The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours

Psalm 89 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth. ² For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever; In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.” ³ “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, ⁴ I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah.

⁵ The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. ⁶ For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord, ⁷ A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him? ⁸ O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. ⁹ You rule the swelling of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them. ¹⁰ You Yourself crushed  Rahab like one who is slain; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. ¹² The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name. ¹³ You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.
¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. ¹⁵ How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance. ¹⁶ In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted. ¹⁷ For You are the glory of their strength, And by Your favor our horn is exalted. ¹⁸ For our shield belongs to the Lord, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. ²⁰ “I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him, ²¹ With whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. ²² “The enemy will not deceive him, Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. ²³ “But I shall crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him. ²⁴ “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted.
²⁵ “I shall also set his hand on the sea And his right hand on the rivers. ²⁶ “He will cry to Me, You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ ²⁷ “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. ²⁸ “My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. ²⁹ “So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰ “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, ³¹ If they violate My statutes
And do not keep My commandments, ³² Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes. ³³ “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. ³⁴ “My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. ³⁵ “Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. ³⁶ “His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. ³⁷ “It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah…

⁴⁶ How long, O Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?
⁴⁷ Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men!
⁴⁸ What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.

⁴⁹ Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness? ⁵⁰ Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, ⁵¹ With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord,
With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed. ⁵² Blessed be the Lord forever!  Amen and Amen.

The psalmist begins saying:  I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth. For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever; In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”… The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord, A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him? O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.    The psalmist acknowledges the greatness and supremacy of God in the heavenly realm, that in heaven His loving kindness will be forever. But, what about on earth? After lamenting the situation and circumstances, the psalmist ends saying:  How long, O Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men! What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?  Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness? Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.     The psalmist knows the love and faithfulness of God. He is sure of its promise in the heavenly realm. But, on earth he is subject to the situations and circumstances, the trials, tribulations; difficulties and persecutions of earth and the enemy.

Perhaps although he knows the truth, he fails to walk in it. The psalmist says:  The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name. You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted. For You are the glory of their strength, And by Your favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs to the Lord, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.    He equates earth with heaven, saying they are both the Lord’s. Yet it seems that the circumstances of earth do not line up with those in heaven. Jesus taught us to pray saying:  Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  That should be what we see, what we know, our experience should be that earth is aligned with the realities of heaven. It should be that God’s faithfulness and His loving kindness are what we know and experience here on earth. When that is not our experience, what do we attribute it to? Is God to blame?  Like the psalmist, do we say:  How long, O Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?   The psalmist says:  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are exalted.    Perhaps then when things are not as they should be, when the circumstances of earth are not aligned with heaven, we need to look to ourselves. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. They are fundamental to establishing His rule. Loving kindness and truth go together. We cannot fully know God’s loving kindness if we don’t also know and believe His truth.  The psalmist says:  “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, If they violate My statutes
And do not keep My commandments, Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their iniquity with stripes.  “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. “My covenant I will not violate.”    Perhaps when things are not as they should be, we should not ask God where He has gone, but rather we should ask where we have gone from Him. God will not violate His covenant. Have we?

The covenant that the psalmist knew was a covenant dependant on righteousness in keeping the law. It was God’s promises to those who obeyed. The covenant we are under is the covenant in Christ’s blood. It is no longer that we know God’s love because of our obedience and righteousness, but rather that because of God’s love, we are made righteous through Christ, and so we are obedient. The old covenant was based on God’s response to the obedience of people. The new covenant is based on our response, in obedience, to God’s love.  In John 14:15;23-24;27 Jesus says: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments….  “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me… Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”    The peace of Christ and the promises of God’s covenant are still based in our obedience, not as God’s response to us, but rather as our response to Him. To know the fullness of His faithfulness and loving kindness we need to know and walk in His truth.  

I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth. The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance. Blessed be the Lord forever!  Amen and Amen.