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Psalms 89. Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. That is to say, an instructive Psalm, written by or for one Ethan, one of the great singers of David’s day. He sings of the covenant, the covenant with David, ordered in all things and sure. There is no higher theme for song than the covenant of God’s grace, one marvels that it has not oftener been sung by those who are the gifted children of poetry.
Psa_89:1. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever:
Another subject might wear out, but this glorious topic will never be exhausted, Here is a theme which we can sing of in eternity as well as in time. Let others choose what subject they may, “I will sing of the mercies of Jehovah for ever.”
Psa_89:1. With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
God’s faithfulness is the mercy of his mercy. It is the center-point of his goodness that his goodness endureth for ever. We are not only to sing; we are to teach. The Psalmist says, “With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” In telling his own experience, narrating what he had observed, as well as what he had proved of God’s faithfulness to his promise and his covenant, he would do this so that following generations should know about it. We are the schoolmasters of the ages to come; I mean, saints who have experienced the mercy and the faithfulness of God. We ought to make known Jehovah’s faithfulness to all generations that are yet to come.
Psa_89:2. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever:
What a building, — Mercy! God’s mercy is to be built up for ever.
Psa_89:2. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
Like the great arch you see in the firmament on high, unbuttressed and unpillared, yet it stands fast. So shall God’s faithfulness be built up, settled, and established in the very heavens. And now God speaks: —
Psa_89:3. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
Well might the psalmist say, in the second verse, “I have said,” when God in the third verse says, “I have sworn.” It is ours to say, it is God’s to say with such tremendous solemnity that doubt cannot be tolerated. “I have made a covenant with my chosen:” King David, who is, however, but the type of his greater Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the heir of the dynasty of David. With him is this covenant made for ever.
Psa_89:4. Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
Whatever may happen in the world, David’s Seed is always reigning; whatever kings may lose their crowns, King Jesus will never lose the many crowns that are on his head. God has sworn it: “Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.” Then comes the word, “Selah.” Rest; meditate; and truly, here is enough to rest and meditate upon for many a day, if we went no farther into the Psalm.
Psa_89:5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonder, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
The psalmist meant to praise God at such a rate that the sun, and moon, and stars, should hear his song, while angels and the host redeemed by blood should learn to praise God better than ever. “Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints:” one saint begins to sing of God’s faithfulness, and the others take it up, for God is not faithful to one only, but to all his people. This is a subject which, when once started, will produce an echo in every believer’s heart.
Psa_89:6-7. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
The holiest are always the most reverent. There is no fear of God in the assembly of the sinners; but he is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints.”
Psa_89:7. And to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
The nearer they came to him, the more is their awe of him; the greater their love, the deeper is their humility. God will not have those about him who are flippant and irreverent; he is “to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.”
Psa_89:8. O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
Note how the psalmist harps upon that one string, — “faithfulness.” Ah, dear friends, there are times when this is the sweetest note in the whole scale! “Thy faithfulness”: we have a God who never forgets his promises, but keeps them to the moment; a God who never changes; a God who never turns away from his word. “Thy faithfulness.” Oh, what a blessed virtue is this in God! Let us praise him for it for ever. “Try faithfulness round about thee”: as if the Lord never went outside the ring of faithfulness, never did anything that broke his promises, or that made any of his children to doubt; and it is even so.
Psa_89:9. Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Are you now in a storm, my brother? My sister, are you now tempest-tossed? Listen to this word, and remember the Lord High Admiral of the fleet on the Lake of Galilee, and how, after he had been asleep for awhile, he arose, and rebuked the winds and the waves: “Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.”
Psa_89:10. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
Rahab was Egypt. The word means “strong”, “mighty”, “proud”, all of which were the characteristics of Egypt, which God brake in pieces at the Red Sea. Pharaoh was the greatest of monarchs at the time, but, oh, how soon he had to yield when God’s right arm was bared for war!
Psa_89:11. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them.
Sometimes we are tempted to think that the earth cannot be God’s, all over the globe man is the master, he claims everything; if men could map out the heavens, we should have owners for every single twinkling star and, if they could have their way, we should have to buy our light by measure, and our sunshine by-weight. But “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof;” and the heavens also are his.
Psa_89:12. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon—
East and West, as well as North and South, —
Psa_89:12. Shall rejoice in thy name.
There is not a place where God is not to be found. All the points of the compass are compassed by God. You cannot go where the Lord’s love reigns not, nor where Providence will not follow you.
Psa_89:13-15. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:
There are some who hear it, and yet are not blessed. Blessed are they who “know” it, know its peculiar accent, know its inward power, know its omnipotence, know its unchangeableness, know it by having tried it and proved it, and rested in it: “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.”
Psa_89:15. They shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
It is all the light they want. Let God but smile, it makes their day. If every candle were blown out, yet the favor of God would make life bright enough for them.
Psa_89:16. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
Even in God’s righteousness. Until we know the Lord, we are afraid of his righteousness, but when we come to know him, his righteousness, which once frowned upon us, becomes our heaven. “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.” God is not unrighteous to cast away a soul that puts its trust in Christ. God is one with his people. When we rejoice all the day in his name, we are exalted in his righteousness.
Psa_89:17-19. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. 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.
This is David first, but it is Christ high above David. One of ourselves, the carpenter’s Son, yet has God made him to be the Head over all things for his Church: “I have exalted one chosen out of the people.”
Psa_89:20-21. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
The full power of God is with Christ. That same arm, that bears the earth’s huge pillars up, and spreads the heavens abroad, is engaged on behalf of the cause and kingdom of the Son of David.
Psa_89:22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him,
He had enough of that when he was upon the earth; but it is all over now. He has gone into his glory, and the enemy cannot touch him now.
Psa_89:23. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him,
There is the portion of all haters of Christ. God will, somehow or other, in the order of his providence bring the evil home to them. If they will not have God’s Son, they shall not have his mercy; they shall, sooner or later, be beaten down before his face.
Psa_89:24-25. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
He shall reign “from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” We may go on to fight for him, for his triumph is sure.
Psa_89:26-27. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
So he is. Firstborn among men, firstborn of kings, his throne is loftier than the most imperial power on the earth. Blessed be his name! Let us adore him tonight; and here, in the midst of his people, let us crown him Lord of all.
Psa_89:28-36. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
The Son of David is still King in the midst of the true Israel. Still Jesus reigns; and on and on, for ever and for ever, great David’s greater Son shall be King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Psa_89:37. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
Now let us read a passage from the New Testament, showing how the Lord Jesus dealt with the crowds that came to him.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psa_89:1-37, And Joh_6:22-40.
Psa_89:1-2. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
So far, the gracious man declares the resolution of his heart to praise his God for ever, and gives the reason for that resolve. Now he quotes the Lord’s covenant with David —
Psa_89:3-4. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
That covenant, as you well know, was not only made with David, but it had a higher spiritual bearing, for it related to that great and glorious Son of David who still reigns, and shall reign for ever, and in whom every covenant blessing is secured.
Psa_89:5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
It is often very profitable, when we are enjoying fellowship with God, for us to speak to God, and then wait for God to speak to us. It is so here you see. First the psalmist says that he will praise God for ever, then God tells him of his covenant, and explains to him the reason why mercy shall be built up for ever, and then the man of God begins to praise God again. That will give you a hint for your own private devotion. Sometimes you feel that you cannot praise God, and cannot pray to him. Well, then, if you cannot speak to God, sit still, and let him speak to you. Read a portion of Scripture, and then, perhaps, some suggestive verse or word in it will set you praying; and then, when you have prayed, stop a little while, and read again; and so a blessed conversation shall be carried on between you and your God. Thus the psalmist takes his turn again: “And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.”
Psa_89:6-7. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared —
That is, reverenced, —
Psa_89:7-9. In the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
He lets them arise, and he bids them sink down again. All the providential dealings of God seem to be illustrated in the ever-varying phenomena of the sea. The Lord sometimes lets tempests arise in our circumstances, and anon with a Word he stills them, and there is a great calm.
Psa_89:10. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces as one that is slain; —
The great crocodile of Egypt; —
Psa_89:10-12. Thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
Oh, what a blessed spirit the spirit of true devotion is! There is such life in it that it seems to quicken all inanimate creation, and make the rocks and mountains to sing, and the trees of the wood to clap their hands, and the waves of the sea to praise the great Creator. So the whole world is like a great organ, and man, guided by God’s Spirit, puts his fingers on the keys, and wakes the whole to the thunder of adoration and praise. Oh to be taught of God to have a praiseful heart, for then all around us will be more likely also to praise Jehovah.
Psa_89:13-14. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
There are wells of joy in this verse to those who know how to draw it up. It is a great delight to every man who is oppressed to know that justice and judgment stand, like armed sentinels, on either side of the throne of God and to every human soul, conscious of unworthiness, it is an unspeakable delight that mercy and truth, like royal heralds, go before God wherever he goes. It has been well said that a God all mercy would be a God unjust; but a God all justice without mercy would be terrible indeed.
Psa_89:15-21. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. 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. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.
David was a great blessing to the nation over which God made him king. Among the choicest gifts that God ever gives to men are men; and therefore we read, concerning Christ, “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men;” and those gifts were men, for “he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” These were the choice ascension gifts of Christ. Yet, while these verses primarily refer to David the king of Israel, we must believe that a greater than David is here, even Christ, who deigns to call himself God’s servant, who has been anointed by the Spirit of God, with whom God’s hand is always established, and who is ever strengthened by the arm of Omnipotence.
Psa_89:22-25. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers.
Do not believe, dear friends, any of the prophecies that some men make concerning the destruction of the kingdom of Christ and the failure of his Church; but be certain that the Lord will not suffer Christ to fail or be discouraged, and rest assured that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. The history of the Church of Christ is a history of conflict, but it shall be a history of victory before it is completed: “I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.”
Psa_89:26-34. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, or alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
If, then, you are in the covenant, you will have the rod; you may rest sure of that. If you do not walk in God’s ways, but break his statutes, you will not be allowed to go unchastened. If a father saw some boys in the street breaking windows or otherwise misbehaving themselves, and he gave one of the boys a box on the ears, you may be pretty certain that the boy is his own son. And when God sees men doing wrong, he often permits the wicked to go unpunished in this life; but as for his own people, it is written, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Our heavenly Father’s hand still holds the rod, and uses it when necessary; but it is in love that he corrects us. Let us, therefore, when he chastens us, plead the covenant that is here recorded, and say to him, “Thou hast said, ‘Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.’”
Psa_89:35-37. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.