Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the chi…
1 Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searchet…
Psalms 119:53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
Psalms 132:12 If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.
Proverbs 28:4 They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.
2 Chronicles 7:17-22 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt obse…
Proverbs 4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
Jeremiah 9:13-16 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 89:19-37
The covenant God made with David and his seed was mentioned before (Psa 89:3, Psa 89:4); but in these verses it is enlarged upon, and pleaded with God, for favour to the royal family, now almost sunk and ruined; yet certainly it looks at Christ, and has its accomplishment in him much more than in David; nay, some passages here are scarcely applicable at all to David, but must be understood of Christ only (who is therefore called David our king, Hos 3:5), and very great and precious promises they are which are here made to the Redeemer, which are strong foundations for the faith and hope of the redeemed to build upon. The comforts of our redemption flow from the covenant of redemption; all ou…
If his children forsake my law,.... The same with the seed before mentioned, the children of the Messiah: it is not said "if he forsakes", which cannot be supposed of Christ, because he knew no sin, nor did any; which yet might be supposed of David, had he been literally meant; but not he, nor his natural children, but the spiritual seed of mystical David, are here designed, who may sin, and do sin, of which there is too much proof and evidence; and who sin not only through infirmity, but sometimes very grossly, and which sins are here expressed by various phrases: they sometimes "forsake the law of God"; do not attend to it, as they should, as the rule of their walk and conversation; are re…
Psalm 89:30-37
30. If his children shall forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; 31. If they violate [545] my ordinances, and keep not my statutes; 32. Then will I visit their transgression with my rod, [546] and their iniquity with stripes. 33. But my loving-kindness will I not withdraw from him; nor suffer my faithfulness to fail, [literally, nor will I lie in my truth.] 34. My covenant will I not break, nor alter that which hath proceeded from my lips. 35. Once have I sworn by my holiness, That I will not lie [547] to David. 36. His seed shall endure for ever; and his throne as the sun before me. 37. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and a faithful witness in the heaven…
The Church Fathers
This is a strong pledge of the promise of God. The sons of this David are the children of the Bridegroom; all Christians therefore are called His sons. But it is much indeed that God promises, that if Christians, that is, "If his children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments" [Psalm 89:30]; "if they profane My statutes, and keep not My commandments" [Psalm 89:31]; I will not spurn them, nor will I send them away from Me in perdition: but what will I do? "I will visit their offenses with the rod, and their sin with scourges" [Psalm 89:32]. It is not the mercy of one that calls them only; but also that chastises and scourges them. Let therefore your Father's hand be upon you, and if you are a good son, repel not chastening; for "what son is there, to whom his father gives not chastening?" [Hebrews 12:7] Let Him chasten him, so long as He takes not from him His mercy: let Him beat him when obstinate, as long as He does not disinherit him. If you have well understood the promises of your Father, fear not to be scourged, but to be disinherited: "for whom the Lord loves He chastens: and scourges every son whom He receives." [Hebrews 12:6] Does the sinful son spurn chastening, when he sees the only Son without sin scourged? "I will visit their offenses with the rod." Thus too the Apostle threatens: "What will you? Shall I come unto you with a rod?" [1 Corinthians 4:21] Let not pious sons say, if You are coming with a rod, come not at all. For it is better to be taught with the Father's rod, than to perish in the caresses of the robber.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ezrahite — A title given to Ethan (1 Kings 4:31; Ps. 89, title) and Heman (Ps. 88, title). They were both sons of Zerah (1 Chr. 2:6).
Hermon — A peak, the eastern prolongation of the Anti-Lebanon range, reaching to the height of about 9,200 feet above the Mediterranean. It marks the north boundary of Palestine (Deut. 3:8, 4:48; Josh. 11:3,…
Afflictions · Sin visited with — Sin visited with
Afflictions And Adversities · .Sinners corrected by — .Sinners corrected by
Anger Of God, The · Against: Sin, in saints — Against: Sin, in saints
Covenant, The · All saints interested in — All saints interested in
David · .Anointed king, while a youth, by the prophet Samuel, and inspired — .Anointed king, while a youth, by the prophet Samuel, and inspired
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Now follows the paraphrase of Sa2 7:14, that the faithlessness of David's line in relation to the covenant shall not interfere with (annul) the faithfulness of God - a thought with which one might very naturally console one's self in the reign of Rehoboam. Because God has placed the house of David in a filial relationship to Himself, He will chastise the apostate members as a father chastises his son; cf. Pro 23:13. In Ch1 17:13 the chronicler omits the words of Sa2 7:14 which there provide against perverted action (העוות) on the part of the seed of David; our Psalm proves their originality. But even if, as history shows, this means of chastisement should be ineffectual in the case of indivi…
The Lord disciplines but does not reject his erring children. He foresees violation of trust and subsequent punishment, but he commits himself to uphold the covenant. His fidelity to David corresponds to his faithfulness to the created order.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 89:30
If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments. It was possible, terribly possible, that David's posterity might wander from the Lord; indeed they did so, but what then? Was the mercy of God to pass away from David's seed?—far from it. So, too, the seed of the Son of David are apt to start aside, but are they therefore cast away? Not a single word gives liberty for such an idea, but the very reverse. Expositors in their fear of Calvinistic doctrine shake off the fear of adding to the word of God, or else they would not have spent their time in talking about "the conditions" of this absolutely unconditional covenant.
