PSALMS LESSON 88
We will begin this lesson by giving chapter 89 of Psalms in
metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 89
Verse 1 "My song shall evermore record In praise the mercies of the
Lord; thy faithfulness my mouth shall show, While ceaseless
ages onward flow."
Verse 2 "For I have said, eternal years Shall crown the temple mercy
rears; And in the heavens, firm and sure, Thy faithfulness
thou wilt secure."
Verse 3 "With David I a cov'nant made, And to my servant sware and
said, Thy seed forever I'll extend, And build thy throne till
time shall end. "
Verse 4 "The wonders done by thee, O Lord, The heaven shall in praise
record; Thy faithfulness shall praise command, When holy ones
assembled stand."
Verse 5 "For who in heaven' mid dwellers there, Can to the Lord
himself compare? Or who, among the mighty, shares The
likeness that Jehovah fears?"
Verse 6 "Great fear and dread to God belong, Where holy ones in
council throng; Yea, he inspires great dread and fear, In all
who round his throne appear."
Verse 7 "O thou Jehovah. God of hosts, What mighty one thy likeness
boasts? Thy faithfulness is ever found, Encircling all thy
path around. "
Verse 8 "The swelling sea thou dost control, And still its billows
when they roll; Rahab, as slain thou didst subdue, Thine arm
of strength thy foes o'erthrew. "
Verse 9 "The earth belongs to thee alone, The heavens, too, are all
thine own; The world and all that it contains, By thee
established, thine remains. "
Verse 10 "The north and south thy hands did frame; Tabor and Hermon
praise thy name: Great strength within thy arm doth He, Thy
hand is strong, thy right hand high."
Verse 11 "On righteousness thy throne is stayed, On justice its
foundation laid; Before thy face, thy way to show, Shall
truth and mercy ever go. "
Verse 12 "How blest the realm with favor crowned, Who hear and know
the joyful sound; They in the light, O Lord, shall live, The
light thy face and favor give. "
Verse 13 "They in thy name shall joyful be, Yea, all the day be glad
in thee: And in thy just and righteous ways To honor great
thou wilt them raise. "
Verse 14 "Thou art the glory of their strength, Thy grace will lift
our horn at length; For Israel's Holy One, who reigns As
Lord, our shield and King remains. "
Verse 15 "Then thou in vision didst make known, And thus address thy
Holy One: On one with mighty strength arrayed Great help and
succor I have laid. "
Verse 16 "Yea, I have raised to honor great, One chosen from the
people's state; My servant David I have found, And him as my
anointed crowned."
Verse 17 "With him my hand shall still remain, Mine arm with strength
shall him sustain; The foe shall never him annoy, Nor son of
wrong his peace destroy. "
Verse 18 "I'll crush before him every foe, His haters smite and
overthrow; My faithfulness to him I'll prove, And ne'er from
him my grace remove. "
Verse 19 "Yea, he shall triumph in my name, And great shall be his
power and fame; I'll set his hand upon the sea, His right
hand on the floods shall be.
Verse 20 "Thou art my Father, he shall cry, My God, my Rock, my
Saviour nigh; As my first born I will him own, O'er kings of
earth will set his throne."
Verse 21 "My grace for him I'll keep secure, My covenant to him is
sure; His seed forever I'll maintain, His throne while days
of heav'n remain. "
Verse 22 "But if his sons my law forsake; If they my holy statutes
break; If from my judgments they shall stray, And my commands
will not obey;"
Verse 23 "Then with a rod their sins I'll smite, Their guilt with
stripes will I requite; Yet him my grace shall not forsake,
My truth I will not falsehood make. "
Verse 24 "My cov'nant I will not evade, Nor change the promise I made;
Once in my holiness have I To David sworn, and will not lie."
Verse 25 "His seed forever shall endure, And as the sun his throne is
sure; Eternal as the moon on high, The faithful witness in
the sky. "
Verse 26 "Yet now thine anger hotly burns, And thine anointed loathes
and spurns; Thy servant's covenant we see Made void as if
abhorred by thee. "
Verse 27 "Thou to the earth hast trampled down, And thus profaned his
sacred crown; His walls all prostrate thou hast laid, His
fortresses a ruin made. "
Verse 28 "The passers-by upon him prey, His neighbors turn in scorn
away; His foes' right hand hast thou made strong, And giv'n
to them the victor's song. "
Verse 29 "His blunted sword hast thou repelled, Nor in the battle him
upheld; His glory now no more is known, And thou to earth
hast cast his throne. "
Verse 30 "His days of youth so quickly past, The garb of shame is o'er
him cast; How long, Lord, hide thyself in ire? Shall wrath
forever burn like fire?
Verse 31 "Think on my life, 'tis but a span, Why thus in vain hast
thou made man? What man that lives, has power to save His
soul from death, and from the grave?"
Verse 32 "Where are thy former mercies? Where? Which thou in truth to
David sware? Remember, Lord, thy servant's scorn, And mine,
from mighty people borne. "
Verse 33 "The scorn, O Lord, thy foes have shown, On thine Anointed's
footsteps thrown; Remember, let it be redressed: Forever let
the Lord be blessed."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 89th Psalm.
Psalms 89:1 "{Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.} I will sing of the
mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy
faithfulness to all generations."
What a sharp contrast to the gloom of chapter 88, is chapter 89.
This begins with a determination of the psalmist to praise the LORD.
God's mercies never change. The availability of those mercies in our
lives are under our control. The mercy of God continues forever. The
key word of this verse is, possibly, forever. Just as God's mercy, is
never ending, so should our praise be. We should not be influenced by
the circumstances around us, with our praise. The praise of our God's
mercy should be continually in our mouth. The world rejoices when
everything is going good. If we are to be different from the world,
then we praise God in the good times and in the lean times. The
psalmist is saying, that he will speak of the faithfulness of God to
the generations after him. Of course, he speaks to all generations
after him through this written Word, the Bible. Every Christian should
do the same thing as the psalmist here. We should determine in our
heart to worship and praise God forever, in all kinds of
circumstances.
Psalms 89:2 "For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever:
thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens."
God can not, and will not lie. His faithfulness is not
conditional. It is absolute. People on this earth make a promise to be
faithful, and they may, or may not, keep their promise. God is not
like fickle man. God will keep every promise He ever made. You can see
from the following verse, that God's mercy is caught up in the
covenant He made with Abraham. Luke 1:72 "To perform the mercy
[promised] to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;" We must
be part of the covenant agreement to receive mercy from God. Romans
9:15 "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
Romans 9:16 "So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." This mercy has to do with all
of Abraham's seed. Christians are Abraham's seed and heirs according
to the promise. Just as salvation is offered to whosoever will, mercy
is offered to those, as well. The bottom line is you must be of the
household of God.
Psalms 89:3 "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn
unto David my servant,"
God made a covenant with David forever. This covenant included
showing mercy and being faithful. This is just a renewal of the
covenant made with Abraham, which came through Isaac, and Jacob. Let's
look at two verses from the New Testament on the chosen.
II Thessalonians 2:13 "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth:" I Peter 2:9 "But ye [are] a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out
of darkness into his marvellous light:" God's covenant is with those
He has chosen, those who will be His children. Not predestined to be
His, but God foreknew who would choose to be His.
Psalms 89:4 "Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy
throne to all generations. Selah."
The seed of David spoken of here, is in Jesus Christ. The throne
spoken of here, as well, is the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ who
will be King of kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is Eternal King and His
kingdom shall never end. Just as Abraham did not receive the promised
land in his lifetime, the kingdom spoken of here that is eternal, will
not be fulfilled fully until the Lord Jesus Christ sets up His
everlasting kingdom.
Psalms 89:5 "And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD:
thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints."
Not only do the angels in heaven sing praise about the mighty
wonders of God, but saints of all ages are thankful for the
faithfulness of God. The congregation of the saints, possibly, is
speaking of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The wonders of God
are in heaven, and earth, and are far too numerous to try to list.
Look around you on earth, and on a clear night look into the heaven,
and see just a few of these wonders.
Psalms 89:6 "For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD?
[who] among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?"
The answer is no one. Look, with me, at the next verses of
Scripture. Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things]
under the earth;" Colossians 1:16 "For by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:" Colossians
1:17 "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
We can see, there is no question what this is speaking of. We
Christians are all sons of the Mighty, but we are not the Son of the
Mighty. We belong to the Son of God. We have been bought and paid for
with His precious blood.
Psalms 89:7 "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the
saints, and to be had in reverence of all [them that are] about him."
The assembly of the saints is the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What has happened to our holy fear of God? Where is there
reverence? The more we get to know God in His fulness, the more we
will humbly reverence Him. If God were to visit your church this
Sunday, would He find you bowing humbly before Him? There is a time
for a Christian to be bold, but it is not in the presence of God. We
are to be bold in our witness to others. We must not stand stiff-
necked before our Lord.
Psalms 89:8 "O LORD God of hosts, who [is] a strong LORD like
unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?"
Just the name of God used, above, lets us know that He alone is
God. There is no other like Him. We have spoken about not worshipping
angels, even though they are heavenly spirits. They are part of God's
creation, and are not to be worshipped. Not anything, or anyone, on
this earth should be worshipped because we were the created and not
the Creator. Once again, I will say we must not only make Jesus our
Saviour, but we must make Him our Lord, as well. He has supreme
authority over all of His creation. That creation includes everything.
Read of the creation in Genesis, and read who that Creator is, in John
chapter 1.
Psalms 89:9 "Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves
thereof arise, thou stillest them."
This was proven beyond a shadow of doubt when Jesus spoke to the
angry sea, and told it to be still, and it obeyed. Mark 4:39 "And he
arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." The He, of course,
is Jesus. The winds and the waves obey His will.
Psalms 89:10 "Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is
slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm."
Rahab, here, is speaking of Egypt. Not only did the Lord destroy
the false gods of Egypt in the 10 plagues, but the army of Egypt was
drowned in the Red Sea. The Right Hand of God and His holy Arm are the
one you and I call Jesus.
Psalms 89:11 "The heavens [are] thine, the earth also [is] thine:
[as for] the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them."
The heaven and the earth belong to their Creator. They were
created by the Word of God. He is Creator and Protector of His
creation.
Psalms 89:12 "The north and the south thou hast created them:
Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name."
The Creator of this universe, has made order in it. That is why
we have a north and a south. Tabor and Hermon are both mountains in
Israel. These 2 mountains are on opposite sides of the Jordan. Tabor
is on the west, and Hermon on the east. The same God that established
a north and south, established an east and west.
Psalms 89:13 "Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, [and]
high is thy right hand."
We have discussed this over and over. The one you and I call
Jesus is the Right Hand and the mighty Arm. He is the doer part of the
Godhead.
Psalms 89:14 "Justice and judgment [are] the habitation of thy
throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face."
The following Scriptures tell us for sure, who is the Just One.
Acts 3:14 "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a
murderer to be granted unto you;" Acts 7:52 "Which of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which
shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now
the betrayers and murderers:" This leaves no doubt that this, too, is
the one you and I call Jesus Christ. Only mercy and truth can pave the
way to God for any of us. We cannot stand before the Judge in our own
right. We must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ {our Merciful
God}. He is Truth.
Psalms 89:15 "Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound:
they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance."
Notice, the singular verb that is used with people here. We are
blessed, one at a time. We are saved one at a time. The Lord will
light the path for us, but we must walk in His Light. Ephesians 5:8
"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord:
walk as children of light:" What do you suppose the joyful sound is?
Could it be what is in this next Scripture? Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking
to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart to the Lord;" The joyful sound could,
also, be the trumpet blowing, calling all believers to Jesus.
Psalms 89:16 "In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in
thy righteousness shall they be exalted."
All believers in Christ have been given the authority to use the
name of Jesus. It is the power in this name that makes them rejoice.
The Christian is exalted to sonship in the righteousness of Jesus,
that He has provided for them.
Psalms 89:17 "For thou [art] the glory of their strength: and in
thy favour our horn shall be exalted."
We must remember that the horn means strength, or power. Our
strength is in our Lord. The power we have is in the name of Jesus.
Psalms 89:18 "For the LORD [is] our defence; and the Holy One of
Israel [is] our king."
When we belong to Jesus, He is our defence. The Holy One of
Israel, is Jesus Christ our Lord. He is coming back to reign on the
earth as KING.
Questions 88
1. What does this Psalm begin with the psalmist determined to do?
2. How long do the mercies of God continue?
3. What should not influence us in our praises?
4. How does this psalmist speak to all generations after him?
5. God's faithfulness is not ___________.
6. God's mercy is caught up in the covenant He made with ________.
7. We must be part of what to receive the mercy of God.
8. Who are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise?
9. What is the bottom line in all of this?
10. Who has God made covenant with?
11. What is this covenant agreement a renewal of?
12. God hath chosen you from the beginning to receive salvation
through what?
13. Quote 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9.
14. Is this predestination? Explain.
15. Who is the seed of David, spoken of in verse 4?
16. When will this throne to all generations be set up?
17. Who is the congregation of saints?
18. Who, in the heavens, can be compared to the LORD?
19. Quote Philippians chapter 2 verse 10.
20. What does Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 tell us that He made?
21. Who are the sons of the Mighty?
22. Where is God to be greatly feared?
23. Why should you not worship angels?
24. Where are 2 places you can read about the creation?
25. What does Mark chapter 4 verse 39 tell us Jesus has authority
over?
26. Who is Rahab in verse 10?
27. Who is the Holy Arm of God?
28. The heaven and the earth were created by whom?
29. What are Tabor and Harmon?
30. What Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the Just One?
31. Why is a singular verb used with a plural subject in verse 15?
32. What are 2 things the joyful sound, in verse 15, could be?
33. How are believers in Christ exalted?
34. What does the horn symbolize?
35. Who is the Holy One of Israel?
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