Originally posted: 11/14/2020
“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,” (89:33-34).
As I began reading Psalm 89, I felt a sense of elation; finally, an uplifting psalm! I confess, I find myself desiring to open the pages of Psalms, hoping for times of peace and praise, with reasons to celebrate.
And Psalm 89 provided so much as the psalmist sang of His lovingkindness, His faithfulness, His covenant, His incomparability, His power over all creation, His might, His righteousness, His justice, His truth, His glory, His strength, His protection, His undefeatable kingdom, His salvation, His eternal throne. Wow, yes! So very much to celebrate.
Of course, there would be the needed discipline, as any loving father will undertake when necessary. And considering the Father’s love, demonstrated in the training of His children, is praiseworthy.
“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, (89:30-32).
And while He does discipline His children, He promises He will never break off His Lovingkindness nor ever violate His covenant. God established His covenant in His faithfulness, and He will forever keep it by His holiness; and that is certainly worthy to pause and ponder (Selah), and definitely worthy of praise.
“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. (89:33-37).
But uh oh, what is this up ahead? Is this a twist in the road of praise? And I was left wondering, “what just happened?” I felt like I had just been hit between the eyes with that dreadful “record scratch.”
I grew up listening to vinyl records, which was often accompanied by an unwelcome, yet all too familiar moment. That moment when the record player was inadvertently bumped, and the phonograph needle slid across the vinyl with a scratching noise likened to fingernails scraping across a chalkboard.
There is no denying that a “record scratch” will totally interrupt and break the mood of a song. And in one moment, this psalm takes a very dark turn as the writer begins to describe the current condition of his people; like a “record scratch” in his song of praise.
The nation is being destroyed by their enemies, the kingdom is toppled, in ruins and mercilessly being looted and plundered. But the worst part of it all, while God is in control, He seems to have rejected His promise to keep His covenant.
But You have cast off and rejected,
You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.
39 You have spurned the covenant of Your servant;
You have profaned his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken down all his walls;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 All who pass along the way plunder him;
He has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
You have made all his enemies rejoice, (89:38-42).
And I cried just a bit. I just wasn’t up to having to think about holding on when life seems to be falling apart. Today, I confess, I just wanted peace and praise. And then it hit me, even in these tenuous times and concerning circumstances, even in our problems in the present and in our fears for the future, there is peace and praise that is ever ours in His Unbroken Lovingkindness.
Consider His Unbroken Lovingkindness
- His Lovingkindness will forever be Unbroken; He has promised it to be so.
- “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him…(89:33a).
- His Lovingkindness will forever be Unbroken; He is true and faithful.
- …Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness, (89:33b).
- His Lovingkindness will forever be Unbroken; He will never violate His covenant.
- “My covenant I will not violate…(89:34a).
- His Lovingkindness will forever be Unbroken; He will never alter one utterance from His lips.
- …Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips, (89:34b).
- His Lovingkindness will forever be Unbroken; He has sworn by His holiness.
- “Once I have sworn by My holiness… (89:35a).
- His Lovingkindness will forever be Unbroken; He will not lie to His heir.
- …I will not lie to David, (89:35b).
How do we respond to His Unbroken Lovingkindness?
Before we can be assured of His Unbroken Lovingkindness, we must first know His love expressed in His Son’s death as payment for our sins.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, (Romans 5:8:).
But even when we do belong to Him by faith, we all know life is loaded with the dreaded “record scratch.” We can be going along, everything smooth as silk, when suddenly “Frrrrrippppp!”
In those moments, those hours, those days, those months, and yes, even those years… in those times when the mood of our song of life has been interrupted and broken, we need to practice what we learn from the writer of Psalm 89.
The psalmist remembered, he recounted, and he believed as he chose faith over his feelings; faith in Who God Is, faith in what God has done, and faith in what God has promised.
Let us ever be amazed and in awe of His Unbroken Lovingkindness as we remember, recount, and believe Who God Is.
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? (89:6-7).
Let us ever be strengthened and built up in His Unbroken Lovingkindness as we remember, recount, and believe what God has done.
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, (89:17-18).
Let us never doubt or question His Unbroken Lovingkindness as we remember, recount, and believe what God has promised.
“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, (89:28-20).
We can fully rest in His Unbroken Lovingkindness when we are heirs to His promise.
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him, (Romans 8:16-17).
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise, (Galatians 3:29).
Today, let us live as His heirs. In every “record scratch,” let us choose to remember, recount, and believe, that we would choose faith over feelings. And because of Who He Is, what He has done, and what He has promised, we can persevere in the peace and praise of His Unbroken Lovingkindness.
“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, (89:33-35).