The three psalms we are looking at today have this theme in common: love God, be linked to God, let God set the agenda. Psalm 89 finishes off Book III of the psalter. It is a wonderful restatement of God’s promises to David about the Messiah, but then ends with somewhat of a repudiation of Yahweh whom the psalmist sees is not following through with His promises. It was written by Ethan the Ezrahite who was a Levitical musician. It has strong ties to 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17.
1 – 2
He starts off with a wonderful call to worship. And it is so true. We will sing about the Lord’s covenant love forever. Our times of corporate singing here in this age are like worship team practice for heaven.
Further, he says he will “proclaim” God’s faithfulness to those around him. The idea of God’s faithful love being “built up” comes out of God’s words to David in 2 Samuel 7 where he asks whether David can “build” a house for Yahweh. In verse 11 God declares that He will build the house. This tells us that is it God who saves us and not we ourselves!
Now the psalmist turns to His covenant with David:
3 – 4
This is the basic promise to David, which the psalmist will come back to later. It is significant because the Davidic covenant leads to David’s greater son Jesus the Messiah. The establishment of David’s throne will be accomplished through Jesus. In 2 Samuel 7:13 God declares to David about his son: “He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
5 – 18
Verses 5 – 7 detail Yahweh’s uniqueness.
Verses 8 – 10 His strength (Rahab here represents the chaotic sea)
Verses 11 – 12 His ownership of creation
Verses 12 – 14 His power and character
Verses 15 – 18 the effect on us when we serve and love Yahweh
Next, verses 19 - 37 talk more specifically about the Davidic covenant
19 – 29
19 – 20 Speaks of God choosing David when Samuel anointed him as king to replace Saul in 1 Samuel 10:1.
Verses 21 – 29 I think are really more appropriate for the Messiah, because David experienced defeats in his reign, but Jesus never does!
30 – 37
Here the psalmist talks about Solomon, who married many foreign women and ended up worshiping their gods, and about his later sons who walked steadfastly away from Yahweh. David had some descendants that were faithful, but it got worse and worse until God had to discipline them.
So then starting in verse 38 the psalmist questions, if given this covenant, why is all this happening to us?
38 – 51
This could actually be a description of the Babylonian captivity. If that’s the case, then the psalmist is not Ethan himself, but he is acting in that capacity of one who stands before God and prays for the people.
The psalmist just doesn’t understand what God is doing. How often do we find ourselves in that position?
Is. 55:9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
But just because we can’t understand Him, doesn’t mean we don’t follow Him. Jesus’ disciples understood little of what the Messiah said, but they knew He was the way.
52
Verse 52 finishes off with the psalmist’s ultimate trust in Yahweh, that despite his lack of understanding, God is still God!
What I like about this psalm is the reminds God of His promises, he rails on God for seemingly not fulfilling them, and then relinquishes himself to God to have His way. Reminding God of His promises resets us to think more strategically then selfishly. Railing on God opens up a channel of honesty, then relinquishing to God helps us to acknowledge that God is in charge, not us!
Psalm 90
Psalm 90 begins Book IV. It was written by Moses, the only psalm attributed to him and thus the oldest psalm—written fourteen hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. It was probably written while Israel walked for forty years in the wilderness and may be the oldest piece of Scripture we have.
1 – 2
Moses first extols God for being a refuge for them. Even though Israel was in a time of discipline for not being faithful when they first approached the Promised Land, God was always faithful and provided them food and water and protection. “You are God” Moses declares and are above everything that was created.
3 – 6
Because of Israel’s disobedience, all of the generation that came out of Egypt died in the wilderness except for Joshua and Caleb. Though God is sovereign over all, man is nothing but dust in comparison. This verse probably inspired Peter to write (2 Peter 3:8) Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
7 – 12
Israel wasn’t what you might call a good traveling companion. They complained and rebelled all the way. So God had to bring their sins to their attention through His presence. Dietary restrictions may have helped them live as long as 80, but the point is, eventually everyone dies. This is a reality we should all keep in mind.
13 – 17
So Moses finishes the psalm by calling on God’s mercy in the midst of judgment. That is what we find in Jesus: God judged Jesus for our rebellion so He could show mercy to us for all of eternity.
We will rejoice for many more days than we suffer thanks to Him!
I like the partnership in verse 17. God partners with us to bring about His blessings! And like in Psalm 89, when our work becomes His work, it is amazing what gets done. That next generation subdued mighty peoples and saw the walls of Jericho come “a tumblin’” down. We get into trouble and weakness when we stubbornly want to go our own way. We see victory and satisfaction as we seek to go God’s way!
Psalm 91
Psalm 91 has got to be one of the best psalms ever. For millions of Christians it is the “go to” psalm in times of trouble. The unfortunate reality is that life is fraught with danger. The good news is that there is a source to turn to for help and deliverance. But one of the strongest messages of this psalm is that to get that protection, you have to be in relationship with Yahweh and walking with Yahweh.
1 – 2
The word “lives” is the Hebrew word “to sit.” Part of our problem is that we tend to flirt with the temptations of this age then run back to God when we sense trouble. It’s like a little kid who runs down to the surf at the ocean but when the wave comes and they are frightened they chase back to the safety of mom and dad. They don’t realize the danger they are in.
We need to stay put in our relationship with and not try to find satisfaction or refuge in other things. The word “dwells” means the “stay overnight.” Has your relationship with God become the place you moved to, permanently?
The word “trust” means to “to put confidence in.” That’s the same base for the word “faith.” Faith doesn’t mean belief, it means you have put your weight down; you are “all in.”
The promise for one who has done that are incredible.
3 – 8
The psalmist declares that God will protect him from a stalking enemy, or from a marauding plague—from problems both unknown and known. That kind of protection allows the psalmist to be at peace in the night, when terror often strikes the heart, and to be calm during the day, when calamity assaults the eyes.
So how can we interpret this? Though the psalmist would not necessarily have this in mind, we certainly see the parallel to God’s provision of salvation from the enemy of sin and death.
In Jesus, through His sacrifice, victory is ours over these two:
1 Corinthians 15:56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
9 – 13
What a beautiful promise. God has sent angels to watch over those who trust in Him.
Heb. 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?
Satan used this verse to try to get Jesus to ump from the pinnacle of the Temple in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Jesus answered him that we should not tempt the Lord.
This is important because angels are sent to serve us in a way that benefits God’s kingdom, not our selfishness.
So finally, the psalmist is quoting Yahweh answering back:
14 – 16
The two requirements for God to work in this way are 1) loving devotion and 2) that he knows the name of the Lord. So you need to be aligned with God and devoted to God. You have to have a covenant relationship with Him and that is only possible in Jesus Christ.
Look at the promises:
Deliver
Protect
Be with
Rescue
Satisfy
Show him salvation
So this begs a question. If all this is true, then why do bad things happen to us who belong to Yahweh through Jesus?
The answer is that we are here to glorify God and help further His kingdom and His purposes. Sometimes that involves us suffering. But as we saw last week: “God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8).
In the end, no real enemy, no real plague, no real danger will harm you:
2Tim. 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
