Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 89

I will sing. —This lyric purpose soon loses itself in a dirge.

For ever. —The Hebrew (‘ôlam) has properly neither the abstract idea of negation of time, nor the concrete (Christian) idea of eternity, but implies indefiniteness, and looks either backwards or forwards.

With my mouth — i.e., aloud, or loudly.

Mercy ... faithfulness. —These words, so often combined, express here, as is common in the Psalms, the attitude of the covenant God towards His people. The art of the poet is shown in this exordium. He strikes so strongly this note of the inviolability of the Divine promise, only to make the deprecation of God’s current neglect all the more striking.

Shall be built up for ever —Better, is for ever being built up. Elsewhere figured as a “place of shelter,” a “tower of refuge,” God’s faithfulness is here presented as an edifice for ever rising on foundations laid in the heavens. (Compare to Psalms 119:89.) The heavens are at once the type of unchangeableness and of splendour and height. Mant’s paraphrase brings out the power of the verse:—

“For I have said, Your mercies rise,
A deathless structure, to the skies;
The heavens were planted by Your hand,
And as the heavens Your truth shall stand.”

And Wordsworth has sung of Him:—

“Who fixed immovably the frame
Of the round world, and built by laws as strong
The solid refuge for distress,
The towers of righteousness.”

(Compare to Psalms 36:6.)

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

The heavens. —Having repeated the Divine promise, the poet appeals to nature and history to confirm his conviction of the enduring character of the truth and grace of God. The heavens are witnesses of it as in Psalm 1:4; Psalms 1:6; Psalms 97:6.

Shall praise. —The present tense would be better.

Wonders. —In the original the word is singular, perhaps as summing up all the covenant faithfulness as one great display of wonder.

Saints. —Here, apparently, not spoken of Israel, but of the hosts above. (See next verse; Job 15:15 for the same term, “holy ones,” for angels.)

Sons of the mighty. —Rather, sons of God—that is, angels. .