Psalms 89 and 90
Our study today, listening friend, leads us to Psalm 89, and this is the last Psalm in the Leviticus section of the Book of Psalms. As we indicated at the beginning, you will remember, at the beginning of the study of this book of Psalms, we have here a division similar to the Pentateuch of Moses; that is, we have the section equivalent to Genesis, to Exodus, and now we are finishing the section corresponding to Leviticus. Today, in dealing with Psalm 90, we are going to start with the section that we have called the section equivalent to the book of Numbers.
Let us first look at this 89th Psalm. It is a very remarkable Psalm. It has been called the Davidic Covenant Psalm. This great psalm was written by Ethan, the Ezrahite. It is a Masquil Psalm, that is, a psalm of “instruction”. Apparently, Ethan was a singer who belonged to the tribe of Levi. The author was not identified, we believe intentionally, for the simple reason that what stood out in this psalm was the fact of God’s faithfulness. The faithfulness of God was mentioned about ten times, so we see that, evidently, that was the emphasis that the author wanted to emphasize. We will also see that the word covenant is mentioned four times, and with it God said, three times: “I have sworn” and “I swore”. And then the phrase “I will not lie” appears four times. This Psalm constitutes a contrast with the previous one, where everything was darkness and sadness and where we did not see any glory. This psalm is all glory, and in it we do not appreciate sadness. It is a psalm that contains great emotion, and that is based on the covenant that God made with David. When we were studying the Second Book of Samuel, I think we spent quite a bit of time on chapter 7, which recorded God’s covenant with David, and you will see its importance as you find it mentioned in the writings of the prophets over and over again, and here, we see a psalm dedicated to this theme. So let’s read the first verse of this Psalm 89:
“The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever; From generation to generation I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.
God is good to us, so both you and I can say the mercies of the Lord I will sing forever
And here it says: “with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known”. I like to do it. I like to make his fidelity known more. He has been faithful to me, and I am sure he has been faithful to you as well.
We can highlight here that here it says your fidelity. It is God’s faithfulness. So it is a praise to God for his faithfulness to David. Then you’ll find when we get to verse 24, it says: My faithfulness and my mercy will be with him. The adjective changed because it was God who was speaking. Regardless of the adjective used, all references in this psalm pointed to God’s faithfulness. Let us now notice what verse 2 of this Psalm 89 says:
“I said: Mercy will be built forever; in the very heavens you will affirm your faithfulness.”
Well, God is faithful, and our salvation rests on the death of Christ, and God’s faithfulness in saving those who put their trust in Him. And the important thing is what God says.
It is told of a certain old woman whose son had returned from school and he was sitting at the table one morning talking with her. And her mother was telling her how wonderful God was, how faithful she was, and how He had saved her, and how sure she was of that salvation. And that son could not bear what she was saying anymore, and then he told her: “Your little soul is worth nothing, it is very small compared to this great universe. God could forget about you, and He wouldn’t even know it.” And he went on talking for a long time in that way, and his old mother was silent for a few moments. Once she had finished serving him breakfast she broke her silence to tell him, “Son, I’ve been thinking about what you said, maybe you’re right. Perhaps my soul does not have much value, but if I lose my soul, God will lose much more than I lose. And he said, “What do you mean by that?” Well, she said, “If I lose my soul, God is going to lose a lot more. He would lose his Word, his reputation, because He said he would save me.”
And let us tell you, dear listener, that God would lose His reputation if He did not keep the covenant He made with David. But God is faithful. Now, the psalmist said here in verse 3 of this 89th Psalm:
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I swore to David my servant, saying,
Here we have the important statement that God made a covenant with David. And in verse 5 he said:
“The heavens celebrate your wonders, Lord, your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints”
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament announces the work of his hands. (Ps. 19:1) But God’s faithfulness goes even further than this and extends to the assembly of those who belong to him. For this reason his fidelity to us deserves our praise. Now let’s read verse 8:
“Lord, God of hosts, who is like you? You are mighty, Jehovah, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”
Notice how the affirmation of fidelity is reiterated, in keeping with the general emphasis of the psalm. And verse 20 says:
“I found David my servant; I anointed him with my holy anointing”.
God here relied on everything he had promised David. Listen to what he said here in verse 24:
“My faithfulness and my mercy will be with him, and his power will be exalted in my name.”
Then we have another wonderful expression used in this Psalm and it is found here in verse 27:
“I will also make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”
God’s covenant with David was that He would send one of His lineage. This pact has as its central figure the Lord Jesus Christ. Of Him God said: “I will also make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” When God sent the Lord Jesus Christ into this world, He came as His only Son, and through His incarnation in Bethlehem, He revealed Himself as the Son of God. He was revealed in his life of humiliation, he was God manifested in a human body; and after having suffered a sacrificial death, since that was the purpose for which He came from heaven, He became the firstfruits of the resurrection, the firstborn from among the dead, and is the resurrected Christ. Let’s listen to what he says here: “I also will make him my firstborn”, the risen Christ, the one who returned from the dead after having died on the cross. And that simply means that the scepter of this Universe is in his hands, which had been pierced by the nails on the cross.
But we are also told here that He is the highest of the kings of the earth. This means that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords. The psalmist was then talking about the Lord Jesus. Therefore, he said again in verse 28:
“Forever I will assure him of my mercy and my pact will be firm with him.”
Now, we must carefully examine the Word of Truth. Verses 29 to 32 cannot speak of Christ, but of David’s posterity. Suppose David’s descendants forgot about God. What would He do? Let’s read verses 30 to 32:
“If your children forsake my Law and do not walk in my judgments, if they profane my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their rebellion with the rod and their wickedness with whips.”
Do these words sound like God would have ended His dealings with His children if they had not been faithful to Him? No. Let’s continue reading verse 33:
“But I will not withdraw my mercy from him, nor will I fail in my faithfulness.”
Dear listener, I may be disloyal, unfaithful, but God is faithful. And this is a beautiful certainty.
God then swore an oath about the covenant he made with David. Let’s read verses 34 to 36:
“I will not forget my covenant nor will I change what has come from my lips. Once I have sworn by my holiness and I will not lie to David. His offspring shall be forever and his throne as the sun before me.”
At this very moment there is Someone who is sitting at the right hand of God, who is going to come to earth to occupy the throne of David. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the son, the descendant of David. Now listen to what it says here, verse 37:
“As the moon will be firm forever and as a faithful witness in the sky.”
David will have a descendant who will sit on the throne of this universe. That fact is as firmly established as the moon is in space. And it looks like the moon is going to be there for a very long time. And God will fulfill the covenant that he made with David. Now, the 49th verse of this 89th Psalm says:
“Lord, where are your ancient mercies, which you swore to David according to your faithfulness?”
To these people who had turned away from God at this time, it would seem that God had forgotten His covenant, but He had not forgotten His covenant. God is faithful, and He had the Man who will one day sit on the throne of David.
And now, we come to:
psalm 90
We begin to consider the fourth section of the book of Psalms which corresponds to the fourth book of the Pentateuch, the Book of Numbers. The background of this psalm is found in the desert during the journey of the Israelites. Let us remember that when they were freed from slavery in Egypt, they were first led to Mount Sinai, where God gave them the law. Then they headed towards the promised land to enter it. But instead of going in, they went back into that terrible desert. For 38 years they wandered in the desert, until that generation died. Moses saw many people die, hundreds of thousands, and this psalm written by him is a psalm in which the presence of death stands out.
For me it is a very special psalm. Martin Luther said about this 90th Psalm: “Just as Moses represented and taught the law, so did he also in this Psalm. Actually he preached about death, sin and damnation, in order to alarm the proud, those who are safe in the midst of their sins, thus presenting their sin and wickedness before their very eyes.” So far the quote from Luther. This then is the teaching that we find in this Psalm. Let’s notice how majestic and sublime it begins, let’s read the first two verses of this Psalm 90:
“Lord, you have been a refuge for us from generation to generation. Before the mountains were born and you formed the earth and the world, from the century and to the century, you are God.
That expression that we note here “from the age and to the age”, in Hebrew has a figurative meaning. It means from a vanishing point to another vanishing point. God reaches out from that vanishing point of eternity in the past, projecting out to the vanishing point in the future, into that eternity to come. As far as our mind can go, from one point to another, He is God. How majestic…