Psalm 89 -- God's Faithfulness, Even In His Discipline

My commentary believes this could have been written during the Babylonian captivity, particularly with the “How long?” phrases.  But the psalmist doesn’t always let the bad times cause him to doubt God.  “I will always sing about the Lord’s love; I will tell of His loyalty from now on … Lord, the heavens praise You for Your miracles and for Your loyalty … Lord, You are powerful and completely trustworthy … Your arm has great power.  Your hand is strong … Love and truth are in all You do.”  He’s definitely not saying God is powerless to change things!

He writes about those who know how to praise God.  They will be blessed.  God will let them live in His presence.  They rejoice in God’s very name.  He is their glorious strength.  That’s all the more reason why we should focus on praising Him, especially in our tough times!

In the psalmist’s current situation, it almost appeared that God had abandoned His agreement with David, but it was the sin of the nation that caused the exile, not God.  He was being faithful to His covenant by exiling them.  And that caused the psalmist to cry out, “Lord, how long will this go on?  Will You ignore us forever?  How long will Your anger burn like a fire?  Remember how short my life is.  Why did You create us?  For nothing? … Lord, where is Your love from times past?”

He forgets that God disciplines the son that He loves, and God is displaying that love even in the exile, helping the nation to completely purge idolatry so that it will never rear its evil head again.

My commentary listed four assurances about the faithfulness of God that we can find here:

God is faithful in His character – praise Him.

God is faithful to His covenant – trust Him.

God is faithful in His chastening.

God’s faithfulness will never cease – wait for Him.

Father, I praise Your faithfulness this morning. I would exhibit unfaithfulness if I doubted Your faithfulness.  Thank you for loving me and loving my family through this.  Thank You for drawing us close, even with Your discipline, to show Your love to us!

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford