Psalm 89:3

I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) I have sworn.—The prophetic passage (2Samuel 7:12, seq.) is in the poet’s mind.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 89:3-5. I have made a covenant with my chosen — With David, whom I have chosen to the kingdom. Thy seed will I establish for ever, &c. — I will perpetuate the kingdom to thy posterity; which was promised upon condition, and was literally accomplished in Christ, who was of the seed of David. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders — That is, the inhabitants of heaven, the holy angels, who clearly discern and constantly adore thy mercy and faithfulness; when men upon earth are filled with doubts and perplexities about it. Thy faithfulness also — Understand, shall be praised; (which supplements are usual in Scripture;) in the congregation of the saints — Either, 1st, Of thy saints on earth in their public assemblies; who always acknowledge and celebrate thy truth, though they cannot always discern the footsteps of it: or, rather, 2d, Of the angels in heaven, of whom he speaks in the foregoing clause; and who are often called saints, or holy ones.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

89:1-4 Though our expectations may be disappointed, yet God's promises are established in the heavens, in his eternal counsels; they are out of the reach of opposers in hell and earth. And faith in the boundless mercy and everlasting truth of God, may bring comfort even in the deepest trials.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I have made a covenant with my chosen - With my chosen one; that is, with David. The original is in the singular number, though by the Septuagint, and the Vulgate, and by Luther, it is rendered in the plural - chosen ones - elect. This is undoubtedly the language of God himself, though it is not expressly ascribed to him. The design is to describe the solemn promise which God had made to David and to his posterity. Compare Psalm 78:70-71. See also, on the use of the phrase "made a covenant," see Psalm 50:5, note; Psalm 83:5, note.

I have sworn unto David my servant - I have taken a solemn oath in regard to him. The substance of the oath is stated in the next verse. The promise referred to is found in 2 Samuel 7:11-16.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3, 4. The object of this faith expressed in God's words (2Sa 7:11-16).

with—or literally, "to"

my chosen—as the covenant is in the form of a promise.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

With my chosen; with David, whom I have chosen to the kingdom.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I have made a covenant with my chosen,.... Not with Abraham, as the Targum expresses it: but with David, as in the following clause; not David, literally understood, though he was chosen of the Lord to be his servant, and a covenant was made with him, and a promise made to him of the perpetuity of his throne and kingdom in his family, Psalm 78:70 but mystical David, the Messiah, David's son and antitype; after, on this account, called David in Scripture, Ezekiel 34:23 and who is the Lord's "chosen" One, foreordained to be the Redeemer of lost sinners, chosen to be the Mediator between God and them, to be the head of the church, and Saviour of the body; and his human nature was chosen to the grace of union to the Son of God, Psalm 89:19, hence he is called God's elect, Isaiah 43:1 and with him the covenant of grace was made from all eternity, and all the blessings and promises of it were put into his hands; he is the Mediator, surety, and messenger of it, and by his blood it is ratified and confirmed: the Septuagint render it, in the plural number, "with mine elect ones"; and it is a truth, that the covenant of grace is made with all the elect, considered in Christ, and is made with them as such, and not as believers, converted persons, &c. election is the foundation of the covenant, and the source of all covenant blessings:

I have sworn unto David my servant: to the Messiah, called David, as before observed, and who is the Lord's servant, as man and Mediator, of his choosing, calling, sending, and supporting, Isaiah 42:1, to whom he swore, and he will not repent; and which oath of his, joined to his covenant and promise, makes for the strong consolation of the heirs of promise; see Psalm 89:35, the sum and substance of which covenant and oath follow.

Geneva Study Bible

{d} I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

(d) The prophet shows what the promise of God was, on which he grounded his faith.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3, 4. These verses contain the sum of the promise to David and his seed (2 Samuel 7:5 ff.) which is expanded in Psalm 89:19 ff. It is in relation to this promise in particular that the poet intends to sing of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness. Almost every word is taken from the narrative of 2 Samuel 7. For ‘David my servant’ see Psalm 89:5; Psalm 89:8; Psalm 89:26, and cp. Psalm 89:19-21; Psalm 89:25; Psalm 89:27-29 : for ‘establish’ see Psalm 89:12-13; Psalm 89:16; Psalm 89:26 : for ‘for ever’ see Psalm 89:13; Psalm 89:16; Psalm 89:24; Psalm 89:26; Psalm 89:29 : for ‘seed’ and ‘throne’ see Psalm 89:12-13; Psalm 89:16 : for ‘build’ see Psalm 89:27. ‘Chosen’ represents Psalm 89:8 (cp. Psalm 78:70 f.). ‘Covenant’ however does not belong to the phraseology of 2 Samuel 7 (but see 2 Samuel 23:5); nor is the promise spoken of there as confirmed by an oath.

The introduction of God as the speaker without any prefatory ‘Thou hast said’ is surprisingly abrupt. It is possible that the word has dropped out. But Hebrew leaves much to be understood, and misunderstanding is here impossible.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - I have made a covenant with my chosen. There is an ellipse of "for thou hast said," which Professor Cheyne supplies. God's promise to David is the entire foundation of the psalmist's hope and confidence. He therefore places it briefly in the very forefront - afterwards expanding it into the beautiful passage, which forms more than one-third of the entire composition (vers. 19-37). I have sworn unto David my servant (comp. 2 Samuel 7:11-16; Psalm 132:11). Psalm 89:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The poet, who, as one soon observes, is a חכם (for the very beginning of the Psalm is remarkable and ingenious), begins with the confession of the inviolability of the mercies promised to the house of David, i.e., of the הסדי דוד הנּאמנים, Isaiah 55:3.

(Note: The Vulgate renders: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo. The second Sunday after Easter takes its name from this rendering.)

God's faithful love towards the house of David, a love faithful to His promises, will he sing without ceasing, and make it known with his mouth, i.e., audibly and publicly (cf. Job 19:16), to the distant posterity. Instead of חסדי, we find here, and also in Lamentations 3:22, חסדי with a not merely slightly closed syllable. The Lamed of לדר ודר is, according to Psalm 103:7; Psalm 145:12, the datival Lamed. With כּי־אמרתּי (lxx, Jerome, contrary to Psalm 89:3, ὅτι εἶπας) the poet bases his resolve upon his conviction. נבנה means not so much to be upheld in building, as to be in the course of continuous building (e.g., Job 22:23; Malachi 3:15, of an increasingly prosperous condition). Loving-kindness is for ever (accusative of duration) in the course of continuous building, viz., upon the unshakeable foundation of the promise of grace, inasmuch as it is fulfilled in accordance therewith. It is a building with a most solid foundation, which will not only not fall into ruins, but, adding one stone of fulfilment upon another, will rise ever higher and higher. שׁמים then stands first as casus absol., and בּהם is, as in Psalm 19:5, a pronoun having a backward reference to it. In the heavens, which are exalted above the rise and fall of things here below, God establishes His faithfulness, so that it stands fast as the sun above the earth, although the condition of things here below seems sometimes to contradict it (cf. Psalm 119:89). Now follow in Psalm 89:4-5 the direct words of God, the sum of the promises given to David and to his seed in 2 Samuel 7, at which the poet arrives more naturally in Psalm 89:20. Here they are strikingly devoid of connection. It is the special substance of the promises that is associated in thought with the "loving-kindness" and "truth" of Psalm 89:3, which is expanded as it were appositionally therein. Hence also אכין and תּכין, וּבניתי and יבּנה correspond to one another. David's seed, by virtue of divine faithfulness, has an eternally sure existence; Jahve builds up David's throne "into generation and generation," inasmuch as He causes it to rise ever fresh and vigorous, never as that which is growing old and feeble.