The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Covenant” it comes from the Hebrew Word “beriyth” which means “covenant.”
Ethan celebrates God’s covenant with David before honestly lamenting its apparent failure. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Psalm 89.
Ethan declares he will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, with his mouth making known His faithfulness to all generations, since mercy shall be built up forever, His faithfulness being established in the very heavens, recalling God’s “covenant,” “beriyth” in Hebrew, with David His chosen, that his seed would be established forever, and his throne built up to all generations.
Ethan describes God’s incomparable greatness in the heavens, and among the sons of the mighty, feared in the assembly of the saints, ruling the raging of the sea, breaking Rahab in pieces, the heavens and earth being His, having a mighty arm, justice and judgment being the habitation of His throne, mercy and truth going before His face, blessed being the people who know the joyful sound, walking in the light of His countenance.
Ethan recounts God’s specific promises to David, that his seed would endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven, but then honestly laments a devastating reversal, that God has cast off and abhorred, been angry with His anointed, made void the covenant of His servant, and profaned his crown, asking how long, Lord, He will hide Himself forever, remembering how short his time is, and for what vanity he has made all men, pleading, “Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?” closing with a doxology, “Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen,” marking the end of this entire third book of the Psalms even amid such honest, unresolved lament.
Ethan’s dramatic movement from confident celebration of God’s covenant with David to honest lament over its apparent failure captures the genuine tension believers sometimes face between remembered promise and present, painful circumstance. This psalm’s closing doxology, offered even amid such raw, unresolved questioning, shows that praise and honest lament can remain intertwined even at a book’s very conclusion, without one canceling out the genuine reality of the other.
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