Psalm 89:38–52; Faith and the Davidic Covenant (part 3)

Part 3: A Lament over the current state of the Davidic Dynasty (vs. 38–52)

Psalm 89 is a royal psalm by the choir of Ethan the Ezrahite. also called Jeduthun, who was a Levitical worship singer as well as a prophetic seer and a counselor to King David (1 Chr 16:41–42, 25:1–6; 2 Chr 5:12, 35:15). This royal psalm’s first section is that of a hymn to Yahweh for His faithfulness (1–18). The second section is an oracle on the promises and the covenant with David (19–37). The third section is a lament over the current sad state (to the writer) of the Davidic dynasty (38–51). See 2 Sam 7:4–17 for the prophecy on which this psalm is reflecting. 

The Preface to the NASB states: “One of the titles for God is Lord, a translation of Adonai. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it has been consistently translated LORD.” See the preface of your Bible version on the proper name of God in the Old Testament. Every time you read “Lord,” think adonai  (Master, divine one) and every time you read LORD, think Yahweh (pronounced Yahveh, the eternally present covenant keeping God). The author is deliberately emphasizing something by his choice of each name, so you do not want to ignore the difference.

  I. The Davidic Covenant is invisible (vs. 38–45)

      A. Notice the “But You” of verse 38, there is a contrast from the oracle and hymn

      B. David’s sons, starting with Solomon strayed from covenant faithfulness

      C. The covenant relationship is broken, but not by God

      D. But this author wants God to intervene and restore what the kings broke

      E. This lament prayer has powerful and emotional verbs: cast off, rejected, spurned, full of                  wrath, renounced, defiled, broken down, brought to ruin, put an end to, cast to the ground, cut short, covered with shame  

      F. This language is so strong, many Bible students think this was written during the exile             when King Jehoiachin was deported and wore prison garments for 37 years (2 Kgs 24:8,                 25:27, 29; Lam 1:10–12, 2:8)

      G. God’s full wrath is for unbelievers, unrepentant, unsubmissive, rebels and His Son in the                 place of sinners who will believe, repent, and submit

      H. The anointed one, High priest, prophet, or King. Here it is clearly the King, David’s son Anointed One in Hebrew is masiach which we transliterate also as Messiah. In Greek it is               christos which we transliterate as Christ. So, when the NT says, “Jesus Christ” it is the                   same as the Hebrew Yesh’ua ha masiach, Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One. His name           Yesh’ua means salvation, his name/title Messiah or Christ means “anointed one.” His title                     Lord shows that He is God and he is the Master.

Is this man Coniah [Jehoiachin] a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know? O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD: "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah." (Jer 22:28–30 ESV)

In what sense is he childless if he has children taken to captivity? No direct descendant will rule as king over Judah or Israel. 

Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel . . .  Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah (Mat 1:10–12, 16 NASB).

Joseph had royal blood through Solomon but could not rule nor his biological sons.

Mary genealogy was from David through his son Nathan, whose line was not cursed                            the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David (Luke 3:31 NASB)

The coming Messiah needed to be a son of David, but not through the cursed line of Jehoiachin, but the right to rule came through the cursed line. So, when Joseph adopted him as his son, as an adopted son He earned the right to rule without the genetic passing of the curse, as his blood line was under David through Nathan by His biological mother, Mariam’s genealogy. As the Son of God, He also retained the right to rule, as He did before His human birth in Bethlehem.

      I. Yeshua the Anointed One (Messiah, Christ) took the Father’s full wrath in your place

      J. God’s promise was that David’s lineage would survive any circumstances

On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant, declares the LORD, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts. (Hag 2:23 NASB) 

          Zerubbabel survived the Babylonian exile and returned to Jerusalem as a governor and was            in the line of Joseph of Nazareth (Matt 1:12–17). God's mercy displayed

      K. God promised to bring the covenantal curses on any Jew who was not loyally devoted to                 Him, faithfulness matters

     L. God kept both of these promises by removing the wicked kings while simultaneously                         preserving the family line

     M. If God would allow the enemies of Israel to destroy the Davidic covenant, what hope would            Israel have of them not also violating the Abrahamic covenant to the people?

     N. Periods of chastisement are confusing and fearful times

 II. A Prayer for restoration of the Davidic Dynasty (vs. 46 –51)

      A. These questions for God reveal the intensity of the authors pain and fear

      B. This author wants the promises of the Davidic Covenant to be visibly restored during 

           his lifetime

      C. The people are perishing under the persecution

      D. The kingdom of God’s disarray brings dishonor to God among the pagans

      E. The pagans are mocking the King of the Jews

      F. Remember, things are not always what they appear to be or “feel” like

III. The Doxology of praise to Yahweh (vs. 52)

      A. This verse concludes the 3rd book of Psalms

      B. This lament also ends in faith and praise to Yahweh for who He is

Lessons to live by:

• Don’t ever let liberal propaganda steal the substitutionary atonement from you. Jesus offered himself as a wrath bearing sacrifice (a propitiation to God) in our place

• Sometimes it may not “feel” or “appear” like God is keeping His promises because we can’t see behind the scenes. This is where faith come in beyond what we see

• Honesty with God in our prayers should lead us to end in praise and adoration of His greatness as revealed in the Bible

• We too will suffer persecution, though we are heirs of the promises (1 Pet 4:4)

Psalm 89:19–37; King Yahweh and the Davidic Covenant (part 2)

Psalm 89:19-37; Part 2: An Oracle on the Davidic Covenant

This psalm is royal psalm by the choir of Ethan the Ezrahite. also called Jeduthun, who was a Levitical worship singer as well as a prophetic seer and a counselor to King David (1 Chr 16:41–42, 25:1–6; 2 Chr 5:12, 35:15). Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun were responsible for the music around the tabernacle and later in the temple, and each man directed a separate choir. This royal psalm’s first section is that of a hymn to Yahweh for His faithfulness (1–18). The second section is a review of the oracle and promises of the covenant with David (19–37). The third section is a lament over the current sad state (to the writer) of the Davidic dynasty (38–51). See 2 Sam 7:4–17 for the prophecy on which this psalm is reflecting.

  I. The Davidic Covenantal Promises (vs. 19–29)

      A. What is a biblical covenant?

           1. a covenant (berit) can be defined as a solemn and lasting agreement that governs a         relationship and makes that relationship more intimate and permanent. Covenants often                  have long-lasting promises that are granted based on compliance to the covenantal              stipulations. The participants may be individuals, groups, or a representative for a                         group. However, the covenantal promises and how they relate to individuals, to certain          generations, and to the nation of Israel during her entire history and her promised future                     are not identical. God in His grace will not allow an individual to make the covenant                         void for anyone but himself. There are unconditional promises that will be kept by                     David’s faithful God in spite of his descendants' failure to comply with the covenantal         stipulations. This is also true for ethnic Israel.

           2. The Davidic Covenant has promises that were partially fulfilled by Solomon, and others             that have been or are being fulfilled by David’s descendant Yeshua (Jesus).

           3. There is a continuity among the covenants Between Yahweh and Adam, Noah,                             Abraham, Israel, Levi, David, and the new covenant

      B. The Davidic covenant choice of David’s line as king (vs. 19–23)

           1. David was anointed by Samuel (1 Sam 16:13)

           2. The vision confirming God’s choice was given to Nathan (2 Sam 7:4) 

           3. God selected David based on God’s freewill and not David’s future performance                         (Acts 13:22; 2 Sam 12:13)

           4. God’s power sustains David and defeats his enemies (1 Sam 18:12–14; 2 Sam 5:10)

           5. God’s purposes cannot fail concerning David and Yeshua

Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,  "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.  Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.  You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware."  (Psa 2:1–9 NASB) See Dan 4:34–37

      C. The Davidic covenantal promise of a universal reign (vs. 24–25)

      D. The Davidic covenantal promise of a messianic reign (vs. 26–27)

            1. Father, son, and firstborn are ancient covenant-treaty terms 

. . . and from Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the earth's kings. To him, the one who loves us, who has freed us from our sins at the cost of his blood (Rev 1:5 CJB)

And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. (Col 1:18 ESV)

           2. David and Yeshua both had a close covenantal relationship with God the Father

           3. Allegiance to David as God’s appointed ruler was necessary to benefit from the Israelite                 covenants

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 ESV)

      E. The Davidic covenantal promise concerning choice of descendants (vs. 28–29)

           1. The promise is to not cut off the descendants of David like Saul’s

           2. God will continue to work through and in the clan and future descendants of David

           3. This is an unconditional promise concerning the “line,” the group, not to each 

               individual in the group

Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the LORD your God! Because your God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness. (2 Chr 9:8 NKJV)

Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ--this Jesus whom you crucified. (Act 2:33 NASB)

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens (Heb 8:1 NASB)

 II. The Davidic Covenantal Stipulations (vs. 30 –37)

      A. Warning: the king must keep the Law: legal regulations, worship ordinances, moral                             commands (vs. 30–32) [See Deut 17:14–20]

           1. Being disloyal to God’s written instruction brings God’s chastisement

           2. This divine grant covenant has conditional promises for the individual (“if”) 

     B. If the king did not remain full devoted to God, he broke the covenant

     C. Trust and undiluted loyalty from the vassal to the emperor was required

     D. God’s covenant faithfulness will remain (vs. 33–34)

          1. God will not violate the unconditional promises of His covenant

          2. Even with a wicked King, God’s oath to the Davidic line and Messiah stands

if we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2Ti 2:12–13 NASB)

      E. The Davidic Covenantal Oath (vs. 35–37)

           1. David’s spot in the progress of redemption is certain (John 12:34)

           2. David’s son, Yeshua will fulfill the Davidic covenant (Rom 1:3)

Lessons to live by:

• We need to focus on the conditional parts of the New Covenant, faith and repentance, and then we can trust God for the unconditional parts (everlasting life)

• The salvation of a child in a church family is not automatic. Pray, share, and live the gospel before them. They are free moral agents and must enter the covenant themselves