Psalm 89

"But"

Following up from our reflections on Psalm 88, Psalm 89 is an interesting reversal from the typical structure of the lament psalms. As I described last week, the typical structure is a plea-to-praise movement. Psalm 89 flips this, the structure is praise-to-plea.

The first part of the psalm recounts the mighty deeds of God, with particular attention to the promises God had made to David and his offspring:

The Lord said,
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn an oath to David my servant:
‘I will establish your offspring forever
and build up your throne for all generations.’”

Praise of the Lord follows. And then there's an interesting moment in verses 28-37. The poet recognizes that the offspring of David might fall into rebellion and that consequences would follow. But despite that disobedience, the poet underlines how God's promise to David was to last "for all generations." I haven't done a deep dive into this, but it seems to me that the poet has detected and highlighted an interesting contrast between the Deuteronomic and Davidic covenants. In the Deuteronomic covenant there is a promised restoration should Israel repent and return to the Lord. But God's promise to David seems less contingent. God promises to establish David's throne forever and a contingency doesn't seem to be included:

"I will always preserve my faithful love for him,
and my covenant with him will endure.
I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as heaven lasts.
If his sons abandon my instruction
and do not live by my ordinances,
if they dishonor my statutes
and do not keep my commands,
then I will call their rebellion
to account with the rod,
their iniquity with blows.
But I will not withdraw
my faithful love from him
or betray my faithfulness.
I will not violate my covenant
or change what my lips have said.
Once and for all
I have sworn an oath by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
His offspring will continue forever,
his throne like the sun before me,
like the moon, established forever,
a faithful witness in the sky.”

So, David's sons may abandon the Lord, they may refuse to live by the Lord's ordinances, they may dishonor the Lord's statutes, they may not keep the Lord's commands, they may rebel. For this, God will punish them. And yet, the "once and for all" promise holds: "But I will not withdraw my faithful love from him. I will not violate my covenant or change what I have said." Like I said, there is no contingency here in sight.

And then, after God has reiterated his "once and for all" promise, the stinging turn in the poem: "But."

That "but" in verse 38 cuts like a knife:

But you have spurned and rejected him;
you have become enraged with your anointed.
You have repudiated the covenant with your servant;
you have completely dishonored his crown.

Ouch. Simply put: "God, you have not kept your word. You have have broken your promise." That's a bold and harsh accusation! Calling the integrity of the Lord into question!

This week in my Psychology and Christianity class we're talking about my research concerning the Summer versus Winter Christian experience. To kick the week's conversation off, I wrote this on the board: "Is relational distress, negativity, complaint, doubt, and anger in our relationship with God a symptom of faith problems? Or are these experiences normal and to be expected? Might they even be necessary?"

If the Psalms are any indication, I'd argue that relational distress, negativity, complaint, doubt, and anger in our relationship with God are normal and to be expected. And I'd push further to say even necessary. This is St. John of the Cross' point in The Dark Night of the Soul. Passing through the dark night with God is necessary for spiritual growth and maturity.

This is well trod territory for regular readers. I've talked about this for years and it's come up a lot in this series. But I'm still surprised by the audacity of the Psalms. That cutting "but" in Psalm 89 makes me gasp. And I'm grateful such audacity is normalized and gifted to us as a model for prayer.