Psalms 89:44
in Psalms 89You have ended his splendor and cast his throne to the ground.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou hast made his brightness to cease, And cast his throne down to the ground.
KJV
Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.
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This verse in Psalms 89
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThou hast made his glory to cease. The brightness of his reign and the prosperity of his house are gone, his fame is tarnished, his honour disgraced. And cast his throne down to the ground. He has lost his power to govern at home or to conquer abroad. This happened to kings of David's line, and, more grievous to tell, it is happening in these days to the visible kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Where are the glories of Pentecost? Where is the majesty of the Reformation? Where does his kingdom come among the sons of men?
This site's exposition
You have spurned and rejected him
on Psalms 89:38-45
The second half undoes the first: crown sullied after verse 20, throne on the ground after verse 4, enemies rejoicing after verse 23. Verse 39 says the covenant with the servant has been renounced. The psalm gives no reason for any of it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Even David himself knew this. Consider his words; "You have rejected and brought him down to nothing." Where then is Your promise? "You have put off Your Anointed." This expression cheers us, among much that is sorrowful: for the promise of God is still valid; for You have put off Your Anointed, not taken Him away. See then what was the fate of that David, in whom the ignorant hoped for the fulfilment of the promises of God, in order that those promises might be more firmly relied upon for their fulfilment in another. "You have put off Your Anointed: You have overthrown the testament of Your servant." For where is the Old Testament of the Jews? Where that land of promise, in which they sinned while they dwelt in it, on the overthrow of which they wandered afar? Ask you for the kingdom of the Jews; it exists not: you ask for the altar of the Jews; it is not: you ask for the sacrifice of the Jews; it is not: you ask for the priesthood of the Jews; it is not. "You have overthrown the testament of Your servant, and profaned his holiness on the earth." You have shown that what they thought holy, was earthly. "You have broken down all his hedges," with which You have entrenched him: for how could he have been spoiled unless his hedges had been broken down? "You have made his strongholds a terror." Why terror? That it should be said to the sinners, "For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not you." [Romans 11:21] "All they that go by the way have spoiled him:" that is, all the heathen that go by the way, meaning, all who pass through this life, have spoiled Israel, have spoiled David. First of all, see his fragments in all nations: for it is of the Jews that it is said, "They shall be a portion for foxes." For the Scripture calls wicked, crafty, and cowardly kings, whom another's virtue terrifies, foxes. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If it was penned in Rehoboam's time, it was true as to the greatest part of the kingdom, five parts of six; if in Zedekiah's time, it was more remarkably true of the poor remainder. Note, Thrones and crowns are tottering things, and are often laid in the dust; but there is a crown of glory reserved for Christ's spiritual seed which fadeth not away.
Thou hast made his glory to cease,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The ruin is depicted under several figures--a vineyard whose broken "hedges," and "strongholds," whose ruins invite spoilers and invaders; a warrior, whose enemies are aided by God, and whose sword's "edge"--literally, "rock" or "strength" (Jos 5:2) is useless; and a youth prematurely old.
Thou hast made his glory to cease - The kingly dignity is destroyed, and there is neither king nor throne remaining.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou hast made his glory to cease - Margin,” brightness.” Luther, “Thou destroyest his purity.” The original word means brightness, sp endour. The literal translation here would be, “Thou causest to cease from being brightness;” that is, Thou hast taken away from his brightness, so that it is gone. The allusion is to the splendor, the glory, the magnificence connected with his rank as king. This had been destroyed, or had come to nought. And cast his throne down to the ground - See Psa 89:39.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִשְׁבַּ֥תָּ | hishbata | you have made cease | H7673 → | 71 times |
| מִטְּהָר֑וֹ | miteharo | from luster his | H2892 → | |
| וְ֝כִסְא֗וֹ | vekhiso | and throne his | H3678 → | 135 times |
| לָאָ֥רֶץ | laaretz | to the ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִגַּֽרְתָּה׃ | migartah | you have thrown | H4048 → |
הִשְׁבַּ֥תָּyou have made cease
hishbataH7673 →71 times
מִטְּהָר֑וֹfrom luster his
miteharoH2892 →
וְ֝כִסְא֗וֹand throne his
vekhisoH3678 →135 times
לָאָ֥רֶץto the ground
laaretzH776 →2504 times
מִגַּֽרְתָּה׃you have thrown
migartahH4048 →
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 89:39You have renounced the covenant with Your servant and sullied his crown in the dust.
it leads to
- Lamentations 5:16
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
- Psalms 74:7
They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
- Isaiah 43:28
So I will disgrace the princes of your sanctuary, and I will devote Jacob to destruction and Israel to reproach.”
- Psalms 89:34–36
I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips.
- Psalms 143:3
For the enemy has pursued my soul, crushing my life to the ground, making me dwell in darkness like those long since dead.
- Lamentations 5:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 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, Vol. 4; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.