
- Tested. God foresaw failure in David's line and met it with the rod. The rod never touches the covenant itself.
- Guaranteed. God's own holiness is the witness that He cannot alter what He said. He will never take the promise back.
- Grace, not law. Under law the story ends in judgment. Under the covenant of grace, God builds mercy up for ever, in the heavens where nothing can reach it.
- Secured. The mercies became sure only in resurrection. Nothing rests on a living man who could fail; everything rests on the risen Son of David.
Once have I sworn by my holiness; I will not lie unto David
Psalm 89 celebrates the covenant God made with David. Here God backs that covenant with an oath on His own holiness — even though David's throne would later lie in ruins.
The oath in this verse belongs to a bigger theme. One writer names what the whole psalm is about.
A few words now on Psalm 89 in detail. Its subject is the mercies of Jehovah — His graciousness, chasdee, toward Israel. These mercies never change; they are the sure mercies. There was faith to say, "for ever," for it was grace... He then repeats the covenant God first made with David. That covenant is the expression of mercy, and Jehovah was to be faithful to it — the sure mercies of David.
God swears by nothing outside Himself. One writer shows what that holiness then does for the promise.
God will not break His covenant, nor alter the word that has gone out of His lips (vv. 33-34). The holiness of God is a witness that God cannot alter His word by which blessing is secured to David and his seed.
The verses just before this one warn that David's children may abandon God's law and face discipline for it. That warning does not weaken the oath.
So for many centuries, that was the end of David's throne. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise that no human failure could set aside. No — in giving it, God had contemplated the failure, and declared what He would do.
The unfaithfulness runs one way only. God's side of the covenant does not depend on what His people do with theirs.
They may be in some measure unfaithful. But it is not so with the Lord Jesus. God will not take His loving-kindness from Him, for God's faithfulness will remain untouched whatever may be the failure of His people. How could He ever alter the word that has issued from His lips? Indeed, He who cannot lie has sworn to David by His holiness (v. 35).
With David's descendants, God's holiness has one effect. With the true King it has the opposite.
In this case, holiness must show itself in discipline: the character of God must be maintained.
But with Christ, the true David, there can be no failure — no breaking of covenant in His case. Here holiness itself is pledged on His behalf, for by it God has sworn to Him, and cannot recall it.
God first gave this promise in words spoken to the prophet Nathan. One writer traces it forward to the announcement made before Christ was born.
More than that, God confirmed this great covenant with His own oath (Ps. 89:35-36). And He was about to come: the Son of David in the flesh, but also David's Lord, the One who spoke these words to Nathan. Then came God's own announcement: "the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign forever and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). That throne and that kingdom He has not yet received.
Israel rejected their Messiah, and the promise of a Son on David's throne looked finished.
But Israel rejected and killed their Messiah. Humanly speaking, at this point, all was lost. But what did God do? He "raised him from among the dead, no more to return to corruption"... God had promised that David would have a descendant to sit on his throne (2 Sam. 7:16). This promise is absolutely certain, sure and unalterable. In order that it be fulfilled, God raised up Christ from among the dead.
- Sworn — God backs the promise with His own holiness. That holiness now witnesses that He will never change His word.
- Foreseen — God allowed for the failure of David's line before it happened. No human collapse can cancel the promise.
- Unmoved — people may prove unfaithful. He who cannot lie will not withdraw His loving-kindness.
- Pledged — with David's descendants, holiness showed itself in discipline. With Christ, the true David, God pledges that same holiness for Him and cannot recall it.
- Raised — Christ has not yet taken the throne. But God raised Him from the dead, so death can no longer touch the promise.
His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me;
Psalm 89 celebrates a promise God made to David, and verse 36 ties its future to the sun itself. That raises two questions: who is this offspring, and how can the promise stand when the psalm itself ends in collapse?
God gave this guarantee with failure already in view. He did not make the throne depend on the good behaviour of David's descendants. He promised it knowing they would fail.
So, for many centuries, the throne of David came to an end. Yet God had guaranteed that throne with a promise that no failure of man could ever set aside. In fact, when He gave it, God had taken the failure into account, and declared what He would do.
That promise rests on an oath God swore by His own holiness. The question is who can carry such an oath without failing.
But with Christ, the true David, there can be no failure — and so no breaking of covenant in His case. Here holiness itself is pledged on His behalf, for God has sworn to Him by it, and cannot take it back.
"His seed" is the older wording; the ESV says "offspring." Either way, it cannot mean David's natural family as history knew it. Commentators point past David to one descendant.
David's seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun (v. 36). Of course, this can refer only to the Lord Jesus, the Root and Offspring of David.
The end of the psalm makes the same point from the other side. The song of promise turns into a record of collapse.
Verses 38-51 sound a note of failure about David's seed. Anything put into the hands of men ends in sad and grievous failure. The Psalm in all its fullness and blessing waits for another Seed to fulfil it — the Lord Jesus Christ.
The comparison is not decoration. Every generation can see the sun and the moon, and they outlast every generation that sees them.
The sun and the moon last, and they witness to something that lasts longer still: the throne of the Lord Jesus. They are witnesses in the heavens, and all mankind can see them.
One writer asks whether the picture goes further still, and reads the two lights as two levels of rule.
Do the symbols used not even seem to point to the kingdom of Christ in its full sun-like glory, as He represents it? And then to those lesser thrones around the throne, like planets, where the light is only reflected, like the moon's, and yet where stability is just as certain?
A promise of an endless line runs into an obvious obstacle: men die. One writer points to the event that answers it.
The Apostle Paul preached in the synagogue at Antioch. He quoted the words "the sure mercies of David," and connected them with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. These words also connect with what we find in Psalm 89... Clearly the Psalm has in view the Son of David, of whom David was only a picture. All the mercies of the Psalm will only be proved true in Christ risen from the dead. Chief among those wonderful mercies are the forgiveness of sins and justification from all things, which Paul preached at Antioch.
Note what that does to the word "endure." It does not mean a family line surviving. It rests on a Man raised from the dead, and on mercies that begin with forgiveness.
This oath did not end with David. One writer follows it into the New Testament.
More than that, Jehovah confirmed this great covenant with an oath... He was about to come — the Son of David according to the flesh, but also David's Lord, the One who had spoken these words to the prophet Nathan. Then God announced: "the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). That throne and that kingdom He has not yet received. He fills the Father's throne in the highest heaven, but all heaven and earth wait for the appointed time when He will come again to claim His rights as king and receive the world-wide kingdom.
- Sworn. God swore an oath to David with failure already in view. No sin in the royal line can cancel the throne.
- Seed. The offspring who endures forever is not David's family line as history ran it. It is Christ, the Root and Offspring of David.
- Sure. Resurrection makes the promise sure. The mercies of David hold good only in Christ raised from the dead, and they begin with forgiveness of sins.
- Seen. Everyone can see the sun and the moon, and they outlast the people who watch them. The throne lasts longer still, with lesser thrones shining like the moon by reflected light.
- Soon. He has not yet taken David's throne. He fills the Father's throne in heaven, while heaven and earth wait for the day He comes to claim His kingdom.
It shall be established for ever as the moon, and the witness in the sky is firm. Selah.
This verse closes God's oath to David, and He points to the moon overhead as the proof. Two questions follow: whose throne is meant, and how long a "forever" measured by the moon lasts.
Earlier verses allow for a family that fails and needs the rod. The promise does not rest on that family's record.
They may be unfaithful in some measure, but it is not so with the Lord Jesus. God will not take His lovingkindness from Him. God's faithfulness will remain untouched, whatever the failure of His people may be. How could He ever alter the word that has gone out from His lips? Indeed, He who cannot lie has sworn to David by His holiness (v. 35).
Another writer draws the line inside the promise. The rod falls on David's descendants, not on the King Himself.
When His seed are in view, rather than Himself — as though there could be any doubt about Him — the necessary conditions of divine holiness appear. Yet His seed too shall be established for ever, just as His throne is unchangeable. But here God foresees failure as possible and makes provision for it. In that case, holiness must show itself in chastening: the character of God must be maintained.
The comparison is not decoration. God chose lights nobody can miss, and He promises something firmer than they are.
David's seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun (v. 36). Of course, this can refer only to the Lord Jesus, the Root and Offspring of David. The sun and the moon last, and they witness to the greater durability of the throne of the Lord Jesus — witnesses in the heavens, seen by all mankind.
The psalm does not end on this high note. It soon turns to a throne cast down, and that turn shows where the fulfilment lies.
A note of failure is sounded in verses 38–51, concerning David's seed. Anything entrusted to the hands of men ends in sad and grievous failure. The psalm, in its fulness and blessing, waits to be fulfilled in another Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ.
David's throne was set up on earth as a witness to God's authority. The One who takes that throne up again carries the same title.
The throne and kingdom of David passed to his son Solomon, so that he might hold them as glorious in the eyes of the nations. So the throne of David became a second witness of God's authority and power on earth. But the house of David, like Israel before it, quickly corrupted itself… So the Lord has been left without a proper and appointed witness to His glory as Lord of the earth. But Scripture tells us at length that Israel is to revive as though from their present state of death. Israel will be established by Christ and under Christ (who is the Faithful Witness to the glory of the Father) in the person, and with all the rights, of "Son of David."
Commentators differ on how far this "for ever" reaches. Some read the sun and moon as a picture of a rule that never ends. One writer points out that the wording is tied to created things, and so to the limits of time.
How is the length of the blessing defined? "Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies." The wording is all the more striking because it is applied to something eternal, according to full New Testament revelation. That is the throne, which never passes from David's Son, though He gives it up as man to take it as "God all in all." Yet even where the blessing is eternal in itself, the language used does not go beyond the outermost limit of time.
The heavenly comparisons also open the door to a wider company than Israel.
The stability of His throne is assured again. The comparisons used carry our thoughts as Christians up to the heavens, where that throne belongs. There a glorious fulfilment of this seed will also be found, in the days all this points forward to. Then the thrones around the Throne will hold a company John foresees in the Spirit and pictures for us — a company who cast their crowns at the feet of the Lamb.
- Sworn — God swore by His own holiness. He cannot lie, so the throne does not rest on David's family record.
- Chastened — the covenant allowed for failure. The rod falls on the descendants, but the promise still stands.
- Witnessed — sun and moon are public guarantees. The throne they point to lasts longer than they do.
- Fulfilled — verses 38–51 show the throne cast down. The promise waits on another Seed, the Lord Jesus, the Root and Offspring of David.
- Shared — the comparisons lift the eye past Israel to the thrones around the Throne, where a company casts their crowns before the Lamb.