Psalm 89

"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations."

This psalm was written by Ethan the Ezrahite. I wonder what his tune was.

Ethan details how God has shown Himself faithful for generations past, and then asks God how it is that now He seems to have broken His covenant to His people. It doesn't make sense to Ethan. God had promised that He would establish David's line forever as kings in Israel. Why has He hidden from them?

Of course hindsight being 20/20, we can see what happened. Yes, God took His people through hard times, but it was not that God had left them. He had promised that "If his sons forsake my law…I will punish their sin…but I will not take my love from him, nor will I betray my faithfulness." (vss. 30-33) He, the God Who is not constrained by time, showed them that He had not and never would break His covenant or forsake His people. Where He had promised to establish David's line forever, He has shown us that He has set up Jesus, a Son of David, as the King of Kings. What's more, in Ephesians and in Hebrews we are assured that God has chosen to include us Gentiles in His kingdom. We, too, are now heirs of His promises of faithfulness.

And when times get difficult, and the more it seems to us that God has hidden Himself from us, the more we need to realize that He is faithful, that His timing is not ours, and that He WILL be glorified by proving Himself true to His Word. And we get to live in His kingdom, and "He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!"

"Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen." (vs. 52)