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This composite psalm is linked to 88 by virtue of it being another ‘maskil’ of Ezrahite (and hence perhaps also from *Korahite) origins, although it stands somewhat apart from the rest of the Korahite collection. The beginning of Ps. 89 is a stark contrast to 88. For example, whereas 88:11 questions God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, 89:2 affirms it; similarly, God’s ‘wonders’ which are questioned in 88:10 are affirmed in 89:5. The editors have probably set these psalms side by side because at the end of the psalm, its questions about man and death (89:48) mirror those in 88:4–5 (although as we shall see, the end of Psalm 89 might also be seen in a more positive light). Each psalm speaks of God’s rejection (89:38; see 88:14) and of his hiding (89:46; see 88:14). But Psalm 89 is very different as it is a composite psalm, brought together from at least three parts: it first rejoices in the Davidic covenant (verses 1–4) and in the kingship of God (verses 5–18); it then confidently proclaims, in detail, the making of the Davidic covenant (verses 19–37) in a recital of history, using 2 Sam. 7:8–17, which has several affinities with Psalm 78. *Selah occurs at verses 4, 37 and 45, marking off two of these four divisions. The psalm ends with a lament because the king has been defeated and the covenant seems to have been forgotten (verses 38–51).

Given that most of the psalms in Book Three have focussed on the Moses and Exodus tradition (the end of Psalm 78 and the heading to Psalm 86 being exceptions), the introduction of David within the psalm is a surprise, not least because the extended focus is more on the king himself and not on the Zion/Temple traditions which were prominent in earlier psalms. Given that the introduction and praise of David is effectively used as a means of protesting to God at the end of the psalm because of the demise of the monarchy, it is clear that the overall impact of the psalm is not to express confidence in the Davidic covenant, but perplexity in its having been broken. Nevertheless, much depends on how we interpret verse 47 (‘How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself for ever?’) and verse 50 (‘Lord, where is your steadfast love of old?’) which might be seen, in line with the pleas for God to ‘remember’ which have resonated throughout Book Three, as intended to move God to act favourably on his people once again rather than as an accusation that God has completely forgotten his people. If one can read the ending of this psalm in a somewhat more hopeful light this actually places the tenor of the psalm closer to Psalm 78; as we noted, this psalm too has an equally interesting place in the heart of the *Asaphite psalms.²⁶⁶ A more hopeful ending also places the end of Book Three closer to Psalm 73 at the beginning of it, with its similar questions about God’s justice, but with its more positive ending.²⁶⁷ Recent scholarship has mainly emphasised the pessimistic ending to Psalm 89, arguing that Book Three ends without hope and can only be made sense of in the light of Psalm 90 (‘A Psalm of Moses’) at the beginning of Book Four. If we see Psalm 89 as still reflecting hope rather than accusation, there is more continuity between Books Three and Four, a point we shall return to in looking at Psalm 90.²⁶⁸ This is a point developed by Adam Hensley in his book on covenant relationships in the Psalter, and it is quite convincing.²⁶⁹

Early Jewish reception of Psalm 89 nevertheless contrasts more starkly the two parts of Psalm 89: on the positive side of the covenant made with David (verses 1–4; 5–18; 19–37), and on the negative aspects of that covenant having been broken (verses 38–51). The *Septuagint makes some interesting changes to the prominence of the king, often applying to the whole people what was once intended to refer to the king. For example, in verse 40 (Eng. v. 39) the Hebrew speaks of the king’s ‘crown’ (nezer) being profaned; the Greek text, interested in the fate of Jerusalem, reads this as ‘the holy sanctuary’ (hagiasma) which has been defiled.

Psalm 89, with its focus on the rise and fall of the monarchy, is found in two of the *Qumran scrolls. Verses 20–22, 26, 23 (sic), 27–28 and 31—all on the positive aspect of the Davidic covenant—are found in 4QPs^x (4Q236), one of the oldest scrolls. Verses 44–48, 50–53, meanwhile are found in 4QPs^e—the part of the psalm which laments the end of David’s house.²⁷⁰ This suggests that the two parts of the psalm may once have had a separate reception history.

*Targum traces the history of this psalm back beyond David to Abraham (who in Jewish tradition is often seen as the composer of the psalm). Of its title, we read ‘Good insight, which was spoken by Abraham who came from the east’. This translates ‘Ezrahite’ as ‘from the east’ and ‘Ethan’ as ‘he came’. One other feature in Targum is the reinterpretation of mythological details: for example, the ‘heavenly beings’ in verse 7 (Eng. v. 6) are now ‘angels’; the reference in verse 11 (Eng. v. 10) to God crushing Rahab, the mythological dragon, is now also a reference to ‘Pharaoh, the wicked one’. The most telling reference, because it has an eye not only on the end of the monarchy after the Babylonian exile but on the end of the Temple itself, is verse 45 (Eng. v. 44). Rather like the Greek transformation of verse 40 (Eng. v. 39), 89:45 (Eng. v. 44) now reads: ‘You have caused the priests who sprinkle upon the altar and cleanse his people to cease…’ This is a bitter tale of exile, from Abraham to David, and from David to the loss of the Temple in the present day.

This reading was common in later Jewish writings. *Rashi actually reads the reference to the ‘anointed one’ in verse 51 as pertaining to ‘King Messiah’, a future figure whom God will raise up to end the present exile. This is quite different from his concern to read the ‘anointed one’ historically, as David, in Ps. 84:10 (Eng. v. 9) and Ps. 2:2, in refutation of the Christian beliefs about Christ the Messiah. Here, in the light of what is read as the failure of the Davidic covenant, a reference to David himself as the ‘anointed one’ would be impossible.²⁷¹ *Kimḥi also sees the lament in verses 38 onwards as a prayer for the coming of the Messiah, to renew the covenant with Abraham and David.²⁷²

This psalm was used to speak of Jesus as the ‘anointed one’ as early as New Testament times; he becomes the means of God continuing to ‘remember’ the covenant made with David. In Peter’s first speech in Acts 2:25–36, Ps. 89:4–5 is one of four psalms to be used to show that Jesus is even greater than David, for he alone has risen from the dead. In Paul’s speech in Acts 13:17–41, Ps. 89:20 is adapted, along with Pss. 2:7 and 16:10, to argue that Jesus is the Messiah.

This Messianic reading persists throughout the Church Fathers to reformation writers. *Augustine, for example, reads 89:3 as about the ‘new’ covenant with the ‘son of David’. Thus the first part applies to Christ, not to David, and of special importance is verse 26: ‘He shall cry to me, “Thou art my Father…”’.²⁷³ The final part of Psalm 89—the lament—is thus, like Psalm 88, read as a prophecy predicting Christ’s suffering.²⁷⁴ (Verse 38 is a difficult verse, for it speaks of God’s wrath against his servant; here—ironically, this is seen to apply to David, not to Christ.) *Evagrius, writing on verse 6 (‘Who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?’), presumes the answer is Christ, and that this refers to Christ’s unique nature, as Creator and Redeemer, with unique knowledge of both the Father and creation.²⁷⁵

The different readings of this psalm by *Luther and *Calvin provide good examples of their distinctive modes of exegesis: Calvin reads verse 27 (‘I will make him the firstborn.’) as a reference to David, who is a type of Christ, i.e. preparing the way for the Messiah.²⁷⁶ Luther, in the Dictata, reads Psalm 89 as a whole as about ‘the perpetuity and stability of the reign of David’—i.e. assuming this means the spiritual reign of Christ.²⁷⁷ Hence verse 29 (‘I will establish his line forever’) Luther sees as an unfulfilled promise if this was about the literal David: but the promises have been fulfilled, in Christ and his Church.²⁷⁸

In Jewish liturgy, the ceremony of the Blessing on the Moon’s Reappearance (Birkat Levanah), praising God for sustaining the world through its seasons, has implicitly been linked to verse 38 (Eng. v. 37) of this psalm: ‘It (i.e. the Davidic covenant) will be established like the moon forever’. From this link between the moon and the Davidic dynasty, the Blessing on the Moon’s Reappearance has also linked to the coming of the Messiah at the time of the new moon.²⁷⁹ A near parallel is found in Christian liturgy: because the first part of this psalm speaks of the descendants of the king and the promise of a covenant ‘forever’, it has been used as early as the *Roman Rite for the liturgy for Christmas Day, celebrating the arrival of the ‘Messiah’. The latter part of the psalm (verses 38–51), on the sufferings of the king, is associated with Easter.²⁸⁰ Many hymnic versions of this psalm focus on one part or another. For example, the *Genevan Psalter (1562) takes up the more positive aspects of the psalm; a recent version is found in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of the Canadian Reformed Church.²⁸¹ Isaac *Watts wrote at least seven metrical versions of this psalm, taken from verses 1–6; 7–14; 15–18; 19–37; 38–41; and 42–52. Of the two on 42–52, one has intriguing correspondences with Watts’ ‘O God our Help in Ages Past’, from Psalm 90.²⁸² A more recent Methodist version, of verses 1–4, 19–37 (again, the positive parts), is ‘O Lord Your Love is Constant’, arranged by Don Saliers.²⁸³

Musical performances for a concert audience are also mostly from verses in the first part of the psalm. *Handel, for example, used verses 13–14 in his ‘Let Thy Hand be Strengthened’, a coronation anthem (1727) for mixed chorus and orchestra, which was sung as George I was presented to the people, ending with a triumphant alleluia.²⁸⁴ Handel’s composition ‘My Song shall be Alway’ (1717–1718) is also taken from selections of the first part of this psalm, using a chorus for verse 5, tenor for verse 6, soprano, tenor and bass for verse 9, bass for verse 11, chorus for verse 14, cantor for verse 15, and a final triumphant chorus for verse 17.²⁸⁵ Other choral settings include da *Palestrina’s settings of verse 25 and of verses 12, 15 in Latin, and *Purcell’s arrangement of verses 1, 5–10 and 14–15 in English.

Its use in liturgy, as well as its narrative about the promises and broken promises to the king, have resulted in a number of poetic imitations.²⁸⁶ The eighteenth-century writer Christopher *Smart has a work attributed to him called A Song to David, which is about the relationship between David and Christ; it is a lengthy poem in imitation of Psalm 89. Each verse is a four-line stanza, set in 6–8–6–8 with the rhyme a-b-a-b; unlike Mary *Sidney’s version, this loses some of the composite complex nature of the psalm, yet at the same time creates a simple directness in its account of God’s dealing with his people: the Christian overlay is only implicit. Verses 34–37, on the promises to David and his descendants, read:²⁸⁷

But yet I will not wholly take

My kindness from his seed;

Nor void that blessed promise make

To which my truth agreed.

I will for my own glory care

Nor change the word I past;

Once by my holiness I swore

That David’s house should last.

The line of his descent shall run

With deathless heroes crowned;

Before my presence, as the sun,

His throne shall be renowned.

Illuminated psalters usually ‘Christianise’ this psalm. Byzantine examples, such as *Theodore (fol. 118r), use verse 12 (‘Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name’) as an inspiration for an image of Jesus’ transfiguration.²⁸⁸ This is also taken up in *Khludov (fol. 88v), *Bristol (fol. 147v), and *Barberini (fol. 152r). *Carolingian psalters record different Christian episodes. The *Utrecht Psalter, for example, has two images of Christ which conform to the two parts of the psalm. One is set in heaven, in a globe-*mandorla, and the other on earth, depicted by a scene of his crucifixion. To the left of the crucifixion is a nude David, anointed by an angel: kings are seen bearing gifts (the seas are represented at the bottom of the image) illustrating verse 25 (‘I will set his hand on the sea’) and verse 27 (‘I will make him… the highest of the kings of the earth’).²⁸⁹ By contrast, one of the images in the *Stuttgart Psalter (fol. 103v) focusses on verse 5 (‘your faithfulness… in the assembly of the holy ones’) and has a scene of Christ in glory (not his transfiguration) with Saint Peter, Saint Paul and another saint.²⁹⁰

Two very different contemporary artists illustrate well the differences between Jewish and Christian readings of this psalm: Moshe *Berger’s image is of a bright white central orb out of which emanates Hebrew calligraphy, amidst deep blue rays; a crown is visible above the orb, and above that, the blue rays turn to red. The reference is from verse 29 (Eng. v. 28), translated here as ‘I was kind to David when I made him King. This kindness will endure for ever. I entered into covenants with Abraham and David and I shall keep them forever.’ This accords very much with the more positive reading of the psalm as a whole in Jewish tradition, which was discussed earlier.²⁹¹

The second image is by Roger *Wagner, who, at the very end of Book Three of his Book of Praises illustrates verse 39 with an image of Christ on the cross, as the rejected Messiah, fitting with the tone of despair at the end of psalm, and giving it some correspondences with the visual exegesis of the end of Psalm 88 earlier (Figure 6). ²⁹² This resonates with the more traditional view in reception history that the psalm ends on a negative note of despair.

FIGURE 6 Roger Wagner, Ps. 89:44–45: The King and the Cross.

Source: Wagner, R. 2013. The Book of Praises: A Translation of the Psalms. Book Three. Oxford: The Besalel Press.

Like Psalms 2, 45 and 110, the reception of this psalm points to key differences of Jewish and Christian reception, and their different interpretations of the everlasting or temporal nature of the Davidic covenant, and of the identity of the one who is to inherit the promises of an everlasting throne.

Before moving on to assess the reception history of the psalms in Book Four, it is important to finish with some observations about Book Three. One is to note a very different tenor than that in Books One and Two, which through the collections of laments, thanksgiving and didactic psalms performed a prayerful and ethical guide to obedience and piety. Very few psalms in Book Three have been used in this way: other than Psalm 73, the only other obvious exceptions are Psalm 86, a ‘Psalm of David’, and perhaps also Psalm 84. Following from this, a second observation is that the reception history of Book Three, through the rich resources of liturgy, illumination, music and poetry, has been more concerned with theological questions about the character of God and his dealings with his entire people. A persistent concern, especially in Jewish reception, has been about making sense of a broken past in order to face the future. This ‘backwards look’ has been the key feature of Book Three: only in Books Four and Five is there a more decisive future perspective. Finally, because of this interest in the fate of the whole community, the memory is primarily focussed on the covenant made with Moses and the traditions of Genesis and Exodus (Psalms 74–78 [other than 78:67–72], 79–83), and only in the latter part of Book Three does the attention begin to focus more on David (Psalms 86 and 89). This dialogue between the covenants with Moses and David is a critical feature of Book Four, with its additional element of the ‘High Kingship of Yahweh’. Psalm 90 thus returns to the interest in Moses and the vicissitudes of the people at a time of loss.

Psalms Through the Centuries: A Reception History Commentary on Psalms 73–151, Volume Three,First Edition. Susan Gillingham. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2022 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.