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The steadfast love of God endures forever

Psalm 89.1-4, 15-18 (NRSVA)

This is one of the royal psalms which may have been sung at the coronation of a new ruler or on other national holidays. It begins by celebrating the rock solid reliability of God’s promises and then focuses specifically on his covenant with the royal house of David. God is supposed to have promised David that his descendants would rule over Israel forever, although building his throne from generation to generation - which was probably intended to mean the same thing - is in fact a slightly different idea. It implies only the continuity of the government and nation state established by David.

Be that as it may, God’s favour towards Israel can only mean that the people of Judah can afford to be joyful and should exult or rejoice in God’s name. Their horn of plenty should always be full and they should expect to be shielded from harm. The king is God’s appointee, so what could possibly go wrong?

This is the sort of sentiment which encouraged Hananiah to oppose Jeremiah’s prophecies of doom. They had to be a delusion, because God is always on Judah’s side.

Hananiah’s prophecies didn’t survive - except to be ridiculed - but the majestic poetry of the psalm saved it from the same fate. There is enough enduring quality here to keep it out of the dustbin of history. So believers can always say, with the psalmist, that God’s love is steadfast, righteous and faithful. Christians can always see Jesus as the fulfilment of the promise to David. And those who walk in the light of God’s countenance can indeed be happy, to a degree, even when things go wrong.

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