Psalm 89:1-18
English Standard
Version (ESV)
89 (B)I will sing of (C)the steadfast love of the Lord,
forever;
with my mouth I will make known your (D)faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I said, (E)“Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens (F)you will establish your (G)faithfulness.”
3 You have said, “I have made (H)a covenant with my (I)chosen one;
I have (J)sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your (K)offspring forever,
and build your (L)throne for all generations.’” Selah
with my mouth I will make known your (D)faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I said, (E)“Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens (F)you will establish your (G)faithfulness.”
3 You have said, “I have made (H)a covenant with my (I)chosen one;
I have (J)sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your (K)offspring forever,
and build your (L)throne for all generations.’” Selah
5 Let (M)the heavens praise your (N)wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of (O)the holy ones!
6 For (P)who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
(Q)Who among the heavenly beings[b] is like the Lord,
7 a God greatly (R)to be feared in the council of (S)the holy ones,
and awesome above all (T)who are around him?
8 O Lord God of hosts,
(U)who is mighty as you are, O (V)Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you (W)still them.
10 You (X)crushed (Y)Rahab like a carcass;
you (Z)scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 (AA)The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
(AB)the world and all that is in it, you have (AC)founded them.
12 (AD)The north and the south, you have created them;
(AE)Tabor and (AF)Hermon (AG)joyously praise your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 (AH)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
(AI)steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know (AJ)the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in (AK)the light of your face,
16 who exult in your (AL)name all the day
and in your righteousness are (AM)exalted.
17 For you are (AN)the glory of their strength;
by your favor our (AO)horn is exalted.
18 For our (AP)shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to (AQ)the Holy One of Israel.
your faithfulness in the assembly of (O)the holy ones!
6 For (P)who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
(Q)Who among the heavenly beings[b] is like the Lord,
7 a God greatly (R)to be feared in the council of (S)the holy ones,
and awesome above all (T)who are around him?
8 O Lord God of hosts,
(U)who is mighty as you are, O (V)Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you (W)still them.
10 You (X)crushed (Y)Rahab like a carcass;
you (Z)scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 (AA)The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
(AB)the world and all that is in it, you have (AC)founded them.
12 (AD)The north and the south, you have created them;
(AE)Tabor and (AF)Hermon (AG)joyously praise your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 (AH)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
(AI)steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know (AJ)the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in (AK)the light of your face,
16 who exult in your (AL)name all the day
and in your righteousness are (AM)exalted.
17 For you are (AN)the glory of their strength;
by your favor our (AO)horn is exalted.
18 For our (AP)shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to (AQ)the Holy One of Israel.
This is quite a contrast from
Psalm 88 where the Psalmist is pleading with God to hear him and Psalm 89 where
the psalmist is giving God all the glory, honor, and praise. How often do we view God for who He really is
and how often do we let Him know that we recognize Him for His glory. He is above all, everything is His because He
created everything that is.
Let’s put this in human terms for
a minute. Often times, we as humans, forget
there is a hierarchy of authority. Children
forget their parents are the ones in charge.
They tend to take over and tell the parents what they should and should
not do. Or, an employee stands up to a
boss and says, “No, I won’t do that”. In
both cases the ones in charge may have a little different opinion of that child or employee than they do of the
child or employee who is obedient. The
employee who looks upon their boss as the authority and does as they are asked
will tend to find more satisfaction in the work and in the same respect, the
child too will be more satisfied with their family life.
I have to believe that these two
Psalms are a contrast of two different lives and how they approach life and
ultimately how they approach God. One
has no hope to ever be joyful in this life while the other one sees what God
has done in their lives and gives Him the glory for it. Both see that God has not been pleased with
the actions of His chosen people and feel that God has turned His face away but
one recognizes the love of God and one just cries and blames God for his
troubles.
I have often times been guilty of
crying out rather than praising. May my
prayers bring more glory to God than my troubles to Him. May He know that I love Him above all else
and sing of His glory in my heart. May I
recognize Him for who He is and not what He can do for me. May I seek Him with all my heart and lean not
on my own understanding but on His wisdom, power, mercy. At that point, I will find peace in Him. I want nothing less for those reading this
blog. May we all choose today to seek
Him and know that He and He alone is worthy of our praise.
It is not life’s circumstances
that define us but how we respond to them.
Will we respond by recognizing the steadfast love of God or will we just
blame Him?
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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