Psalm 89

Commonplace –

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. for I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah” (Psalm 89:1-4).

What an answer we have here to the lamentations to Psalm 88. Yet, even though Psalm 89 begins with praise, it ends with a cry for help. By the end of the psalm, the psalmist is crying out to God in the final verses. In verse 46, he asks, “How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?” and, again, in verse 49, “Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?”

Yet, we, the recipients of the New Testament, don’t have to wonder about these things. God’s wrath knew a limit. God’s lovingkindness was revealed in Christ. Now, we have the full revelation. Praise God!

Matthew Henry responds to the opening of Psalm 89 with the following suggestion:

“In singing this psalm we must have high thoughts of God, a lively faith in his covenant with the Redeemer, and a sympathy with the afflicted parts of the church” (Henry 468).

Henry offers the following insight into verses 1-4:

“The psalmist has a very sad complaint to make of the deplorable condition of the family of David at this time, and yet he begins the psalm with songs of praise; for we must, in every thing, in every state, give thanks; thus we must glorify the Lord in the fire. We think, when we are in trouble, that we get ease by complaining; but we do more – we get joy, by praising. Let our complaints therefore be turned into thanksgivings; and in these verses we find that which will be matter of praise and thanksgiving for us in the worst of times, whether upon a personal or public account,”

1. However it be, the everlasting God is good and true, v.1. Though we may find it hard to reconcile present dark providences with the goodness and truth of God, yet we must abide by this principle, That God’s mercies are inexhaustible and his truth is inviolable; and these must be the matter of our joy and praise: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever, sing a praising song to God’s honour, a pleasant song for my own solace, and Maschil, an instructive song, for the edification of others.” We may be forever singing God’s mercies, and yet the subject will not be drawn dry. We must sing of God’s mercies as long as we live, train up others to sing of them when we are gone, and hope to be singing them in heaven world without end; and this is singing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. With my mouth, and with my pen (for by that also do we speak), will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations, assuring posterity, from my own observation and experience, that God is true to every word that he has spoken, that they may learn to put their trust in God, Ps 78:6, 2.

I affirm through my own observation and experience that God is TRUE to EVERY word that He has spoken!

Works Cited

Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 89.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg