properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
ever
עוֹלָ֑םo.Lam
H5769
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
moon
כְּ֭יָרֵחַKe.ya.re.ach
H3394
the moon · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
faithful
נֶאֱמָ֥ןne.'e.Man
H539
properly · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
witness
וְעֵ֥דve.'Ed
H5707
concretely · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
heaven
בַּ֝שַּׁ֗חַקba.Sha.chak
H7834
a powder (as beaten small) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Selah
סֶֽלָהSe.lah
H5542
suspension (of music) · interjection
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
Jeremiah 31:35-36 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which di…
Genesis 1:14-18 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for season…
Psalms 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
Genesis 9:13-16 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Isaiah 54:9-10 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn tha…
Psalms 72:7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
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…
It shall be established for ever as the moon,.... Either Christ's seed, or throne, which comes to much the same sense; for by both are meant his church and people, his kingdom and interest in the world; the moon is as perpetual as the sun, and is used as elsewhere to signify the continuance of the people, church, and interest of Christ, Psalm 72:5, for though the moon has its spots, and is changeable, sometimes in the full, and sometimes in the decline, yet always is, and always continues, and ever will; and so though the people of God have their spots and imperfections, and are sometimes on the decline in the frames and dispositions of their minds, in the exercise of grace, in their spiritu…
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
"And His seat is like as the sun before me:" "and as the moon perfect for evermore: and the faithful witness in heaven" [Psalm 89:37]. They are His seat, in whom He sits and reigns. But if His seat, His members also; because even our members are the seat of our head. See how all our other members sustain our head: but the head supports nothing above itself, but is itself supported by the rest of our limbs, as if the whole body of a man were the seat of his head. His seat, therefore, all in whom God reigns, "shall be like as the sun before Me," He says: because the righteous in the kingdom of My Father "shall shine like the sun." [Matthew 13:43] But the sun is meant in a spiritual, not a bodily sense, as that which shines from Heaven, which He makes to rise upon the just and unjust. [Matthew 5:45] Finally, that sun is not before men's eyes only, but even those of cattle and the smallest insects; for which of the vilest animals sees not that sun? What does he say to distinguish the sun meant here? "Like as the sun before Me." Not before men, before the flesh, before mortal animals, but "before Me, and as the moon." But what moon? One "that is perfect for evermore." For although that moon which we know becomes perfect, the next day she begins to wane, after her orb is full. "He shall be as the moon perfect for evermore," He says. His seat shall be made perfect as the moon, but that moon is one which will be perfect for evermore. If as the sun, why also as the moon? The Scriptures usually signify by the moon the mortality of this flesh, because of its increasings and decreasings, because of its transitory nature. The moon is also interpreted as Jericho: one who was descending from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among robbers: [Luke 10:30] for he was descending from immortality to mortality. Similar then is the flesh to that moon, which every month suffers increase and decrease: but that flesh of ours will be perfect in the resurrection: "and a faithful witness in heaven." Thus then, if it was our mind only that would be perfected, he would compare us only to the sun: if our body only, to the moon; but as God will perfect us in both, in respect of the mind it is said, "like as the sun before Me," because God only sees the mind: and "as the moon," so is the flesh: which "shall be made perfect for evermore," in the resurrection of the dead: "and a faithful witness in…
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,…
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
King · Hereditary succession — Hereditary succession
Kings · Rendered hereditary in the family of David — Rendered hereditary in the family of David
Moon, The · Appointed: By an ordinance for ever — Appointed: By an ordinance for ever
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…
holiness: The Lord is wholly distinct from the created order (22:3); his character is totally pure. He does as he pleases (115:3), and he chooses to be faithful (89:1; 115:1); therefore, he cannot lie.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 89:37
It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
It shall be established for ever as the moon. The kingdom may wax and wane to mortal eyes, but it shall still abide as long as the moon walks in her silver beauty. And as a faithful witness in heavens. The most stable part of the universe is selected as a type of Messiah's kingdom, and both sun and moon are made to be symbols of its long endurance. Whatever else there is in the sky which faithfully witnesses to the unbending course of nature is also called upon to be a sign of the Lord's truth. When heaven and earth witness, and the Lord himself swears, there remains no excuse for doubting, and faith j…
