This is a Psalm of community lament. It is being used by the Jews who lived under the reign of one followed by another – unfaithful kings in the northern Israel and Southern Judah.

Verses 1 to 18 begins by praising and adoring God for who He is and what He has done for the people. Two key attributes of God stand up - His steadfast love (Hebrew, hesed) and faithfulness. They appear as a pair and thrice in this Psalm (verses 1, 2, 14). Besides these, some other attributes like righteousness and justice are being included as well.

Verses 19-29 then shift the focus to how God handpicked David to establish His reign over Israel on earth. God anointed him and granted him favor to be her king; it is also from David that the Messianic line is drawn. From verses 30 to 37, the Psalmist describes that even if the kings who succeeded David were to rebel and turn away from God, God would punish them but He would not forget the covenant that David made with Him.

Next, verses 38-45 describe the pathetic defeat of the people because these evil kings reigned against the will and ways of a holy God. God then allowed the devastation to come upon the people which was brought about by the attack of their enemies. Finally verses 46 to 52 bring Psalm 89 to an end by beseeching God to relent and restore the land again.

The tone of this Psalm especially from verses 46 to 52 is somewhat similar to how the prophet Jeremiah felt after Judah eventually fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC. He writes in Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Dear brothers and sisters, though we may not be like the Jews who repeatedly sinned against God as a result of their evil kings, we too may also have fallen short of God’s ways in one way or the other at certain points of our life. Let us confess our sins and return to Him.

Prayer

Dear God,

The fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians and the destruction of Jerusalem is a blatant warning for us to address the sins that we have committed against you. We are reminded that your mercies never come to an end and great is your faithfulness. Therefore, I confess to you that I have __________ [specify any unconfessed sin that you have not confessed to God]. I thank you for forgiving my sin in Jesus’ name. Amen.