Psalms 89:3

Here we have, (1.) The psalmist's faith and hope: "Things now look black, and threaten the utter extirpation of the house of David; but I have said, and I have warrant from the word of God to say it, that mercy shall be built up for ever. " As the goodness of God's nature is to be the matter of our song (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

I have made a covenant with my chosen,....

I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant. This was the ground of the Psalmist's confidence in God's mercy and truth, for he knew that the Lord had made a covenant of grace with David and his seed, and confirmed it by an oath. Here he quotes the very words of God, which were revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, and are a condensation of the original covenant in 2Sa 7:1-29. Well might he write in the former verse, "I have said", when he knew that Jehovah had said, "I have sworn." David was the Lord's elect, and with him a covenant was made, which ran along in the line of his seed until it received a final and never ending fulfilment in "the Son of David." David's house must be royal: as long as there was a sceptre in Judah, David's seed must be the only rightful dynasty; the great "King of the Jews" died with that title above his head in the three current languages of the then known world, and at this day he is owned as king by men of every tongue. The oath sworn to David has not been broken, though the temporal crown is no longer worn, for in the covenant itself his kingdom was spoken of as enduring for ever. In Christ Jesus there is a covenant established with all the Lord's chosen, and they are by grace led to be the Lord's servants, and then are ordained kings and priests by Christ Jesus. How sweet it is to see the Lord, not only making a covenant, but owning to it in after days, and bearing witness to his own oath; this ought to be solid ground for faith, and Ethan, the Ezrahite, evidently thought it so. Let the reader and writer both pause over such glorious lines, and sing of the mercies of the Lord, who thus avows the bonds of the covenant, and, in so doing, gives a renewed pledge of his faithfulness to it. "I have", says the Lord, and yet again "I have", as though he himself was nothing loath to dwell upon the theme.

I have made a covenant with my chosen - I have made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and renewed it with Moses and Joshua in reference to the Israelites in general: but I have made one with David in especial relation to himself and posterity, of whom, according to the flesh, the Christ is to come. And this is the covenant with David: -

I have made a covenant with my chosen - With my chosen one; that is, with David. The original is in the singular number, though by the Septuagint, and the Vulgate, and by Luther, it is rendered in the plural - chosen ones - elect. This is undoubtedly the language of God himself, though it is not expressly ascribed to him. The design is to describe the solemn promise which God had made to David and to his posterity. Compare Psa 78:70-71. See also, on the use of the phrase “made a covenant,” see Psa 50:5, note; Psa 83:5, note. I have sworn unto David my servant - I have taken a solemn oath in regard to him. The substance of the oath is stated in the next verse. The promise referred to is found in 2Sa 7:11-16.