PSALM 89

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89 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

 I will sing about your mercies. Everybody will know God is faithful.  

2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

There will be plenty of Mercy throughout time.  You will make it available as long as you can see the heavens.

3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

I gave David my Word.  Your seed will forever be on my throne.

5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

1.  You are a wonder

2.  You are faithful

These are the attributes of the saints.

6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?

There is nobody like you.

7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

When belivers come together the saints will fear Him much!  When you hear the testimonies of more than one believer, it will be enormous.

8 O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

18 For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

Verses 8-18 describes the attributes of God.  When we pray, we should make sure our prayers are aligned with who God is.  We should not be ashamed to call Him Out!!  Let Him know you are talking directly to Him and to Him only.  When we talk of God to others, we should sound like we have a personal relationship with God in what we really know about Him; God as well as others know when we are convinced in who God is to us.

19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;

31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.

36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

Verses 19 through 37 tells of the knowledge or testimony of and about David.  We can tell that what he sings he knows intricate details of what God said in His Word.   We should know the Word of God so that when we tell what God did for and trough them, it will lead others to hear the truth of How God work throughout history.  The song writer wrote so well until you could hear God promise to David and know in your heart He is making the same promise to us!

38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.

39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.

41 All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.

42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

44 Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

Verses 38 through 45 the songwriter is comparing the promise to David to what he actual seem to experience, and the promise does not correlate with the facts.  He is either talking of what he sees going in David's life or he is complaining about what is going on in his own life.  

He is not reflecting on the truth of the Word of God.  We can learn from him in what not to say.  Even when things look blurry, we know that God is not finished with the purpose.  We have the entire mind of Christ in our hands.  There should never be a moment we doubt God as this song writer.  Although he is the writer, when we fail to stay in the presence of God's Word, we will sound exactly like this doubter or immature believer in the Word of God.

46 How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

49 Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?

Jesus answered all of the song writer's questions and doubts from verses 46-49.  The writers questions were real and passionate.  However, these questions having already been answered for us, if we asked them, we are stating that we are still in need of the Word of God' teaching.

50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;

51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

52 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

The song does not end happily for the writer.  The ending is an indicator that he was sincere.  We too are sincere when we say what he wrote.  However, unbelief after proof puts us in danger.  At some point we have to believe God.

Father, 

thank you for sharing with us the truth of Psalm 89.  Show us how to think truth.  Help us to speak truth.  Show us a token of Your promise to help us to understand Your silence does not mean You are absent.  Thank you for remembering we are Your students, and You promised to make sure we understood Your teaching style so we won't sound like Psalm 89 when doubt seemed to control the writer's prayer.

God is not on stage trying to bring this song to an happy ending.  This ending is truth and truth when it is finished makes us perfect.  God's Word can be like a movie to watch daily's however, the truth's details are not predictable, but it is good when it is all said and done.