Psalms 89:38-45

PSALM—NOTE ON Psalms 89:38 It looks and feels as if God has not kept his promises to the house of David (and thus to his people). This section repeats words from the preceding parts of the psalm to stress the feeling of betrayal. God’s anointed (v. Psalms 89:38) was his special choice (v. Psalms 89:20), but now God is full of wrath against him. The covenant (v. Psalms 89:39) should have meant security (v. Psalms 89:34), but God has renounced it. The king’s “right hand” (v. Psalms 89:42) should govern even the rivers (v. Psalms 89:25), but now God has exalted the right hand of his foes. David’s throne (v. Psalms 89:44) was to endure as long as the sun (vv. Psalms 89:29, Psalms 89:36), but now God has cast it to the ground. Rather than David’s heir being “the highest of the kings of the earth” (v. Psalms 89:27), now all the Gentiles triumph over him and his people (vv. Psalms 89:40). Although things seem bleak, the psalm is not hopeless. The current hardship may be God’s punishment of the king for unfaithfulness, and so it is a call to repentance.