a faithful perspective

but I will not remove from him my steadfast love

or be false to my faithfulness.

Psalm 89:33

This is a promise that God made specifically to David and his descendants. It celebrates what we think of as the “Davidic Covenant”... that David’s offspring would always rule in Jerusalem, and it is very Messianic, finding its complete fulfillment in the Messiah, the Son of David, Jesus Christ.

This verse follows a section of the psalm detailing that Davidic covenant in song covering verses 29-37. It goes like this: 

• This is a covenant designed by God to last forever (Psalm 89:29). 
• The kingly line of David MUST keep God’s commands and statutes as their part of the covenant (Psalm 89:30). 
• If they forsake God, then God would bring punishment to them, just as He promised to remove Israel from their land if they forsook Him (Psalm 89:31-32).  
• However, God would be true to His Word and keep His promises to keep the line of David despite their sins (Psalm 89:33-35). 
• Even after the discipline of judgment, God will keep David’s line forever (Psalm 89:36-37). 

And all this is beautifully kept with Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as the faithful fulfillment of God’s covenant love.

Psalm 89 is authored by a Bible character, Ethan the Ezrahite, who is only mentioned specifically one other time in scripture, where he is compared to the wisest people ever known in a recap of Solomon’s great wisdom. So evidently he was known to the audience of 1 Kings (written probably early in the exile), as a wise man contemporary with them. Ethan has written Psalm 89 as a worship perspective reminding God’s people in the midst of suffering to lean heavily into the promises of God, to recall the Davidic covenant for encouraging perspective.

Simple application of all this: In hard times, remember that God is faithful! This psalm ultimately looked to the promise of Jesus to frame suffering with faith-filled hope. And Jesus still gives us that vital view in troubled times right now!