Psalm 89

What’s Happening?

In Psalm 89, the psalmist Ethan first celebrates God’s promises to Israel and her king, and then laments when those promises seem to be broken. 

Ethan celebrates that God’s faithfulness and love are as solid and enduring as the sky (Psalm 89:1-2). And he recalls how God promised David a dynasty as eternal and enduring as his faithfulness (2 Samuel 7:11-16; Psalm 89:3-4). But it’s not just Ethan who worships God for his faithfulness and majesty—all the angels of heaven do so as well (Psalm 89:5-8). God reigns supreme in heaven and on earth; his arm stretches in all directions, claiming mountains and the valleys (Psalm 89:11-13). He calms the stormy waves, conquers its serpents, and forever rules his people who love and adore him (Psalm 89:9-10, 14-17). And this majestic and faithful God has promised that David’s dynasty will rule forever (Psalm 89:19-29). 

Ethan then pauses to recount the warning given to David’s descendants. God said that if they did not follow his laws, they would be punished severely (Psalm 89:30-32). But God also said that even if David’s descendants were not obedient, God’s promise to David would still stand as sure as the sun and moon in the sky (Psalm 89:35-37). Despite disobedience, David’s dynasty would still reign forever. 

But this promise seems to be broken now. In anger, God has rejected the son of David currently in power (Psalm 89:38). Ethan is heartbroken as he recalls the humiliation that has reduced the king’s cities to rubble, and his crown to dust (Psalm 89:39-40). Enemies now triumph over him since God no longer supports him in battle (Psalm 89:42-43). Instead of an eternal reign, his days are cut short. Instead of being draped in splendor, the king wears a robe of shame (Psalm 89:44-45). Ethan asks God how long his anger will last (Psalm 89:46). Crippled by the brevity of his own life and the horror that’s fallen on God’s chosen king, he begs God to remember his promises and his faithfulness once again (Psalm 89:47-52).

Where is the Gospel?

Ethan thought the death of his king was proof of God’s faithlessness, but it was actually a picture of God’s faithfulness and the extent he will go to save his people. Ethan’s king was not the only son of David to be rejected. David’s son, Jesus, was also subdued by his enemies in response to the disobedience of his people. He was arrested and handed over to be beaten, humiliated, and executed (John 19:16). But God was not breaking his promises, but securing a way to keep them forever.

What Ethan did not understand was that the death of David’s son was necessary. If God was going to keep his promises forever, his people’s disobedience needed to be dealt with permanently (Hebrews 10:1-18). This is why Jesus died. Like a good king he took responsibility for his people’s sins so that those sins would never again count against them and God’s eternal promises could finally come true. Ethan thought his king’s death was proof of God’s faithlessness, but we know that Jesus' death is actually a picture of God’s costly faithfulness and the extent to which he will go to save us (Ephesians 5:25). 

We know God will be faithful to us because God raised Jesus from the dead. Ethan hoped that David’s dynasty would rule forever, and Jesus, David’s son, now sits at God’s right hand eternally (Ephesians 1:20). Everything that God promised is coming true—and Jesus’ death and resurrection prove it to us. 

See For Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who keeps his promise to his chosen king. And may you see Jesus as the victorious son of David who died to establish his eternal Kingdom.