Psalms 89:1-38

1 A maskil of Eitan the Ezrachi: I will sing about ADONAI's acts of grace forever, with my mouth proclaim your faithfulness to all generations;

2 because I said, "Grace is built to last forever; in the heavens themselves you established your faithfulness."

3 You said, "I made a covenant with the one I chose, I swore to my servant David,

4 'I will establish your dynasty forever, build up your throne through all generations.'" (Selah)

5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, ADONAI, your faithfulness in the assembly of the angels.

6 For who in the skies can be compared with ADONAI? Which of these gods can rival ADONAI,

7 a God dreaded in the great assembly of the holy ones and feared by all around him?

8 ADONAI Elohei-Tzva'ot! Who is as mighty as you, Yah? Your faithfulness surrounds you.

9 You control the raging of the sea; when its waves rear up, you calm them.

10 You crushed Rahav like a carcass; with your strong arm you scattered your foes.

11 The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; you founded the world and everything in it.

12 You created north and south; Tavor and Hermon take joy in your name.

13 Your arm is mighty, your hand is strong, your right hand is lifted high.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; grace and truth attend you.

15 How happy are the people who know the joyful shout! They walk in the light of your presence, ADONAI.

16 They rejoice in your name all day and are lifted up by your righteousness,

17 for you yourself are the strength in which they glory. Our power grows by pleasing you,

18 for our shield comes from ADONAI -our king is from the Holy One of Isra'el.

19 There was a time when you spoke in a vision; you declared to your loyal [prophets], "I have given help to a warrior, I have raised up someone chosen from the people.

20 I have found David my servant and anointed him with my holy oil.

21 My hand will always be with him, and my arm will give him strength.

22 No enemy will outwit him, no wicked man overcome him.

23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.

24 My faithfulness and grace will be with him; through my name his power will grow.

25 I will put his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.

26 He will call to me, 'You are my father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.'

27 I will give him the position of firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

28 I will keep my grace for him forever, and in my covenant be faithful with him.

29 I will establish his dynasty forever, and his throne as long as the heavens last.

30 "If his descendants abandon my Torah and fail to live by my rulings,

31 if they profane my regulations and don't obey my mitzvot,

32 I will punish their disobedience with the rod and their guilt with lashes.

33 But I won't withdraw my grace from him or be false to my faithfulness.

34 I will not profane my covenant or change what my lips have spoken.

35 I have sworn by my holiness once and for all; I will not lie to David

36 his dynasty will last forever, his throne like the sun before me.

37 It will be established forever, like the moon, which remains a faithful witness in the sky." (Selah)

38 But you spurned your anointed one, rejected and vented your rage on him.

Psalms 89:1-38 Meaning and Commentary

Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. Who this Ethan was is not certain. Kimchi takes him to be the same with Ethan the wise man, a grandson of Judah, 1 Kings 4:31. But seeing he lived some hundreds of years before the times of David, it is not likely that he should be the writer of this psalm; for David is made mention of in it, which could not be, unless it can be thought to be by a spirit of prophecy; which indeed is the opinion of Doctor Lightfoot {k}, who takes this Ethan to be the penman of this psalm; and who "from the promise, Genesis 15:1 sings joyfully the deliverance (of Israel); that the raging of the Red sea should be ruled, Psalm 89:9, and Rahab, or Egypt, should be broken in pieces, Psalm 89:10, and that the people should hear the joyful sound of the law, Psalm 89:15, and as for the name of David in it, this, he says, might be done prophetically; as Samuel is thought to be named by Moses, Psalm 99:6, which psalm is held to be made by him; or else might be put into it, in later times, by some divine penman, endued with the same gift of prophecy, who might improve the ground work of this psalm laid by Ethan, and set it to an higher key; namely, that whereas he treated only of bodily deliverance from Egypt, it is wound up so high as to reach the spiritual delivery by Christ; and therefore David is often named, from whence he should come."

There was another Ethan, a singer, in David's time; and it is more probable that he is the person, who might live to the times of Rehoboam, and see the decline of David's family, and the revolt of the ten tribes from it; or perhaps it was one of this name who lived in the times of the Babylonish captivity, and saw the low estate that David's family were come into; to which agrees the latter part of this psalm; and, in order to comfort the people of God, he wrote this psalm, showing that the covenant and promises of God, made with David, nevertheless stood firm, and would be accomplished: the title of the Septuagint version calls him Etham the Israelite; and the Arabic version Nathan the Israelite: the Targum makes him to be Abraham, paraphrasing it "a good understanding, which was said by the hand of Abraham, that came from the east."

But whoever was the penman of this psalm, it is "maschil," an instructive psalm, a psalm causing to understand; it treats concerning the covenant of grace, and the promises of it; and concerning the mercy and faithfulness of God, in making and keeping the same; and concerning the Messiah and his seed, his church and people; and the stability and duration of all these: many passages in it are applied to the Messiah by Jewish writers, ancient and modern; and Psalm 89:20 is manifestly referred to in Acts 13:22.