Day 16: Psalm 89
Back in II Samuel 7 (see Day 12), God had promised to establish the throne and dynasty of David forever. However, as we saw yesterday, due to the sin of the people, the kingdom was now in exile and hope was all but lost. One man, Ethan the Ezrahite, voiced a prayer on behalf of the nation both mourning the loss of the Davidic dynasty and pleading with God for its restoration in what we now call Psalm 89.
The prayer starts out celebrating God’s love and faithfulness and praising him for making the covenant with David at all. The throne of Yahweh is characterized by “righteousness and justice” and “love and faithfulness” (v. 14), and those who walk with God “rejoice in [his] name all day long” (v. 16). The Psalmist reiterates the amazing promises made to David -- including the promises to discipline him (and by extension, his sons) when they do wrong -- and confidently declares the glory of the covenant: “That his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky” (vv. 36-37). These exultant praises echo David’s own prayer of amazed thanks at what God was graciously choosing to do for him and his family.
However, after a full 37 verses of triumphant praise, the Psalm abruptly shifts in tone and content. Now, Ethan and the nation together cry out in confusion, “But you have rejected, you have spurned… you have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust” (vv. 38-39). From their position in exile or on the brink of exile, these sentiments would have seemed like cruel reality. Surely God had abandoned them and had broken his covenant with David. They plead, “How long, O Lord?” (v. 46) and “Where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?” (v. 49).
Is this Psalm contradicting itself? Is God faithful, or not? Does the covenant stand, or not? Are the people praising God, or accusing him of being far from them? Quite simply, this Psalm is honest. The first part declares what they know to be true, even if they don’t believe it, and the second part declares what seems to be true in the moment and what they are currently believing. How often are our prayers this honest? The Psalmist declares the truth of God, but as the prayer goes on, it is clear that his heart isn’t quite in it right now due to his circumstances. This does not stop him from crying out anyway. All throughout the Psalms, we see echoes of this. For example, in Psalms 42-43, the same verse is repeated three times: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (42:5, 11; 43:5). It is almost as if the Psalmist is preaching the truth to himself in the very midst of his pain-laden prayers. If God had in fact abandoned his covenant with David and with Israel, all hope was lost, and it certainly seemed that way right now. So the Psalmist led the people in declaring truth and declaring their pain and confusion at the same time.
Questions for reflection and discussion: Had God broken his covenant with David, or not? What truths do you need to declare to yourself in the midst of pain and confusion? Are you being honest with yourself and with God about whatever you may be going through?
