3. The People of God’s Covenant Psalm 89:15-16

Text: “And I will give them an heart to know Me, and that I am the Lord: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart.”

Jeremiah 24:7.

          “And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou (Joseph) shalt call his name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:21.

Good morning, True Christian people of God’s Covenant! The Lord has given you and I born again hearts to know Him – in Christ Jesus – and to become ‘His people’; forgiven and freed from our vile sins; redeemed by Christ’s sinless Blood Sacrifice at Calvary’s Cross; and on our way to the glory of Heaven, and all by God’s matchless and Sovereign grace. Hallelujah!  Is not this great cause for our deep rejoicing?  Hallelujah!  Thanks be to the Lord God!

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.”  (Psalm 103:1-5)

The true Christian people of God’s Eternal Covenant should now rejoice and give thanks.  Mere professors of false faith can examine their pathetic reasons not to do so.

Verse 15. “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound…” These mentioned ‘people’ are those chosen by the Lord God from before the foundations of the world, elected, according to His Own Sovereign will and grace to be redeemed by Christ; given to Christ in Eternity before any of us were ever BORN of fallen Adam/Eve; and saved by the Lord Jesus in time, and all according to God’s Sovereign grace and will.

Mankind has no input in such a choice or such a truly wonderful Eternal Salvation plan.  God is God, and He does just whatsoever He, as God, choses to do in all circumstances and ages of mere time.  Amen.

“But our God is in the Heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.” (Psalm 115:3)

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him. In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:10-12)

Verse 15. “…They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. The people of God’s Covenant seek to walk with Him in close fellowship continually.  He is pure and Holy Light, and genuine Christians should always endeavour to sanctify ourselves, that we might walk in that Holy Light with the One Who has redeemed us from our sin.  We sanctify ourselves by confession of our sins, to Him alone; forsaking of those sins; and being washed by a washing of the Word in daily Bible study.  The open Bible is a means of Spiritual washing. (John 15:3)

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  (1 John 1:6-7)

Verse 16. “In Thy Name shall they rejoice all the day. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4) Note that it is “…in Christ’s Name…” we can rejoice.  And what a Name that is to rejoice in!  This same Lord Jesus Christ Who has gone to the Cross bearing all our sins away; and suffered, and was brutalised to take the full punishment of what our sins deserved; Who died a death that only He could die in our place, and as our Substitute – and, HALLELUJAH, rose again from the dead on the third day, to justify ‘His people’ in the Holy Presence of Almighty God from all our sins and guilt and shame. 

Do these Gospel facts not make your heart to fully rejoice, dear Reader?  It certainly does mine.  Glory to the Lamb Who is worthy!  All praise and thanks be to our gracious Lord God!  Amen.  The Lord has made a Covenant with us, ‘His people’.  Thanks be to His Name.

The Gospel: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) God’s Word is truth.

The Gospel is merely good news that our Heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to live a Holy life; die a cruel death on a Cross; and rise again by His power to prove that Salvation is being offered to all ‘His people’, for the full forgiveness of our sins.  Surely this makes our redeemed souls to truly rejoice?  Hallelujah!  Salvation is of the Lord!

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.”  (Psalm 103:1-5)  Can you say ‘Amen’ to this, Reader?

Verse 16. “…In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. Please note that it is ‘…in His righteousness’ that believers shall be exalted, for we have no righteousness of our own!  The person who seeks to exalt him or herself in their own perceived righteousness is a FOOL.  God’s inspired Word clearly teaches us the fact that, “…There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are ALL gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

Note: The Lord God is the One Who does the seeking of ‘His people’.  He alone is the ‘good Shepherd Who gives His life for the sheep’!  If it were down to us, we would never have sought the Lord God, or even believed that He existed!  God the Holy Spirit has to ‘quicken’ us first, before we will ever recognise our vile sins, God’s absolute righteousness and wrath against sin; and become aware of the fearful judgement that must surely come upon all that are never granted faith to believe in Christ and Him Crucified for the sins of ‘His people’.

Christ teaches us: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter (Holy Spirit) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. When He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.”  (John 16:7-8)

Thought: God’s power awakens ‘His people’ to know and to receive His great Covenant of Salvation in Jesus Christ, the only way, truth, and life Eternal.  Amen.

2. The God of the Covenant Psalm 89:7-14

Text: “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? Or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee?”

Psalm 89:7-8.

Good morning, God-fearing Christian!  Our Covenanting Lord God has redeemed your never-dying soul from your sin; washed you and I in the precious Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ; and included us in His everlasting Covenant of Eternal Salvation.  The wonder of such Sovereign grace towards us should, alone, make us fear and reverence God’s Holy Name.  Fearing the Lord God of the Divine Covenant, we fear nothing else – come temporal oppressor; come demon of Hell; come Devil himself to threaten, hinder, or harm us, we shall not be afraid, for the Lord God has included us in His Everlasting Covenant, and promises to keep and defend us from all harm.  Glory to our wonderful Lord God of hosts! Amen.

“The Lord is my light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.  Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.” (Psalm 27:1-3)

After declaring the fact of God’s Covenant with ‘His people’, Ethan the Ezrahite, the writer of Psalm 89, takes his readers to the attributes of the Lord God Almighty Who makes, and guarantees the Covenant He makes with us who are born again of Christ.  Those whom are the recipients of God’s Eternal Covenant, are empowered, and instructed to be like the Lord God Who has chosen them to be the children of he Most High God.  Christians are to be like Christ.

“But as He which hath called you is Holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (entire lifestyle); because it is written, Be ye holy for I am Holy.”  (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Verse 7. “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. Those saints of His who walk close with Him have a daunting power in their appearance. I appeal to guilty consciences, to apostates, to professors who have secret haunts of wickedness: sometime when you come but into the presence of one who is a truly gracious godly man or woman  whom your conscience tells you walks close to God, doth not even the very sight of such an one terrify you?”  (Jeremiah Burroughs 1599-1646)

Personal Note: I remember well, one worldly man who one day, in anger, told me not to be always preaching at him and curtailing his chosen way of life. I looked him in the eye and asked, ‘Tell me, WHEN have I ever preached at you?’ The man thought for a moment, then honestly admitted that he had never been preached at by me, but ‘…just felt constrained when I sat close by him, or was even in the same room as himself and his worldly friends.’ I forthrightly explained why he ‘felt constrained from worldly swearing and smoking cigarettes, etc. when I was near him…’  It was the holy power of my Saviour, Jesus Christ, within me that was making him uncomfortable while he sinned.  He began to think a little more about what I said that day to him.  Who knows if God the Spirit was whispering His calling into the heart of that man – only Eternity will disclose the outcome.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me (the Lord Jesus Christ) both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Verse 7. “And to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. The nearer they are, the more they adore. If mere creatures are struck with awe, the courtiers and favourites of Heaven must be yet more reverent in the Presence of the great King, God’s children are those who most earnestly pray, ‘Hallowed be Thy Name.’ Irreverence is rebellion.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 372)

Further attributes of our Covenanting Lord God Almighty are listed by Ethan the Ezrahite:

Verse 8. “Who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? Our Lord God is omnipotent.

Verse 8. “…Or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee? None more faithful in Sovereign grace than the Lord God Jehovah – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Glory to His Name!

Verse 9. “Thou rulest the raging of the sea, when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them. “Peace, be still! His voice replied. At once the tossing tempest died!” (Mark 4:39)

Verse 10. “…Thou hast scattered Thine enemies with Thy strong arm. The Midianites in the day of Gideon were a fearful host: “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.”  Yet “…The Sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.” Prevailed. (Judges 7:12) One man with the Lord is in the majority.

A covenant, or an agreement between two parties – in this case God and redeemed man – is useless without a powerful and trustworthy guarantor of the Covenant/Agreement. Ethan the Ezrahite lists the powerful and faithful attributes of the Lord God in order to give confidence to redeemed sinners that God is more than able to fulfil His Covenant with us, and secure us with Christ for Eternity.  The Lord God is our Rock of Eternal assurance and certain hope.

Verse 11. “The Heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them.” The Lord God of the Bible is a Sovereign Lord God, in full control of every event, every aspect of ‘His people’s lives. Not one hair falls out of our heads that He has not ordained will fall out, at the exact time it falls out, and the exact place of its falling out.  He is Jehovah Jireh: the Lord Who seeth afar off and provideth.

Such a Sovereign Lord God is to be feared in godly reverence and loved with the full love of our hearts; and worshipped, openly and privately, with the full thanksgiving of our very souls.  Anything less detracts from our Christian profession, and gives worldlings and reprobates cause to pour ridicule upon us, upon ‘the church’; and upon God’s Covenant.

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”     (John 4:24)

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”   (Psalm 107:1-2)

Thought: Verse 14: “Justice and judgement are the habitation of Thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before Thy face.” God’s people reply: “Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps.” (Psalm 85:13) Rejoice, Christian! God’s Covenant is secure.  Jesus is ‘the way, the truth, and the life…’  Hallelujah!  We are safe in Him!

Psalm 89: The Majestic Covenant Psalm 1. The Song of the Covenant Psalm 89:1-6

Text: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.”

Psalm 89:1

Good morning, Covenanted Christian!  You and I, as born again, Bible-believing Christians, have the utter privilege of being Covenanted Christians – those placed faithfully under the Divine Covenant of a truly gracious and Omnipotent Lord God and Saviour – in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!  What an Eternal privilege we have to enjoy.  Glory to the Lord God!

Dictionary Definition: Covenant – (noun) a mutual agreement; the writing containing an agreement; an engagement entered into between God and a person or a people…(The Chambers Dictionary, page 377)

Psalm 89 is such a Covenant Psalm, a Psalm of mutual agreement; the writing containing an agreement; an engagement entered into between God and a person or a people.  It is a Psalm rejoicing in the knowledge that the Lord God Almighty, Jehovah, Creator of all things, has blessed us and made an Eternal Covenant with us, ‘His people’.  Bless the Lord, oh my soul!

“And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou (Joseph) shalt call His Name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

“We have now reached the majestic Covenant Psalm which, according to the Jewish arrangement, closes the third book of the Psalms.  It is the utterance of a believer in presence of great national disaster, pleading with his God, urging the grand argument of covenant engagements and expecting deliverance and help because of the faithfulness of Jehovah.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, page 371)

Verse 1. “This one short verse contains the summary, pith, and argument of he whole long Psalm…” (John Boys1560-1643)

Verse 1. “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. Having received the Eternal mercies of the Lord in Salvation, through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God – you and I should have cause to sing of such gracious mercies forever.  It is the ‘new song’ which the Lord God puts in our mouths, once we are Eternally redeemed by the precious and sinless Blood of Christ Jesus.  Glory to His all-powerful Name!

“And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:3)

On a personal note: this is a promise that the Lord God gave to me, the least of His servants, on the 12^th August 1979, when He saved my sin-sick soul, and set my feet upon Christ, the Rock of my Salvation. 

Since that time 47 years ago, many have indeed saw the miracle of regeneration in my life; have been put to Godly fear concerning their own sins; and trusted Christ for their own Salvation.  Oh, the wonder of God’s matchless grace to Hell-deserving sinners such as me!

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.”  (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

Verse 1. “With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations. Because God is, and ever will be, faithful, we have a theme for song which will not be out of date for future generations; it will never be worn out, never be disproved, never be unnecessary, never be an idle subject, valueless to mankind.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 371)

“The author has heard continual praises from a tongue half eaten away with cancer. What use, beloved reader, are you making of your tongue?” (Philip Bennett Power,1862)

Covenant Statements: Covenant statements from God’s own inspired (God-breathed) Word are listed in this great Covenant Psalm 89.

Verse 2. “Mercy shall be built up for ever. The elect constitute and form one grand house of mercy. This house, contrary to the fate of all sublunary buildings, will never fall down, nor ever be taken down.  As nothing can be added to it, so nothing can be diminished from it. Fire cannot injure it; storms cannot overthrow it; age cannot impair it.  It stands on a Rock, and is immovable as the Rock on which it stands – the three-fold Rock of God’s inviolable decree, of Christ’s finished redemption, and of the Spirit’s never-failing faithfulness.” (Augustus Montague Toplady,1740-1778)

Verse 2. “Thy faithfulness shalt Thou establish in the very Heavens. We, today, have God’s own Word on this Covenant declaration to us, ‘His people’: ‘For ever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in Heaven.’ (Psalm 119:89)  The Lord God Jehovah, the only one true Lord God, continues to show His grace to sinners, and His faithfulness to us whom He saves is an evidence none can refute.  Praise His Holy and ever gracious Name!

Verse 3. “I have made a Covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant. 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.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 371)

The Lord God is immutable, unchangeable and ever faithful to His Word to us, ‘His people’.

“God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent (say and not do!): hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?”  (Numbers 23:19)

Verse 5. “And the Heavens shall praise Thy wonders, O Lord: Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. It is a wonderful Salvation; it is such a Salvation as the angel’s desire to pry into it; and it is such a Salvation that all the prophets desire to pry into it; it is almost six thousand years since all the angels in Heaven fell into a sea of wonder at this great Salvation; it is almost six thousand years since Abel fell into a sea of wonder at this great Salvation; and what think ye is his exercise this day? He is even now wondering at this great salvation.” (Andrew Gray 1805-1861)

Verse 6. “For who in the Heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? The Dutch have translated these words, ‘Who can be shadowed with Him?’, that is, they are not worthy to be accounted shadows unto such a comparison with Him.” (Thomas Goodwin,1600-1679)

Thought: What a Divine blessing to be included in the Lord God’s Eternal Covenant!