Psalm 89:33-45, Book III of the Psalms

Psalm 89 is a real high point in terms of God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant with David.  But today’s passage in the midst of that Psalm gives you the sense of the entire Psalm.  If God is so faithful in keeping His promise to David, then why isn’t there a Davidic king on the throne now?  Over the years, when I would come to this Psalm I would find it confusing.  It is such a glorious Messianic Psalm, and yet the Psalmist (Ethan the Ezrahite) feels justified in complaining that God does not seem to be keeping His promise.

But then came the time that I paid attention to the entire collection of Psalms in Book III, of which Psalm 89 is the last.  They are mostly by sons of Asaph (11), 3 by sons of Korah and two by Ezrahites (likely students of Ezra), with one (Psalm 86) by David.  Other than the one by David, they are quite likely late in Israel’s history.  There are references to scenes that would only fit the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and to the captivity.  So, let’s list these Psalms with a brief description and see if it makes sense of Psalm 89.

·       73: The prosperity of the wicked.

·       74: Why have you cast us (the nation) off forever, Lord?

·       75: The Lord answers: When I choose the proper time I will judge uprightly!

·       76: We will trust you, Lord (emphasizes the Mystery, the promises of Psalm 2).

·       77: We will wait because you are trustworthy.

·       78: God chose Jerusalem and David, a promise He will keep.

·       79: Jerusalem invaded, the temple defiled.  Oh LORD, deliver us and provide atonement.

·       80: A prayer for the restoration of the northern tribes.

·       81: “Oh that Israel would walk in My ways; I would soon subdue their enemies.”

·       82: Bring justice, LORD, because You inherit all the nations.

·       83: A war with Israel’s neighbors, with a victory that the nations might seek the LORD.

·       84: Israel called to make pilgrimage, the return to the land.

·       85: Forgiveness is provided by the cross (righteousness and peace have kissed).

·       86: A prayer of David, seeking deliverance for the king from his enemies.  The focus turns from the return of the nation to the reestablishment of the Monarchy.

·       87: The glory of Jerusalem, the city of God.

The final two Psalms are “contemplations” by two “Ezrahites.”  If that means they lived in the time of Ezra, then the nation has returned to the land, but things are not as before as there is no Davidic king and the people are subject to foreign powers.  Life is difficult.  And the glory of Israel is nowhere to be seen.  It is now the “times of the Gentiles.”

·       88: The discouragement of life in the “times of the Gentiles.”

·       89: The desire for the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant.