Outline of Chapter 89:

         Introduction         Psalm 89 Introduction

         Inscription            Psalm 89 Inscription

         vv.     1–2           Introduction: God’s Grace is Forever

         vv.     3–4           Introduction: God’s Covenant with David is Forever

         vv.     5–8           God’s Essence: No One Among the Angels is as Awesome as God

         vv.     9–14         God’s Essence: God’s Great Power

         vv.    15–18         God’s Essence: Blessed are Those Who Put their Trust in Him

         vv.    19–21         The Davidic Covenant: God Chooses David and Empowers Him

         vv.    22–25         The Davidic Covenant: God Exalts David and Establishes his Reign

         vv.    26–29         The Davidic Covenant: David’s Intimate Relationship with God

         vv.    30–37         The Davidic Covenant: Warnings to Israel, but God’s Promises to David Still Stand

         vv.    38–40         Rejection and Crucifixion: God Rejects Israel; He Judges His Messiah

         vv.    41–45         Rejection and Crucifixion: The Messiah is Publically Humiliated

         vv.    46–48         Rejection and Crucifixion: How Long Will this Go On? Where Are You, God?

         vv.    49–51         Conclusion: The Reproach of All Taken by His Anointed

         v.       52           Conclusion: Benediction

         Addendum          Psalm 89 Addendum

Charts, Short Doctrines and Maps:

         Introduction         Psalm 89 in Outline Form

         Introduction         Barnes Outlines Psalm 89

         Introduction         Clarke Separates Psalm 89 into Two Grand Parts

         Introduction         Why Did God Include Psalm 89 in the Canon of Scripture?

         Inscription            Theories as to the Authorship and Time Period of Psalm 89

         v.       1              God’s Essence—a Theme of Psalm 89

         v.       2              The Edification Complex of the Soul

         v.       2              The God-ward and Man-ward Sides of the Edification Complex

         v.       4              Early Parallels in Psalm 89

         v.       4              David’s Greater Son will Rule Forever (the Unconditional Covenant)

         v.       4              The Conditional Covenant

         v.       6              Who is like You, O God?

         v.       9              God and the Seas

         v.      10              Who is Rahab?

         v.      10              The Doctrine of Rahab

         v.      12              A Map of Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon

         v.      12              Mount Tabor

         v.      12              Mount Hermon

         v.      12              Musings about Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon

         v.      12              Non-Living Things which Rejoice

         v.      16              The Invoking of God’s Name

         v.      16              A Holy War

         v.      16              It is God’s Righteousness, not Ours

         v.      17              What Christ is to Us

         v.      18              What the Lâmed Preposition does to Psalm 89:18

         v.      19              Three Interpretations of Psalm 89:19

         v.      21              Type and Antitype in Psalm 89:20–21

         v.      25              A Map of David’s Kingdom

         v.      26              The Abbreviated Doctrine of the Rock in the Old Testament

         v.      26              The Trinity in the Old Testament (the Abbreviated Version)

         v.      26              The Abbreviated Doctrine of the Fatherhood of God

         v.      27              The Abbreviated Doctrine of the Firstborn

         v.      27              Jesus Christ the Most High

         v.      29              The Seed of David

         v.      29              The Man-ward Side of Psalm 89:19–29

         v.      29              The God-ward Side of Psalm 89:19–29

         v.      31              The Synonymia of Psalm 89:30–31

         v.      34              Psalm 89:30–34 and Parallel Passages

         v.      34              Summary Points: Psalm 89:30–34 Applied to David’s Sons

         v.      34              Summary Points: Psalm 89:30–34 Applied to David’s Greater Son

         v.      38              God’s Covenant with David and God’s Rejection of Israel

         v.      38              The Great Circle of Psalm 89

         v.      41              God Allows Israel to be Plundered

         v.      44              The Abbreviated Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union

         v.      45              The Apparent Contradictions of the Messiah to Come

         v.      45              The Parallel Paths of Psalm 89:38–45

         v.      45              How the Questions of Psalm 89:38–45 are Answered by Psalm 89:38–45

         v.      46              Ethan’s Final Questions to God

         v.      47              Man’s Life is Relatively Short

         v.      47              What God has Promised is Eternal

         v.      48              Scofield on Sheol

         v.      48              Scofield on Hades

         v.      48              Scofield on Hellfire (Gehenna)

         v.      48              Scofield on the Second Death

         v.      50              The Shame and Scorn Heaped Upon Israel

         v.      50              The Holy Spirit Answers the Psalmist Using his very own Words

         v.      51              Two Translations and Interpretations of Psalm 89:51

         v.      51              The Enemies of God Reviled the Heels of Jesus

         v.      51              Summarizing Psalm 89

         v.      51              The First and Final Verses of Each Section of the Psalms

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Psalm 89

         Addendum          Psalms Parallel to Psalm 89

An Introduction to Psalm 89

I ntroduction: Psalm 89 is an intimidating psalm. It is long and it covers a lot of ground. God’s covenant with David is found here, as is the 5^th Cycle of Discipline for Israel (Lev. 26), as is the crucifixion. There are many parallel verses, whose significance I may not be able to fully uncover, although I will endeavor to do so. There are many parallel prophecies throughout this psalm, particularly at the end, where, sometimes it is clear that God is disciplining Israel and others where He is pouring our sins out upon His Son; and often, the prophecies apply to both.

One of the controversies concerning this psalm is, shouldn’t this be 3 psalms, as there are clearly 3 sections to this psalm? Vv. 5–18 speak of God’s great power and essence. Vv. 19–37 is the Davidic Covenant. Vv. 38–48 appears as if God has reject Israel, rejected David’s seed, and clearly refer to the crucifixion. These 3 parts of book ended by and introduction and a conclusion. One could, without a great deal of force, affix the introduction to the first section and affix the conclusion to the final section. The problem is, the 3^rd section seems rather bleak, and, on its own, is quite the downer—and the final couple lines Blessed is Jehovah forever, Amen and Amen! seem to be way out of place to be affixed to this 3^rd section. However, affixing these final lines to the entire psalm, which is far more than the despair of the final section, does make sense. The 3^rd section is, in any case, quite disconcerting, but it is meant to be so.

The NET Bible states the theme of this psalm simply: The psalmist praises God as the sovereign creator of the world. He recalls God's covenant with David, but then laments that the promises of the covenant remain unrealized.

The NIV Study Bible goes into slightly more detail: Psalm 89 is a prayer that mourns the downfall of the Davidic dynasty and pleads for its restoration. the bitter shock of that event (reflected partially in the sudden transition of v. 38) is almost unbearable—that God, the faithful and almighty One, has abandoned His anointed and made Him the mockery of the nations, in seeming violation of His firm covenant with David—and it evokes from the psalmist a lament that borders on reproach (vv. 38–45). The event may have been the attack on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the exile of King Jehoiachin in 597 b.c. (see 2Kings 24:8–17).

The key to this psalm is apprehending its complete essence. When I have understood the overall intent of the psalm I am studying, then I feel as if I have achieved the most important aspect of it, from which all commentary will come. This psalm is not merely a restatement of the Davidic Covenant bookended with a bunch of other things (Praise be to God; God is really great!). The psalmist writes of God’s character, that He is gracious and can be depended upon. God gave David these promises, which make up the Davidic Covenant, and that reveals His graciousness. God will keep His promises to David and to Israel because He is faithful; He can be depended upon. But then, at the very end of this psalm—for the final 3^rd of this psalm—the psalmist paints this bleak picture of God’s relationship with Israel. Where is God? How long will He endure the reproach leveled against His Own people? How long will He endure these reproaches against Himself? What this does is, take us from the time of David, and follow out the history of the Jews right up to this point in time. Every Jew who reads Psalm 89 should look at the final 3^rd and strongly identify with these words. His questions and complaints and feelings of dismay should parallel those of the psalmist. That is what this psalm is all about. These are words written 3000 years ago, words which will pierce the soul of any Jew who reads them; words which will bring all of the questions and doubts of the Jew today to the forefront of his own thinking, if he will even admit these things to himself. This understanding of this psalm explains why this is a cohesive psalm; why these are not just 3 psalms accidentally thrown together or pieced together for no apparent reason at some later date. These 3 parts belong together; they form a cohesive whole, which, taken as a whole, have great meaning, from the time of Rehoboam until this very day.

What is even more remarkable is, in the final few verses of this psalm, we have this parallel meaning throughout. The psalmist questions God, the state of Israel, and God’s being able to fulfill His promises to Israel. These are very serious concerns of the psalmist. However, in the parallel narrative—in the very words which the psalmist questions God fulfilling His covenant to David—the psalmist also provides the solution, the key to God fulfilling His promises to David. This is not found back in 2Sam. 7. The way that the psalmist artfully answers his own questions at the same time that he poses these concerns is literary genius. He asks a question and the very words which he uses to ask the question also answers the question.

All that I can tell you from a personal level, is that, when I understood what was going on here, what the psalmist was saying and what God the Holy Spirit was communicating to us, using the same words, my jaw dropped in amazement. To the best of my knowledge, in examining the words of the psalmist, I don’t even think that the psalmist himself realized just how his concerns and questions were being addressed using the same words that the psalmist himself penned. It is simply amazing and mind-boggling. You may not quite get what I am saying yet, but I will try to pull all of this together around v. 38, before we actually complete the psalm.

The order of this psalm is quite interesting. Many times, psalms begin with the writer in difficult straights, and yet comes out the other end (the end of the psalm) with words of encouragement and his power in Jehovah Elohim. However, this psalm starts out with powerful things said about Jehovah Elohim and His covenant with David, along with God’s character, and then it ends on a low note, as if the psalmist is saying, “Where are you, God? When will You fulfill Your promise to David and to Israel?” This puts this psalm into perfect chronological order; God’s covenant with David being promised, His character being well-known to those with doctrine, and then a period of time (from 586 b.c. and forward) where Israel looks to God, asking Him, “When will You keep this promise to David?”

In the end times, Jews are going to be evangelized in many ways. There will not be a church here. We will be raptured away. So, all that will be here is the Word of God. At that point in time, I think that some Jews will go to the book of Esther, where God’s provisions and protection are obvious, but no one in this book even utters His name or prays to Him (they fast, but that is a whole different thing). Some Jews will, knowing this book, have a sudden epiphany: that is me! God has always been here! He has never deserted me! I have deserted Him! Psalm 89 is going to affect other Jews. Some Jews will wonder about their past, and about all of these promises which God made to their ancestors—particularly to David; and they will wonder, is there anything to God’s previous promises to us as a people or is there anything to the promises which God made to David? And then they will read Psalm 89, about God’s power and character and essence; then about His promises to David—which promises stand forever; and then, at the end, there is this bleakness, this discipline, this calling out for God...and then the psalm stops. And the Jew will realize, when he reads or hears this psalm: this is God’s history with Israel and it has brought me from the past so many years ago to today, and this psalm tells me exactly where I am today.

It is reasonable to ask, why do we have the Davidic Covenant here? It is already given to us in 2Sam. 7, so why do we need to hear about it again? God interacts with man—particularly in the Age of Israel—with covenants, and this particular covenant is extremely important. God speaks to David about the son which will follow him (Solomon), about the kings who will come from him (David’s descendants) and his Greater Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, this is an important covenant. Today, when we pick up our Bibles, it is all there, in one book. In fact, we often just take this for granted. But these are God’s words to us. To believers in the ancient world, there would be dozens of ancient scrolls, and they may not have access to the entire Old Testament at any given time. In this way, whether reading the psalms or the historical book of Samuel, believers would have access to this covenant. Also, in the reading cycle in the synagogues, the Davidic Covenant would come up more often, as it is found both here and in Samuel. Also, we have more details in this psalm than we find in the historical book of Samuel. That in itself is interesting. God cannot alter His covenant in a later presentation of it, but He can frame this covenant in a more full and complete context, which is what we have here. Finally, and most importantly, there is much more to this psalm than the Davidic Covenant. The end of the psalm clearly presents Israel as rejected by God (more accurately, temporarily set aside by God) and parallels the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as well. It ends with the psalmist asking God how much longer will He hide Himself, and asking God to remember His covenant with David.

Any Jew, at any time in history, who has a reasonable knowledge of his own history, will be struck by the plaintiveness of this psalmist, who probably wrote prior to the dispersion of Judah (in 586 b.c.) and quite obviously, long before the destruction of Jerusalem (in 70 a.d.), yet he sounds as if, he is speaking to God after these two national dispersions. The psalmist will, in effect, be speaking for the Jew who is reading this psalm, whether that Jew reads this psalm today or after the beginning of the Tribulation.

The doctrine which follows is the key to understanding this psalm as a whole.

Psalm 89 Inscription

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Arabic Version                        ...Nathan the Israelite.

Masoretic Text                       A Maskil to Ethan the Ezrahite.

Septuagint                              Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. According to Gill, this should read Etham the Israelite.

The Targum                            A good understanding, which was said by the hand of Abraham, that came from the east.

Significant differences:           None between my version of the LXX and the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       (A special psalm by Ethan the Ezrahite.)

The Message                         An Ethan prayer.

NET Bible®                             A well-written song by Ethan the Ezrachite.

New Jerusalem Bible             [Poem For Ethan the native-born]

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             Maschil. Of Ethan the Ezrahite.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Updated Emphasized Bible    An Instructive Psalm, by Ethan the Ezrahite.

LTHB                                     A Poem of Ethan the Ezrahite.

Young's Literal Translation     An instruction, by Ethan the Ezrahite.

What is the gist of this verse? This psalm is identified as a maskil (an instructive psalm) written by Ethan the Ezrahite.

Translation: A Maskil [instructive psalm] belonging to Ethan the Ezrahite. Although many good translations tend to transliterate this as maskil, I think that we can safely refer to this as an instructive psalm, given that there is no question about this words ties to the Hiphil (causal stem) of sâkal, which means to instruct, to make prudent, to teach. We find this used in the titles of Psalms  32, 42, 44, 45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142. David is specifically mentioned in half of those psalms, with the following exceptions: no one is listed as the author for Psalms 42 44 45; Asaph is named as the writer of Psalms 74 78, Heman for Psalm 88 and Ethan for Psalm 89. After we cover a few more of these instructive psalms of David, then we will look at them as a whole.

Of this title being a Maskil, Spurgeon writes: This is most fitly called a Maschil, for it is most instructive. No subject is more important or is so fully the key to all theology as that of the covenant. He who is taught by the Holy Spirit to be clear upon the covenant of grace will be a scribe well instructed in the things of the kingdom; he whose doctrinal theory is a mingle-mangle of works and grace is scarcely fit to be teacher of babes. Spurgeon sometimes has a mingle-mangle of words, but he is simply pointing out just how important the Davidic Covenant is.

Ethan was a man known from Solomon’s day who wrote only this psalm and is mentioned in 1Kings 4:31, and he is called slightly less wise than Solomon ([Solomon] was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations). This does not tell us whether Ethan wrote prior to Solomon’s time, but was well-known as being wise. However, this does indicate that Ethan was alive during the time of David (in order for him to record this psalm) and well-known during the time of Solomon.

Ethan means strong, firm; enduring; gift of the island.

This psalm makes Ethan a prophet, because there will be things written in this psalm which look into the future. There will be times in this psalm where it will appear as though we are living after Judah’s sovereignty had been destroyed (both the line of Judah and the country Judah, also called the Southern Kingdom).

Let me insert a little history here. Israel broke into two countries after the time of Solomon, into the northern and southern kingdoms (the Northern Kingdom is often called Israel, Samaria, Ephraim; the Southern Kingdom is generally called Judah, in honor of the tribe which essentially occupied this area). Ephraim was taken out as a nation in 723 b.c. under the fifth cycle of discipline and Judah went out under the fifth cycle of discipline in 586 b.c. (the cycles of discipline are described in Lev. 26). Judah did return to the land in 516 b.c. under an edict from Cyrus the Great. When Jews returned to the Southern Kingdom in 516 b.c., it was no longer a sovereign nation under control of the kingly line of David. So, from 586 b.c. down to this very day, some of the things which we read in this psalm are apropos. Psalm, 89:38–39 reads: But You have cast off and rejected us; You have passed over on Your anointed. You have turned away from the covenant of Your servant; You have defiled his crown on the ground. Psalm 89:49–41 reads: Lord, where are Your former kindnesses that You swore to David in Your faithfulness? Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, my bearing in my bosom the insults of the many peoples with which Your enemies have cursed, O Jehovah; with which they have cursed the footsteps of Your anointed. So the psalmist speaks of a time when Israel will feel as though God has disregarded this covenant with David.

Along these same lines, Keil and Delitzsch write: The circumstances in which the writer of Psalms 89 finds himself are in most striking contradiction to the promises given to the house of David. He revels in the contents of these promises, and in the majesty and faithfulness of God, and then he pours forth his intense feeling of the great distance between these and the present circumstances in complaints over the afflicted lot of the anointed of God, and prays God to be mindful of His promises, and on the other hand, of the reproach by which at this time His anointed and His people are overwhelmed.

In the Tribulation, there will be the 144,000 Jewish evangelists—these are Jews who will be saved early on in the Tribulation and will spread the gospel throughout the world. These Jews will read in their Bibles a number of passages, and it will suddenly hit them—Jesus Christ is David’s Greater Son; Jesus Christ is their Messiah. They will believe. They will know they are in Daniel’s 70^th week, and it will be passages like those above which will make them realize where they are in history.

There is a Levite with this name in 1Chron. 2:6–8 (where he is called the son of Zerah); and his name comes up on several places in this book as Ethan, son of Zimmah (1Chron. 6:42); Ethan son of Kishi (1Chron. 6:44); Ethan son of Kushaiah (1Chron. 15:17). For him to be one of David’s chief musicians makes perfect sense, even though we only have one surviving Psalm by him.

The kicker is Ezrahite, a designation found only in 1Kings 4:31 Psalm 88 inscription 89 inscription. In Psalm 88, it is Heman who is called an Ezrahite, and it is interesting that Heman is found in the psalm next to Ethan, as these two are named together in 1Chron. 15:17, 19. There is an Ezrah named in the line of Judah in 1Chron. 4:17, but there appears to be no other connection. However, there is very little in common between these two psalms. Psalm 88 is an individual psalm and Psalm 89 deals with national issues. As Keil and Delitzsch write: Both the poetical character and the situation of the two Psalms are distinct.

These names are sometimes a puzzle, and sometimes a puzzle which I am unable to solve. It seems peculiar for both Ethan and Heman to be found in two passages together, both called Ezrahite in two side-by-side psalms, and there are two lines leading to Ethan and Heman in 1Chron. 6:33–38 (Heman is traced back to Kohath) and 1Chron. 6:44–48, where Ethan is traced back to Merari, 2 of the 3 major Levite lines. So, I would postulate that, Ezrah is not a common ancestor to both Ethan and Heman, but that they were seen as helpers, suggesting that Ezrahite is more of a functional designation than a family name (generally speaking, an gentilic adjective refers back to a family name). The times that these two men are tied together (1Chron. 6 15 and the two side-by-side psalms), suggest to me that (1) these are the same pairs of men in each passage; and (2) since they come from fundamentally different families in the Levite line suggests that they are probably not descended from a guy named Ezrah (making them Ezrahite) (although, family lines to intersect and re-intersect at times).

So, you are wondering, what spiritual benefit is this to me? I will confess that I don’t know at this point. I would think that if your name is mentioned as a spiritual hero of some sort, that you would like them to get the facts right. However, there is one important point, which I ought to make here: these men, although they are musicians, deem the content of the material—the words of their psalms—to be the most important aspect of these songs. Therefore, they are referred to as maskils, instructive psalms.

Introduction: God's Grace is Forever

Here is how others have handled this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       Graciousnesses [or, gracious acts] of Y^ehowah forever will I sing;

to generation and generation, Your faithfulness I will cause to know in my mouth.

Septuagint                              I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with My mouth will I make known Your truth to all generations.

Significant differences:           Throughout much of this psalm, we will find faithfulness in the Hebrew represented by truth in the Greek.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Our LORD, I will sing of your love forever. Everyone yet to be born will hear me praise your faithfulness.

Good News Bible (TEV)         O LORD, I will always sing of your constant love; I will proclaim your faithfulness forever.

The Message                         Your love, GOD, is my song, and I'll sing it! I'm forever telling everyone how faithful you are..

New Century Version             I will always sing about the Lord's love;

I will tell of his loyalty from now on.

New Jerusalem Bible             I shall sing the faithful love of Yahweh for ever,

from age to age my lips shall declare you constancy,...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             My song will be of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make his faith clear to all generations.

Easy English (Churchyard)    I will always sing about the kind love of the *LORD.

I will tell (my) children and (my) grandchildren

that you will do what you have promised. A translation like this makes me want to move this to the thought-for-thought translations.

God’s Word™                         I will sing forever about the evidence of your mercy, O LORD. I will tell about your faithfulness to every generation.

JPS (Tanakh)                         I will sing of the Lord’s steadfast love forever;

to all generations I will proclaim You faithfulness with my mouth.

NET Bible®                             I will sing continually about the LORD's faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.

NIRV                                               Lord, I will sing about your great love forever.

For all time to come, I will tell how faithful you are.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Updated Emphasized Bible    The gracious acts of Yahweh, to the ages I will sing, To generation after generation, will I make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.

English Standard Version      I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

A Voice in the Wilderness      I will sing of the mercies of Jehovah forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness from generation to generation.

Young’s Updated LT             Of the kind acts of Jehovah, to the age I sing, To all generations I make known Your faithfulness with my mouth,...

What is the gist of this verse? The psalmist sings of God’s grace and faithfulness, making these attributes known to all who hear.

Translation: I will sing [about] the gracious acts of Y^ehowah forever;... The psalmist says, in the Word of God, that he will sing about Jehovah’s gracious acts forever. Now, we know that Ethan died at some point in time, since he is human. So, I want to suggest to you that these words are fulfilled in 3 ways: (1) Ethan spent most of his life (from that point on, at least) performing music which proclaims the actions and character of God. (2) Secondly, this psalm is the Word of God, so it will stand forever, and in that way, since Ethan wrote this song, he will be communicating God’s many gracious actions toward us everything this psalm is studied. (3) What are we going to do in eternity? The Bible gives us very little information about the eternal state. We have some idea what living Jews will do at the end of the Tribulation, when entering into the Millennium: they will function as normal human beings, minus a sin nature, living in perfect environment. However, I would like to suggest, based upon this verse being in the Word of God, that our spiritual growth and the function of our spiritual gift, will have some impact on our eternal state—for instance, Ethan, a musician, may very well be involved in music in the eternal state, proclaiming the grace of God.

Application: Realize, that we have to do something in the eternal state. There is nothing in the Bible about us lugging around harps and sitting on clouds. However, verses like this suggest that we will have a function in the eternal state and that it will not be unrelated to our spiritual function here on earth. For some of you, that may sound quite scary. Someone roped you into being a deacon, and you are wandering up and down the aisles of your church with an offering plate, and you just don’t really care for that one bit—but you just keep on doing it. Don’t misunderstand me here: I am not saying that, if your spiritual service is sometimes an inconvenience that you ought to junk it (although, that might be a good idea in some cases). Your spiritual service should be what you want to do. Personally, I enjoy getting up in the morning and attempting to plumb the depths of the Bible. On some days, I am quite happy with the results, and there are other days when I become moderately frustrated. However, on the whole, that God allows me to do this, to me, is a pretty good deal. Whatever your spiritual service is—which is dependent upon whatever gift or gifts you have—should seem to you to be a pretty good deal. Whatever it is that you do—and we are all in full-time Christian service—it should not be a chore; it should not be something where we feel put upon to execute our part in the plan of God.

Application: Let’s approach this from a different viewpoint. Let’s say you are on a football team, and this team wins, in part, because of you, and because of what you do. I don’t care if you are a blocker, a tackle or a quarterback, there is something enjoyable about winning and there is something enjoyable about being part of a well-oiled machine which is victorious. This is our life. This is where we are at. If you are not there, I suggest you examine yourself. If you don’t have some sort of function in the plan of God, something where you are a team player, then maybe you are not growing spiritually? You life should be what you like doing, to some degree. There is self-discipline involved, and, if you have a family, often self-sacrifice. However, this, on the whole, should not seem to you as if you have betrayed your own life. If you feel like you are missing out on something, then there is a problem with your spiritual life. By the way, to solve this does not mean, you ditch your husband or wife, throw your kids out the door, buy a red sports car and get hair implants (or whatever kind of implant floats your boat). It is what comes from the inside, and that portion of your spiritual life is dependent upon your daily intake of Bible doctrine.

Application: The key to your life is Bible doctrine. The key to your life is understand Who and What God is and what the heck you are doing here on planet earth. If your chief concern in life is, what’s for breakfast and I can hardly wait to be done with work [for the day, for the week]; let me suggest that there is something wrong with your day-to-day existence. This is cured by being in fellowship and functioning within God’s plan.

The fact that we are on a team, the fact that we can score the winning touchdown now and again, that is grace! Ethan is going to sing to us about 2 things in this psalm: God’s grace and God’s faithfulness.

This psalm is, in part, about the Davidic Covenant. Therefore, we ought to recognize that God’s promises to David are a matter of grace.

Quite obviously, God’s grace is a major theme of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments. We find God’s graciousness delivering us from the bonds of Sheol (Psalm 86:13), associated with His justice (Psalm 101:1), and related to His goodness as well (as His grace endures forever—Psalm 106:1). The great refrain of Psalm 136, repeated over and over, is, His grace endures forever.

Translation: ...I will verbally instruct [lit., instruct with my mouth] [others about] Your faithfulness [and dependability] from generation to generation. Ethan is going to make known God’s faithfulness, dependability and firmness. For many of us, this is a great portion of our life—making known, verbally, God’s essence. We find this mentioned in Psalms 40:10 71:8, 15–19. Our Lord’s Great Commission was for us to take the gospel to the very ends of the earth. If you are uncomfortable with that, that is normal. The more you know about Jesus Christ, the more willing you are to talk about Him; the less you know about Him, the less you will want to open your mouth. Proclaiming Him to those around you involves more than what you say—it involves what you do, each and every day, when you are observed both by men and angels, and, in my case, it involves what I commit to writing. Ethan, although he wrote and possibly performed this psalm, millions more have heard these words proclaimed and explained in church or as they have read the Word of God for themselves. In any case, always realize that you are being watched—everything that you do and everything that you say reflects either God’s character to others, or our own base character.

God’s faithfulness is a key element in this psalm, being found in vv. 1, 5, 8, 33, and 49. The psalmist again and again affirms that God can be trusted; He can be taken at His word. Obviously, God’s faithfulness is a key element found throughout the Bible. Your graciousness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds (Psalm 36:5). In other words, God’s graciousness and faithfulness extends to all created beings, including the angels. It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your graciousness in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night (Psalm 92:1b–2). The idea is, we awake every morning to God’s graciousness; however, we depend upon his faithfulness every night. This I recall to mind and therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him (Lam. 3:21–25). God will keep every one of His promises: You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old (Micah 7:20). Our God never lies (Titus 1:2) and His faithfulness extends to all generations (Psalm 89:1 119:90).

For every child, what they want to know is, their father is dependable, faithful and firm. They need for this man to be someone that they can depend upon. They need to know that, when they do wrong, there might be hell to pay, and when they do right, there will be a little something in it for them. They need to know that this man is going to remain within a certain, well-defined character, and not to stray from this (for instance, a child does not want his father to be unfaithful, a drunk, a man who cannot hold a job, a man who has temper flair ups, etc.). A father might be stern and expect a great deal out of this child, but this is okay. This is his firmness and his dependability. This is a good thing.

This psalm is going to be about the Davidic Covenant and then there will be the mournful, “Where are you, God?” at the end. That God gave David these promises is grace; that He will keep His promises to David demonstrates God’s faithfulness. In the span of history, if you are an unbelieving Jew, then you are at the stage where you are saying, “Where are you, God? What do Your promises mean? Are you not going to fulfill Your promises to David?” This obviously calls into question God’s faithfulness, which, to the Jew who has not believed in Jesus Christ, will seem like an reasonable bit of scrutiny. However, if you doubt the faithfulness of God, is there anything in life that you can really depend upon? The Jews who does not believe in Jesus Christ must reasonably doubt God’s grace, His faithfulness, His reality, His relationship to the Jew—the more the Jew knows about the Old Testament, the more he must doubt Who and What God is. However, the key to trusting God’s faithfulness is understanding Who and What God is, and understanding that He is bringing His plan to fruition—the Jew who has serious doubts has simply missed the most key element in God’s plan: Jesus Christ.

The confusion of the unbelieving Jew is the key to this entire psalm. The psalmist first tells us about God’s grace and His faithfulness; then he tells us about God’s covenant with David; and then he asks, “Why are you filled with wrath against Your own anointed ones? Why have you allowed us, as a people, to be plundered and hated and reviled? Why have you allowed the splendor of David to cease?” Every Jew who reads Psalm 89 should be honest and recognize, this is how he feels right now about God’s covenant with David and God’s faithfulness. “Are you faithful and gracious to Your people, O God; then prove it! Do not continue to hide from us! Remember the insults heaped upon Your servants.” This is a powerful psalm, one which will fill every Jew with great passion and doubt. In the end times, this will be one of the great passages of Scripture which will turn Jews to Jesus Christ (along with Psalm 22 Isa. 53 and the book of Esther). It will be as if their eyes are suddenly opened and they will recognize just Who God really is.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          For You have said: Mercy will be built up for ever in the heavens: Your truth will be prepared in them.

Masoretic Text                       For I said, “Forever, grace is firmly established [as] the [two] heavens;

You establish Your faithfulness in them.”

Septuagint                              For You have said, Mercy [compassion, good will to men from God] will be built up forever; Your faithfulness will be established in the heavens.

Significant differences:           The Hebrew and the Syriac both have, for I have said; and the Latin and Greek both read, For You have said. In the heavens is placed with the second phrase in the Greek and with the first in the Hebrew. These are, quite obviously, significant differences; however, there is nothing which is dramatically changed by way of doctrine based upon this difference. Either Ethan has said this many times in the past or God has stated this. In the Hebrew, the second phrase has God’s faithfulness being established in them, which would refer back to the heavens.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       I will tell them, "God's love can always be trusted, and his faithfulness lasts as long as the heavens."

Easy-to-Read Version            Lord, I truly believe your love is forever.

Your loyalty continues like the skies!.

Good News Bible (TEV)          I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky.

The Message                         I'll never quit telling the story of your love-- how you built the cosmos and guaranteed everything in it. Your love has always been our lives' foundation, your fidelity has been the roof over our world.

New Century Version             I will say, "Your love continues forever;

your loyalty goes on and on like the sky."

New Jerusalem Bible             ...for you have said, love is built to last for ever,

you have fixed your constancy firm in the heavens.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             For you have said, Mercy will be made strong for ever; my faith will be unchanging in the heavens.

Easy English (Churchyard)    Yes! I will say that nothing will ever stop your kind love (for us).

You will do the things that you promised in *heaven.

God’s Word™                         I said, "Your mercy will last forever. Your faithfulness stands firm in the heavens."

NET Bible®                             For I say, "Loyal love is permanently established;

in the skies you set up your faithfulness."

NIRV                                      I will tell everyone that your love stands firm forever.

I will tell them that you are always faithful, even in heaven itself.

NIV – UK                                I will declare that your love stands firm for ever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                For I have said, Mercy and loving-kindness shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness will You establish in the very heavens [unchangeable and perpetual].

English Standard Version      For I said, "Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness."

MKJV                                     For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever; You shall establish Your faithfulness in the heavens.

WEB                                      I indeed declare, "Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them."

Young’s Updated LT             For I said, “To the age is kindness built, The heavens! You establish Your faithfulness in them.”

What is the gist of this verse? God’s grace will last forever; His faithfulness is established by the heavens.

Translation: For I said,... Ethan is telling the listener what he has previously said. This means that Ethan has doctrine in his soul and he speaks from that place in his soul. We don’t know when or how. It is possible that Ethan is speaking of other psalms which he has written and/or sung. What we believe is what we speak (2Cor. 4:13 Psalm 116:10).

As has been mentioned, the Greek and Latin read, For You have said... So, either Ethan is speaking to God, telling Him what He has stated in the past; or Ethan is testifying to what he has himself said in the past. In either case, because this is the Word of God, what follows is the content of what has been said, and this content, because it is in the Word of God, is true (which is the important part).

Since, at the end of this verse, we have a 2^nd person masculine singular suffix, it makes more sense for Ethan (1^st person singular) to be saying this than it does for God to be saying this.

In either case, the impact and meaning of the psalm is unchanged.

Translation:...“Grace is being firmly established [as] the heavens;... In the Qal, the verb here means to build up, to restore. The definitions which I use above came directly from the BDB in e-sword. However, the Niphal is the passive of the Qal, so, I have added the definitions to be built up, to be rebuilt, to be restored. The imperfect tense indicates action which is continuing rather than action which is viewed in its completed state. God’s policy is grace and God’s character demands that He function in grace.

The word used first is the one more emphasized, and God the Holy Spirit is emphasizing that God’s grace will be established forever. Our lives are based upon grace and in this devil’s world, our lives function on grace.

The introduction of sin into the universe also introduced legalism. Once and awhile, popular (or, semi-popular) culture gets something right. Have you ever heard of the concept making a deal with the devil? The devil functions in legalism; he functions in trade-outs. You do this for me and I will do that for you. Remember when he tempted our Lord? Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." (Matt. 4:8–9). It is a trade-out. These were the devil’s kingdoms, to some extent, to give away. God’s plan is for Jesus to rule over the world after dying for our sins. Satan offers up the same thing, without Jesus going to the cross. It is a trade-out; it is legalism. “You do this for me, and I will do that for you.”

There is also, in the deals offered by Satan, the coercion of our free will. In order for Satan to be like the Most High, he has to establish order on this earth. In order for Him to establish order on this earth, people must do what he wants them to do. Communism is a perfect example of a Satanic trade-out and Satan's coercion of free will. The trade-out is equality of sorts, a national identity, and state assurances that you will be taken care of. However, for those who do not go along with Communism, death, reeducation, privation and loss of freedom is the payout. When the North Vietnamese overran Saigon, they did not set up some sort of a coalition government, or offer up a one-time deal to join them; they slaughtered over a million people in the streets like dogs, to make it known, they were in charge. People who do not walk lock-step with Communistic doctrine—especially in the beginning stages of Communism—are made to wish that they had.

Application: When it comes to simple trade-outs, we do this all of the time. We give God a portion of our income and we expect Him to bless our business, find us a right man or a right woman. We are in a foxhole and there is enemy fire all around and we pray, “Get me out of this jam, God, and I will start going to church again.” We contract some life-threatening disease, and we pray to God, “Just take this away, and I will stop doing [this or that sin].” This is how Satan thinks; and, unfortunately, this is, too often, how we think.

God’s policy is grace, and God will restore the concept of grace in the heavens (i.e., among all of His angels). God will restore grace as the heavens—it will be the permanent state. When Satan fell, legalism and trade-outs became his policies, as was it the policy for the angels which fell with him. God will restore grace in the heavens and God will firmly establish grace throughout as the heavens are established.

This can also be interpreted, God will build up [establish firmly] grace as the heavens. God designed the heavens to last a long time. He will, at some point in time, create new heavens and a new earth. However, for possibly billions of years, the heavens have stood. The idea here is permanency, because, insofar as our lives go, the heavens are permanent. God will set up grace to be established with the permanence of the heavens. Again, the idea is, in the angelic fall from grace, legalism and trade-outs became the policy of Satan, which policy became the policy of mankind. God will restore grace to the earth with the permanence of the heavens.

One of the amazing things about grace is, we can enjoy it today, right now, in this life. Despite all of the chaos and worry and tension which is around us, God has made it possible for us to enjoy His grace—which we do not deserve and which we cannot earn. God's grace functions in all circumstances.

Application: Impersonal love, also called ἀγαπ (agape) love, is the function of grace. You treat a person based upon your character, not on the character or the actions of that person. We learn this as parents. Our children do some mighty awful things, and, if we are good parents, we discipline them for their evil actions. But, we don’t stop loving the child. A parent loves a child based upon the parent’s capacity for love, and not the child’s. For instance, when a child poops in his pants, you don’t finally, after the 1000^th diaper, say, “Kid, that’s it; you figure out this potty training thing from hereon out, because I am sick of changing your diapers.” This might be my attitude and inclination after diaper #1, but a good parent loves the child and continues to change that child’s diapers until they learn to stop making messes.

Application: Let’s metaphorize this. As immature believers, we are continually dropping loads in our pants and God, in His matchless grace, continues to clean up after us. I look back at the stuff that I did as an unbeliever and as a believer, and I am flat out ashamed of much of it. What is even worse is, I have matured somewhat, and I still stink from time to time. God, in His matchless grace and in His faithfulness, forgives me again and again and again and again. This is grace.

Agape love is gracious love. When God is the subject, He loves based upon His own perfect character. He does not love us based upon who we are, because we are very unlovely people. Unbelievers are often very confused about Christianity. Unbelievers see us and think, "You have to be good and you have to stop doing fun stuff in order for God to like you." Too often, we encourage them to think that way. However, we are saved despite our obnoxious behavior and bad decisions, and God chose to save us from His impersonal love, from His agape love. It is not anything which we earn or deserve.

When you are the subject of agape love, you love on the basis of your character, not on the basis of the character of the object of your love. We are told to love others with agape love. That means, without mental attitude sins—we don’t smile and shake their hand and hug them, all the while thinking, get this cretin out of my life! Our actions toward those we do not like should be gracious and our thoughts should be free of anger, hatred, jealousy, vindictiveness, desire for revenge, etc. When we are told to love our enemies, this is agape love, and it does not mean that we ought to be phoney and run up to them and gush all over them. However, we do not have mental attitude sins about them, we do not talk about them behind their backs, we do not seek revenge against them. Furthermore, we treat them impartially. If we have to give an evaluation of a superior or an inferior, and this person has been treating us like dirt (or, whatever), we give them a fair and honest evaluation. If we have to do business with someone we just do not like, we treat them fairly and we do not try to cheat them. We treat other people on the basis of our own character, not on the basis of their character. They may hate us, they may cuss us out to our faces, they may tell lies about us behind our backs—agape love and grace mean that we treat honestly and fairly, without mental attitude sins or any other kinds of sins.

Agape love is directly related to God’s grace. God does not have to love us; He does not have to save us; He does not have to promise us diddly-squat nor does He have to bring these promises to pass. God does this out of His grace. He does this based upon His character, not upon ours (I hope that this point is obvious).

Application: You do not want God to love you based upon who and what you are. You do not want God to shower you with blessings because you are this great spiritual phenomenon that everyone in your church loves. You want God to love you in grace. You want to depend upon His character; you do not want Him to depend upon your character.

Application: I have, from time to time, chatted with believers, and, an immature believer has the most difficult time understanding rebound (naming your sin to God and then being forgiven that sin, no matter how heinous that sin was). “But don’t you have to promise never to do that again?” Or, “Won’t God stop forgiving you if you continue to commit that sin?” Grace, for many of us, seems almost unnatural (even though, in some relationships, we function from grace without thinking—with our children and with our spouses). This is God’s policy and God will restore grace in the heavens and on earth, and it will be as permanent as the heavens.

Application: Let me go off on a tangent: many families are ruined by parents who treat their children in legalism (or vice versa) or many marriages are ruined because one spouse treats the other spouse in legalism. “I will give you this, if you give me that.” I will allow your imagination to go with that one. A marriage is where two people become one. Quite often in a marriage, each person is going to feel as if they are giving 90%. What you give and what you take is not the issue, ever. The man is to treat the woman with the same respect and love which he gives his own body. The man never stops and questions himself about treating his body too well, going to the gym and eating sensibly.

Back to the text: “Grace is being firmly established [as] the heavens;... Let’s deal, for a moment, with the verb here, which is the 3^rd person masculine singular, Niphal imperfect of bânâh (בָּנָה) [pronounced baw-NAWH], which means to be built up, to be rebuilt, to be restored; to be set up, be established, be fixed; to be firmly established; to be established, be stable, be secure, be enduring; to be fixed, be securely determined; to be directed aright, be fixed aright, be steadfast; to prepare, be ready; to be prepared, be arranged, be settled. We find the New Testament equivalent of this word in several key New Testament passages, and it often refers to a structure which is build up within our souls. The very foundation is Jesus Christ, and our faith in Him, which regenerates us. What is built upon this is our character as believers in Jesus Christ. Bob Thieme Jr. refers to this as the edification structure or the edification complex of the soul. As we grow in grace and knowledge of the Word of God, our souls are built up; there is a structure which is built within us, which structure, ideally speaking, will reflect the glory of God.

When an architect and a builder join forces, they create an architectural structure which reflects both the ideals of the architect and the craftsmanship and professionalism of the builder. I designed the addition for my house (through an architect, of course) and I hired a moderately expensive builder to put this together. Now, had my plan been unsound, then the end result would have looked pretty crappy. Had I hired someone who could not be depended upon to do a professional job, all of the great ideas and plans in the world would have looked like crap. The idea behind an addition to a house is, first and foremost, for it not to look like an addition; it needs to blend well with the house. Since most additions are done decades after the original structure is built, the original materials after often no longer available. So there is a great deal of craft and skill involved by the builder to make certain that the exterior of the house reasonably matches and is tied together so that it looks like it ought to look.

It should be pointed out from the very beginning, that this whole concept of a structure being built within our souls as an illustration of spiritual growth comes from R. B. Thieme, Jr., who advanced Christianity in at least 4 fundamental ways: (1) Bob updated Christian vocabulary, which was important, as time and tradition had distorted much of our theological vocabulary; (2) Bob developed a number of new illustrations which clarify, illuminate and explain the Christian life; (3) he taught the mechanics of the Christian life; and (4) the thrust of his ministry was ICE (isagogics, categories and exegesis) teaching (which teaching was the source of the first 3 things).

We are born without a human spirit and separate from God. We have an existing structure. God takes this existing structure, which is often dilapidated and messtup, and rebuilds us from the inside out. We are not pod-people. We do not alter, modify, lose or disguise our personalities. The end result is a structure which reflects God’s glory, yet, at the same time, we are who we are (minus our sinful traits while we are in fellowship).

There are a lot of things which can be still worked on with the edification complex. What about the effect that certain sins have on one's spiritual growth? What about gaps in one's knowledge of God and God's plan? What about the interaction of scar tissue and spiritual growth?

The building in this verse with reference to the heavens even suggests that angels experience some sort of spiritual growth based upon what they observe in us on earth. We know that they peer down and watch us with great interest.

Translation:...the heavens—You establish Your faithfulness in them.” God’s faithfulness means, when He promises to save us if we believe in His Son, that means, He will save us. The moment you believe in Jesus Christ, you are saved and you cannot lose your salvation. That is God’s faithfulness. We can depend upon God and we can depend upon His faithfulness in salvation. We can depend upon His faithfulness in rebound. If we name our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). God’s faithfulness means, He does this every single time. God does not look down at us and comment, “Charley Brown cursed again for the 1000^th time. That’s it. He is out of chances. Charley Brown, you do not get forgiven this time around.” God establishes and strengthens and stabilizes His faithfulness in the heavens, and His attitude toward us is one of grace. We do not earn it and we do not deserve it.

Now, how does God establish and strengthen His faithfulness in the heavens? This is done day-by-day in human history as a part of the Angelic Conflict. How God interacts with us—fallen man—illustrates to the angels His character, and, in this particular verse, His grace and faithfulness. God does this in two ways: He tells us that He is faithful to us and He shows us over and over again that He is faithful to us (and the angels observe this as well). You may or may not tell your child that you love them, but you reveal your love toward your child through your actions every single day.

By the way, when does the child come to this realization and when does that child become able to give back the same love that you have given him or her? When that child is mature! No baby is able to have any true enduring love toward you. Put off feeding time or diaper changing by 30 minutes, and that baby is going to let you know how he or she feels about you. As children grow older, they develop some character, but just try saying no to a teenager and notice that their response is not always, “Okay, I understand; I love you mom.” That wicked little teen might give you a piece of his mind when you set some specific limits and you hit upon something which is near and dear to his heart.

I mention the Angelic Conflict; often when God makes reference to the heavens, He is also speaking of angelic beings. We on earth resolve the Angelic Conflict. To remind you, God created a myriad of beings before He created us, known to us as angels (properly translated messengers). Some of these angels turned from God, and followed Satan in his revolt against God. God has judged this angels, and Satan (which name means attorney) has objected on a number of grounds. How can God be Who He claims to be, and yet create beings who sin against Him? How can God be love and how can He be just, and yet cast His creatures into a Lake of Fire? Can out sins really be so bad as to require eternal suffering? How is any of this fair? So God created man, and has allowed these objections (along with the many others which Satan undoubtedly raised) to be answered. And, as human history continues, Satan in injects whole other sets of questions and objections. One of the reasons that we have several dispensations and several sets of approaches and stewardships, is to answer the many objections which Satan has no doubt raised. All of these will be answered in human history. God’s character will be shown to be just what He claims it to be. God’s character is so perfect and just and gracious that we are able to depend upon Him and His character. One of the many things which we are learning in this psalm is that we can depend upon God and we can trust Him.

Through their observation of us, angels learn and appreciate God’s faithfulness. Through spiritual maturity, we begin to understand and appreciate God’s faithfulness as well. I have put together a doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, which contains links to the work which others have done on this subject.

The first two verses were an introduction to this psalm. We had grace in v. 1 and in v. 2; we had God’s faithfulness in both verses as well. These two functions of God are related to the topic at hand, which will, first of all, be the Davidic Covenant. God gave this covenant to David out of His grace. David failed many times. He committed a number of sins. Two sets of sins are well-known, but he failed a number of times beside these two periods of time (one of which we studied at the end of 1Samuel). That God promised David anything is grace. That God promises anything to us is grace.

Faithfulness again means, what God promised, He will bring to pass. These are not just some happy-nice words at the beginning of a psalm—they introduce the entire psalm to us. David did not deserve God’s grace; God just gave it to him. Furthermore, God can be depended upon to carry out what he has promised. God’s essence and character in every respect will be vindicated before all mankind and before all the angelic creation.

God’s grace and faithfulness are associated together in nearly 40 passages. It goes back as far as Gen. 24:26–27a: The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD and said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His grace and His faithfulness toward my master.” Or, as He said to Moses: The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in grace and faithfulness.” (Ex. 34:6). At some point, it might make sense to base a doctrine upon this, given that these words occur together so often.

This is particularly important to the Jew who reads these words. When the Jewish reader gets to the end of this psalm, and reads the pleas of Ethan for God to bring these things to pass, asking God, “Why are You hiding from me?” he becomes concerned, as that is how he feels. Where is God? Why has He not fulfilled His promises? Where is David’s successor, who will rule forever? Just remember, God is faithful. He will bring it to pass.

Introduction: God's Covenant with David is Forever

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       “I have cut a covenant to My chosen one,

I have sworn an oath to David, My servant:...

Septuagint (Greek)                I made a covenant with my chosen ones, I have sworn unto David My servant.

Significant differences:           The first verb in the Greek is a legitimate rendering of the first verb of the Hebrew. The Greek does have chosen one in the plural. The Latin is plural and the Syriac is singular (based upon the English translation which I have).

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       You said, "David, my servant, is my chosen one, and this is the agreement I made with him:...

Good News Bible (TEV)         You said, "I have made a covenant with the man I chose; I have promised my servant David,...

The Message                         You once said, "I joined forces with my chosen leader, I pledged my word to my servant, David, saying,...

New Century Version             You said, "I made an agreement with the man of my choice;

I made a promise to my servant David.

New Jerusalem Bible             'I have made a covenant with my Chosen One, sworn an oath to my servant David:...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             I have made an agreement with the man of my selection, I have made an oath to David my servant;...

Easy English (Churchyard)    (God had said in *heaven) "I have made a *covenant with the man that I chose.

I have made special promises to my servant David.

God’s Word™                         You said, "I have made a promise to my chosen one. I swore this oath to my servant David:...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      You have said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant:...

LTHB                                     I have cut a covenant with My elect; I have sworn to David My servant.

Updated Bible Version 2.11   I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn to David my slave:...

Young's Literal Translation     I have made a covenant for My chosen, I have sworn to David My servant:...

What is the gist of this verse? God made a covenant with His chosen one, a sworn covenant with David.

Translation: “I have made a covenant with respect to My chosen one,... The entire verse reads: “I have made a covenant with respect to My chosen one, [and] I have sworn an oath to My servant David:... We find the same preposition used in both halves of this verse, but it is used in a different way because the verbs preceding the preposition are different. I have cut a covenant with My chosen one... would have involved the bêyth preposition. Instead, we have the lâmed preposition. That reads, instead, I have cut a covenant with respect to My chosen one... We can take this in two ways; if David is God’s chosen one, then we can understand that God made a covenant which is related to David and to his descendants and to the nation Israel. The covenant made with David involves more than David, so the choice of preposition here is appropriate. We may also understand My Chosen One to refer to Jesus Christ, Who is David’s Greater Son, God cut the covenant with David, but this covenant was made with respect to or with reference to David’s Greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. What I am saying is, the language allows for the two interpretations, both of which are perfectly valid. The latter interpretation is actually more accurate with respect to the words used. In other words, Ethan, the writer of this psalm, understands that God’s covenant with David involved the Messiah as a fulfillment of this covenant.

Clarke, not unreasonably, associates chosen one with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua. At various time, God has made covenants with these men, all which are related. This is, by the way, another indication that Scripture is what it claims to be: the Word of God. At no time does a later covenant invalidate or nullify a previous covenant. No king comes along after David and claims there will be some special fulfillment of God’s covenant to him, changing His covenant to David. God’s covenant with Jacob did not change or alter His previous covenants with Abraham and Isaac. It is man’s nature to try to one-up those who have come before. A good example of this are those charismatic ministers who have claimed to have gone to the third heaven. Over and over, these seem to get more elaborate and way more cool. They often lack a general thread; however, with the covenants which God made with specific men over the years, His covenants compliment one another, and add to what has gone before.

One of the false doctrines of current theology is covenant theology, where all of the promises made to Israel were passed along to the church because Israel just rebelled against God once too often. These promises are seen as having been spiritualized; or, the church is seen as being the spiritual Israel. Now, God has set Israel aside for the time being, and, in this dispensation, He works through the church. However, God has not forsaken His people. Any Jew, in this dispensation, can believe in Jesus Christ and he will be saved. Any Jew can thereupon receive the Holy Spirit and he can grow spiritually, achieving a tremendous spiritual life. However, after the church is raptured, God will again work through His people, the Jews, and He will regather them to the land and He will fulfill all of His promises to Israel. God’s covenant with David shows up many times in both the Old and New Testaments. At no time does it appear as though God is going to severely alter this covenant. Furthermore, doing that goes against God’s character. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). How much sense does it make for God to give a promise to someone and then take it back because they turn out to be not as holy as He would like? God is omniscient. He knows the future as perspicuously as He knows the past. You don’t do something which catches God off-guard. You do not commit some sin, and God looks down and says, “Wow, I did not know that he was capable of that.” From eternity past, God knew exactly what every single Jew would do throughout history. When God called Abraham, and made many promises to him, God knew what would transpire with Abraham, with his sons, and with all those who were to come from his loins. God is not surprised by what we do. Therefore, He does not make a covenant and then later change His mind or modify things somewhat due to gross sinfulness.

Translation:...[and] I have sworn an oath to My servant David:... Here, God swears an oath (which is one verb) to David, where there are not two ways of interpretation. God made a solemn oath to David, which oath we call the Davidic Covenant. This tells us that this psalm will be, in part, about God’s covenant with David concerning the Messiah to come, Who would come from David’s loins (i.e., Who would be physically related to David as one of David’s descendants).

David is what is known as a type. He represents Jesus Christ to come. Portions of his life, various things which he does, and the promises given to David, all point to Jesus Christ, who is his antitype. David was a shepherd; Jesus Christ is the Great Shepherd. David was king over all Israel; Jesus Christ will be king over all the Jews and Gentiles. David will have a son who will reign over Israel; David’s Greater Son will reigned forever. David is so closely associated with Jesus Christ that Ezekiel, several hundred years later, will refer to the coming Messiah, the King, and call Him David: “And I will set up over them one shepherd, My servant David, and He shall feed them; He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.” (Ezek. 34:23–24).

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       As far as forever, I will establish your seed

and I have built to generation and generation your throne.

Selah!

Septuagint                              Your seed will I establish for ever, and build up Your throne to all generations. Pause.

Significant differences:           None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       David, one of your descendants will always be king."

Easy-to-Read English            David, I will make your family continue forever.

I will make your kingdom continue forever and ever."

(SELAH)

Good News Bible (TEV)         'A descendant of yours will always be king; I will preserve your dynasty forever.' "

The Message                         'Everyone descending from you is guaranteed life; I'll make your rule as solid and lasting as rock.'"

New Jerusalem Bible             I have made your dynasty firm for ever, built your throne stable age after age.' Pause.

New Living Translation           `I will establish your descendants as kings forever;

they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.'"

Interlude

Revised English Bible            ‘I shall establish your line for ever,

I shall make your throne endure for all generations.’

[Selah

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             I will make your seed go on for ever, your kingdom will be strong through all generations. Selah.

Easy English (Churchyard)    Someone from your family will always be king.

And there will always be a place where they (will rule) as king".

God’s Word™                         'I will make your dynasty continue forever. I built your throne to last throughout every generation.'" Selah

JPS (Tanakh)                         I will establish your offspring forever,

I will confirm your throne for all generations.

NET Bible®                             'I will give you an eternal dynasty

and establish your throne throughout future generations.' " (Selah)

NIRV                                      'I will make your family line continue forever.

I will make your kingdom secure for all time to come.' "

Selah

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      'I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.'" Selah.

LTHB                                     I will establish your Seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations. Selah.

A Voice in the Wilderness      Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne from generation to generation. Selah

WEB                                      'I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations.' " Selah.

Young’s Updated LT             “Even to the age do I establish your seed, and I have built to generation and generation Your throne. Selah.

What is the gist of this verse? God promises David to establish his seed (dynasty) forever, and God would restore David’s throne for all generations.

Translation: To the end of this age, I will establish your Seed... God’s promise to David concerns David’s descendent, Who is Jesus Christ. Obviously, David had a lot of descendants, but this refers to one Descendant in particular, Who will be established, erected and set up until the end of the age. As we examined in 2Sam. 7, those in the New Testament understood fully that this referred to the Messiah (see 2Sam. 7 addendum), as there are quite a number of references to the Davidic Covenant where it is clear that everyone understood, this was a reference to the coming Messiah.

An angel will speak to Mary, and say: “And behold! You shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David. and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31–33). Even later in this psalm, we will read: “I [God] will establish his Seed forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.” (Psalm 89:29, which verse parallels this one). Then again in v. 36: His offspring shall endure forever, His throne as long as the sun before Me.

Although one might interpret this to mean that David’s descendants would always remain on the throne, seed is in the singular, and for the reason that the Davidic dynasty would end at some point in time. Paul makes this same point a millennium later, writing, And to Abraham and to his Seed the promises were spoken. It does not say, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, "And to your Seed," which is Christ (Gal. 3:16; Gen. 22:17–18). Paul, while obviously writing about the Abrahamic Covenant, made essentially the same point which I am making.

There was, on the other hand, a conditional covenant which God made with Israel, which David, on his deathbed, communicated to Solomon: When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the LORD may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' ” (1Kings 2:1–4). This is repeated in Psalm 132:12: “If your sons keep My covenant and My testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne." Israel needed to remain faithful to God, and the leaders of Israel needed to remain faithful to God; and on those conditions, there would always been one on the throne of Israel.

This also forces the Jew who reads this passage thousands of years later, to decide: “Is God a liar or is He referring to Seed in the singular for a particular reason?” We know that God is not a liar, however, this psalm, like many portions of the Word of God, will serve to quickly evangelize Jews in the future, after the rapture of the church.

Translation: ...and I have restored your throne from generation to generation.” David’s throne was brand new. God had promised David the throne of Israel and He had delivered on that promise. Out of nowhere, in this, the Davidic Covenant, God is promising David to restore [rebuild] his throne, where his throne is relatively new. God knows the future as He knows the past. God knew that, although there would be a Davidic dynasty for the next 400 years, that this dynasty would end. God would restore this dynasty and it would continue throughout the Millennium, and then forever, after God has created a new heavens and a new earth (although we know little about this, it should be obvious that, Jesus will reign over the earth).

We find a parallel to this portion of v. 4 in Psalm 45:6a: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

Translation: [Musical] Pause [or, musical interlude; lit., Selah!] As described in the exegesis, this word çelâh comes from a verb which means to lift up. It is reasonable to assume that those who are playing musical instruments are to lift up these instruments and play during a pause in the singing. I believe that this is called the bridge in modern music? Keil and Delitzsch suggest: The music, as Sela directs, here becomes more boisterous; it gives intensity to the strong cry for the judgment of God; and the first unfolding of thought of this Michtam is here brought to a close.

God's Essence: No One Among the Angels is as Awesome as God

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And confess [the] heavens Your wonder, O Y^ehowah;

in fact, Your faithfulness in a convocation of holy ones.

Septuagint                              The heavens will confess Your wonders, O Lord; and Your truth in the assembly of the saints.

Significant differences:           The LXX has wonders in the plural; it is in the singular in the Hebrew. The LXX has truth where the Hebrew has faithfulness instead. The Latin appears to agree with the Greek in these two things.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Our LORD, let the heavens now praise your miracles, and let all of your angels praise your faithfulness.

Easy English (Churchyard)    In *heaven, they *praise the *wonderful things that you have done, *LORD.

Also, the *holy *angels that meet together

(know that) you will do what you have promised.

Easy-to-Read Version            Lord, you do amazing things.

The heavens praise you for this.

People can depend on you.

The assembly of holy ones sing about this.

Good News Bible (TEV)         The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do; the holy ones sing of your faithfulness, LORD.

The Message                         GOD! Let the cosmos praise your wonderful ways, the choir of holy angels sing anthems to your faithful ways!

New Jerusalem Bible             The heavens praise your wonders, Yahweh, your constancy in the gathering of your faithful.

New Living Translation           All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord;

myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             In heaven let them give praise for your wonders, O Lord; and your unchanging faith among the saints.

God’s Word™                         O LORD, the heavens praise your miracles and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

NET Bible®                             .O LORD, the heavens praise your amazing deeds,

as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Let heaven (the angels) praise Your wonders, O Lord, Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones (the holy angels).

Updated Emphasized Bible    So will the heavens praise your wondrous acts O Yahweh,—Yea, your faithfulness, in the convocation of holy ones.

LTHB                                     And the heavens shall thank Your wonders, O Jehovah; also Your faithfulness in the assembly of the saints.

MKJV                                     And the heavens shall praise Your wonders, O Jehovah, Your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

Young’s Updated LT             And the heavens confess Your wonders, O Jehovah; Your faithfulness also is in an assembly of holy ones.

What is the gist of this verse? The angels celebrates the Davidic Covenant; God’s faithfulness is also celebrated by the angels.