Psalms 89:4
in Psalms 89‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy seed will I establish for ever, And build up thy throne to all generations. [Selah
KJV
Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
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This verse in Psalms 89
Commentary
15 notes on this verseAnd I will build up your throne from generation to generation. In two generations, as we have said, the throne of God is set, namely in the circumcision and among the Gentiles.
This site's exposition
the loving devotion of the LORD
on Psalms 89:1-4
The psalm opens on two words, loving devotion and faithfulness, and keeps them together to the end. In verses 3 and 4 God speaks: a covenant with His chosen one, an oath to David, an offspring and a throne established forever. The oath stands at 2 Samuel 7:12 to 16.
This site's exposition
I will establish your offspring forever
The promise has two parts, an offspring and a throne. Albert Barnes took it to mean that David's line would never lose its seat, and he found its fulfilment in the Messiah on the throne. Charles Spurgeon read Selah as a call to rest on the words.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Hippolytus of RomeFragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Psalm IXXXIX, 4 · Written before 235.
proposed
And around us are the wise men of the Greeks mocking and jeering us, as those who believe without inquiry, and foolishly.
Orthodoxos: Listen now how the prophet praises God at the very beginning of the psalm. He saw with his prophetic eyes the future iniquity of his people and the captivity that was in consequence foredoomed; yet he praised his own Lord for unfailing promises. "I …
I have appointed a covenant to my chosen ones. Do you wish to know how to this day the Lord appoints his covenant? Let us act well, and we shall deserve to be sharers in the Lord's appointment of the chosen ones. I have sworn to David my servant. Let us see what it is that the Lord swore. This surely, which follows. Unto eternity I will prepare your seed. Come to our aid, O apostle, and interpret this little verse. For what does the apostle say?
Let us see then what God has sworn. "I have sworn," He says, "to David My servant; your seed will I establish for ever" [Psalm 89:4]. But what is the seed of David, but that of Abraham. And what is the seed of Abraham? "And to your seed," He says, "which is Christ." [Galatians 3:16] But perhaps that Christ, the Head of the Church, the Saviour of the body, [Ephesians 5:23] is the seed of Abraham, and therefore of David; but we are not Abraham's seed? We are assuredly; as the Apostle says, "And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." [Galatians 3:29] In this sense, then, let us take the words, brethren, "Your seed will I establish for ever," not only of that Flesh of Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, but also of all of us who believe in Christ, for we are limbs of that Head. This body cannot be deprived of its Head: if the Head is in glory for ever, so are the limbs, so that Christ remains entire for ever. "Your seed will I establish for ever: and set up your throne to generation and generation." We suppose he says, "for ever," because it is "to generation and generation:" since he has said above, with "my mouth will I ever be showing Your truth to generation and generation." What is "to generation and generation"? To every generation: for the word needed not as many repetitions, as the coming and passing away of the several generations. The multiplication of generations is signified and set forth to notice by the repetition. Are possibly two generations to be understood, as you are aware, my beloved brethren, and as I have before explained? For there is now a generation of flesh and blood: there will be a future generation in the resurrection of the dead. Christ is proclaimed here: He will be proclaimed there: here He is proclaimed, that He may be believed in: there, He will be welcomed, that He may be seen. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Build up - I will perpetuate the kingdom to thy posterity; which was promised upon condition, and was literally accomplished in Christ.
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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 our springs are in that, Isa. lv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
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
Thy seed will I establish for ever,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Thy seed will I establish for ever. David must always have a seed, and truly in Jesus this is fulfilled beyond his hopes. What a seed David has in the multitude which have sprung from him who was both his Son and his Lord. The Son of David is the Great Progenitor, the second Adam, the Everlasting Father, he sees his seed, and in them beholds of the travail of his soul. And build up thy throne to all generations. David's dynasty never decays, but on the contrary, is evermore consolidated by the great Architect of heaven and earth.
Thy seed will I establish for ever. David must always have a seed, and truly in Jesus this is fulfilled beyond his hopes. What a seed David has in the multitude which have sprung from him who was both his Son and his Lord. The Son of David is the Great Progenitor, the second Adam, the Everlasting Father, he sees his seed, and in them beholds of the travail of his soul. And build up thy throne to all generations. David's dynasty never decays, but on the contrary, is evermore consolidated by the great Architect of heaven and earth. Jesus is a king as well as a progenitor and his throne is ever being built up—his kingdom comes—his power extends. Thus runs the covenant; and when the church declines, it is ours to plead it before the ever faithful God, as the Psalmist does in the latter verses of this sacred song. Christ must reign, but why is his name blasphemed and his gospel so despised? The more gracious Christians are, the more will they be moved to jealousy by the sad estate of the Redeemer's cause, and the more will they argue the case with the great Covenant maker, crying day and night before him, "Thy kingdom come." Selah. It would not be meet to hurry on. Rest, O reader, at the bidding of this Selah, and let each syllable of the covenant ring in thine cars; and then lift up the heart and proceed with the sacred poet to tell forth the praises of the Lord.
Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations - And this covenant had most incontestably Jesus Christ in view. This is the seed, or posterity, that should sit on the throne, and reign for ever and ever. David and his family are long since become extinct; none of his race has sat on the Jewish throne for more than two thousand years: but the Christ has reigned invariably since that time, and will reign till all his enemies are put under his feet; and to this the psalmist says Selah. It will be so, it is so; and it cannot be otherwise; for the Lord hath sworn that he shall have an euerlasting kingdom, as he has an everlasting priesthood.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thy seed will I establish for ever - Thy children; thy posterity. The reference is to his successors on the throne. The promise was that there should not fail to be one on his throne; that is, that his dynasty should never become extinct. See 2Sa 7:16: “And thy house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.” Compare also 1Ki 2:4. The word rendered “establish” means properly to fit; then, to make firm; to put on a solid basis. And build up thy throne - It shall be kept up; it shall be like a building that is constantly progressing toward completion. The meaning is, that it would not fail. He would not begin the work, and then abandon it. The dynasty, the kingdom, the throne, would be complete and perpetual. To all generations - As long as the world should stand. This can have been accomplished only by the Messiah occupying in a spiritual sense the throne of “his father David.” Compare Luk 1:32-33.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| ע֭וֹלָם | olom | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| אָכִ֣ין | ʾakhin | I will establish | H3559 → | 217 times |
| זַרְעֶ֑ךָ | zarekha | offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| וּבָנִ֨יתִי | uvaniti | and I will build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| לְדֹר־ | ledor- | to a generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| וָד֖וֹר | vador | and a generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| כִּסְאֲךָ֣ | kisakha | throne your | H3678 → | 135 times |
| סֶֽלָה׃ | selah | Selah | H5542 → | 74 times |
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
ע֭וֹלָםperpetuity
olomH5769 →438 times
אָכִ֣יןI will establish
ʾakhinH3559 →217 times
זַרְעֶ֑ךָoffspring your
zarekhaH2233 →229 times
וּבָנִ֨יתִיand I will build
uvanitiH1129 →376 times
לְדֹר־to a generation
ledor-H1755 →167 times
וָד֖וֹרand a generation
vadorH1755 →167 times
כִּסְאֲךָ֣throne your
kisakhaH3678 →135 times
סֶֽלָה׃Selah
selahH5542 →74 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 132:12If your sons keep My covenant and the testimony I will teach them, then their sons will also sit on your throne forever and ever.”
it leads to
- Acts 2:30
But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.
- Isaiah 59:21
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your…
- Luke 1:32–33
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
- Psalms 89:30–35
If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
- Psalms 115:14
May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children.
- Acts 2:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
On this verse
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 89; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Hippolytus of Rome, Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Psalm IXXXIX, 4; Jerome, Homily 66, on Psalm 88 (Alternate Series); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, DIALOGUE 1.