Loyal When God Seems Disloyal
Psalms of lament express loyal devotion to God.
Christian theologian and pastor, James Montgomery Boice, has summarized the first half of Psalm 89 like this: “Great is your faithfulness” (Psa 89:1-37). Then he summarized the second half of the psalm this way: “Where is your faithfulness?” (Psa 89:38-52).[1] I agree with this breakdown. I also think this two-part sequence describes the way we often feel about God today. We believe that God is faithful, then we wonder if he is.
Psalms of lament are given for this very reason. They show us how to pray when our life experiences appear to contradict God’s guarantee of faithfulness and loyalty to his people. Properly understood, lament psalms are not outbursts of unbelief, nor are they expressions of bitterness and resentment towards God. They are the straightforward, transparent verbalization of the inner thoughts and feelings of God’s people when it seems like he’s letting them down. The keyword here is seems.
Simply put, psalms of lament are songs of raw, unrelenting faith in God. They are prayers of honest worship rooted in faith. Though they sound traumatic, scared, and doubtful, they’re actually evidence of loyal faith in God through difficult times. They know that all is not as it seems to be, even though they don’t feel like it.
We know this because they are spoken to God. The psalmist believes that God is both there and aware of what they’re facing. The worshiper may wonder why God seems to be distant or when he will actually respond, but he or she knows that God’s there – somewhere. They don’t question his existence; they question his distance.
We also know these are expressions of faith in God because they connect their expectations to the character of God, the past actions of God, and God’s promises to his people. They show faith in who God is and what God says, but wrestle with how these firm beliefs harmonize with their present experience in real-time, an experience that seems to contradict God’s character and his covenant with them, though they know in theory that it does not.
In some ways, a psalm of lament is like the anxious cries of the person who’s riding a roller coaster. They know it’s designed well and has passed a safety inspection. After standing in line for 30 minutes, they’ve also watched numerous riders get on and off alive and well. They know the same will be true for them, just as it has always been on other roller coasters they’ve ridden before. Even so, they still scream in anxious terror as the car they’re riding takes the first plunge, and that’s okay, while inside you ask, “How long will it last? Was the safety inspector correct? Will the ride fall apart this time? How long will the ride last? Will I survive?”
Psalms of lament allow the worshiper to think through what he or she knows and believes about God, express how he or she is feeling at the moment (no matter how uneasy), then reaffirm his or her faith in God once again, even if the circumstances haven’t changed yet. In this way, laments are expressions of a worshipper’s loyal faith in God that’s counting on his loyal faithfulness in return.
Psalm 89 is one such psalm. In this psalm, the psalmist first affirms his strong belief in God’s faithfulness, loyalty, and power. Then, he wonders out loud why it seems like God has broken his promise. In the end, he declares his intent to praise God forever. Do we also know how to pray this way when it feels like God is letting us down?
Ethan announces the basis for his faith. (Psa 89:1-4)
To read a nonfiction chapter book, you turn past the cover, copyright page, and table of contents, and what do you see next? An introduction. This short entry shares brief, initial thoughts and perspective from the author that helps you know what to expect when you read the book. That’s how the first four verses function in this psalm. They summarize the theological factors (or facts about God) that are the basis for the psalm writer’s faith.
The psalmist’s name is Ethan (more on him later). In the first pair of verses, he highlights God’s direct, sovereign, universal kingdom (Psa 89:1-2). Then in the second pair, he narrows the scope to God’s special, mediatorial, Davidic kingdom (Psa 89:3-4). He will say more things about God’s universal kingdom in Psa 89:5-18 and again in Psa 89:46-48, expanding upon what he introduced in the first two verses. Then he will say more things about the Davidic kingdom in Psa 89:19-37 and again in Psa 89:49-51, expanding what he introduced in the second two opening verses.
From this overview, we see that Ethan firmly believed not only in God’s rightful authority over the full created universe in general (“the heavens”) but also over his own people, the nation of Israel, in a special way (he “made a covenant with David”).
In the opening verses, Ethan also introduces us to several keywords that help us understand the focus of this psalm. Mercy (chesed) appears twice and refers to God’s loyal love, a one-sided devotion that refuses to let go, even if the other party deserves to be abandoned. Faithfulness is a similar word, also mentioned twice, and emphasizes God’s total reliability. Both these words will reappear throughout the psalm.
Another word, forever, appears in the introduction three times, then repeatedly throughout the psalm. So, Ethan reveals his belief that God’s reign and kingdom will last forever and are secured by his unfailing loyalty and faithfulness. In fact, it is Ethan’s belief in these things that actually causes his dilemma in Psa 89:38-51. Yes, believing God can lead to some difficult questions, but that’s okay.
Ethan remembers God’s universal kingdom. (Psa 89:5-18)
First, notice the scope of God’s kingdom. He rules from “the heavens” (Psa 89:5-6) and so his authority is extended not only to the people who follow him (“the saints”), but also to the angelic realm (“the sons of the mighty”, “all those around him,” and “hosts”). It also extends to the untamable realms of creation, the “raging sea” (Psa 89:9), and is victorious over major world superpowers like Egypt (“Rahab,” Psa 89:10).
As a ruler, God is so powerful that he can make hurricane-force waves lay still and crush world superpowers like a pottery bowl. His kingdom is superior to all other kingdoms, more majestic than all the great mountains together, and more powerful than any other power. Thankfully, he isn’t just powerful – he’s also perfectly righteous and just, which means he doesn’t use his power for inappropriate or capricious causes, as human governments, fallen angelic powers, or other gods may do (Psa 89:14-16).
Though all people exist within the scope of his reign, not all follow him. Yet, those who submit to his reign and follow him as loyal subjects will enjoy a blessed and joyful life indeed (Psa 89:16-18).
Ethan remembers God’s Davidic covenant. (Psa 89:19-37)
At this point in the Psalm, Ethan transitions from God’s sovereign, universal kingdom to his special, mediatorial kingdom. By “mediatorial” I am referring to the way God intends to involve people in his kingdom by helping him govern and care for his creation. This arrangement began in the Garden of Eden but failed to develop when Adam and Eve rejected God’s authority in their lives to behave as gods for themselves.
Ever since then, God has been methodically building up (or rebuilding) this “mediatorial” kingdom (see “build up” in Psa 89:2, 4) through a gradual, methodical series of divine revelations, interventions, and covenants that would eventually lead to the Messiah, a special person who would fully restore God’s mediatorial kingdom forever.
In the gradual unfolding of this sequence of events in history, God selected the nation of Israel through Abraham. Then he eventually narrowed the scope of his selection to the family of David, whom he personally selected and appointed to the throne (Psa 89:19-37). Through this special covenant, God assured David that a descendant of his family would rule over not only Israel but also all other kingdoms of the world forever (Psa 89:27). This was an exciting prospect!
This special and everlasting covenant with David is recorded for us in 2 Sam 7:8-16. So, Ethan is essentially giving us an expositional explanation and reminder of this covenant. In doing so, he emphasizes how this covenant was based upon the loyalty (chesed) and faithfulness of God (Psa 89:24, 28, 33) and it would last forever (Psa 89:28-29, 36-37).
Despite this sweeping and eternal promise, there was a small caveat built in – a minor disclaimer, so to speak (Psa 89:30-32). If any of his descendants abandoned God’s law, God would discipline them through the antagonism of other nations. Even so, such instances would be temporary consequences and God would continue to be loyal to the royal Davidic line through the nation of Israel – forever.
Ethan explains his reason for feeling confused. (Psa 89:38-51)
You see, Ethan believed these things. He believed that God ruled over all things from the heavens as an all-powerful king who was faithful and loyal forever. He also believed that God had narrowed the restoration of his mediatorial kingdom to King David and his descendants. Yet something happened that challenged his beliefs. From the limited vantage point of his brief, short life, it seemed like God had abandoned his covenant with David and that his promise of forever had come to an end. So, what happened?
Did Ethan witness the failure of Rehoboam?
Some suggest that this section of the psalm refers to when David’s grandson, Rehoboam, rejected godly counsel and the northern ten tribes of Israel broke away from his reign, leaving him only the southern two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. This proposal seems to line up well with the man who wrote this Psalm, named Ethan (Psa 89:1). A man named Ethan served in the Temple during the reign of Solomon (1 Ki 4:31). Therefore, he could easily have served at the end of David’s reign, throughout Solomon’s reign, and then been witness to Rehoboam’s failure. According to this theory, he could have written this psalm as a response to Rehoboam’s failure and the downturn in the Davidic line.
This theory, though it lines up with Ethan’s name, doesn’t fit well with other important details in the text. The words “cast off” and “abhorred” seem too strong for what happened to Rehoboam (Psa 89:38; cf. 2 Chron 10-12). Rehoboam’s kingdom shrunk for sure, but he wasn’t cast away (his son, Abijah, succeeded him). His strongholds weren’t demolished (Psa 89:40, only some of them by Egypt), he wasn’t “plundered” by everyone who passed by (Psa 89:41, just some by Shishak), and he wasn’t overcome by “all the nations” (Psa 89:50, just a little by Egypt).
Did Ethan witness the fall of Jehoiachin?
A better answer to the question of what Ethan was praying about is the actual overthrow of the Davidic kingdom when a much later descendant named Jehoiachin was captured by the Babylonian Empire along with many other Israelites (2 Chron 36:9). He was, in fact, the last direct heir to the Davidic crown to sit on the throne of Israel to this day.
The consequences Rehoboam faced for his foolishness seemed to fit better with the kind of discipline the Davidic covenant foreshadowed for any descendants who disobeyed the Lord. But the total upheaval and open-ended cancellation or suspension of the Davidic royal line seemed more dramatic than that. This being the case, then, this psalm would have been written by another man named Ethan in the same priestly line who was writing during the exile, whether from Israel or Babylon we cannot tell.
He had witnessed the total devastation of the Davidic royal line and was perplexed. How did this mesh with his belief in God’s universal and mediatorial reign that he was working out in the world that would last forever? And even more perplexing, how did this correspond with God’s faithfulness to his promises, or with God’s apparent abandonment of his loyalty (chesed) which was not supposed to be able to terminate. After all, God’s loyalty is endless with no way out.
Today, of course, we know something that Ethan may not have yet understood, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would be born as a descendant of the royal, Davidic line. Listen to what God revealed to Mary before Christ was born, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call his name JESUS. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk 1:32-33). Through Christ, the “mediatorial” kingdom will be established forever in the future millennial kingdom and the new earth that will last forever.
Ethan praised the Lord, even when he was confused about the details. (Psa 89:52)
Even though we know much more about God’s plans for redeeming people from the kingdom of darkness and restoring his mediatorial kingdom in the world that will last forever, not everything is as clear as we would like. In times like these, it can sometimes feel as though God has abandoned us or like things are only getting worse.
When we feel this way, we need to pray and sing like Ethan. We should reaffirm our belief in God’s universal and mediatorial reign. He is the sovereign God of the universe and the God who is working all things out according to his will. He made an everlasting promise with David and will fulfill that promise forever, just as he promised. This covenant is based upon his endless loyalty to his people (chesed) and is doubly secure because it is fulfilled in his divine Son and our devoted Savior, Jesus Christ, and we too will enjoy eternity in his kingdom if we have placed our trust in him as our God and Savior.
So, no matter what we are facing today and no matter how chaotic and hopeless things may seem to be, let’s trust God with the details because we know that he is faithful, we know that he is loyal, and we know that his kingdom promises are forever, no matter what happens in between. Since we know that he is loyal to his people, let’s be people who are loyal to him and who express our loyalty through prayers and songs of lament. And let’s always conclude this way: “Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen” (Psa 89:52).
[1] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 42–106: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 722, 730.
