Psalms 89:38

"Thou has cut off and rejected

Thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.

Thou hast abhorred the covenant of thy servant:

Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

Thou hast broken down all his hedges;

Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.

All that pass by the way rob him:

He has become a reproach to his neighbors.

Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries;

Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

Yea, thou turnest back the edge of his sword,

And thou hast not made him to stand in the battle.

Thou hast made his brightness to cease,

And cast his throne down to the ground.

The days of his youth hast thou shortened:

Thou hast covered him with shame.

(Selah)

How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself forever?

How long shall thy wrath burn like fire?

Oh remember how short my time is:

For what vanity has thou created all the children of men!

What man is he that shall live and not see death,

That shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?

(Selah)

Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses,

Which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?

Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants;

How I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty peoples,

Wherewith thine enemies have reproached,

O Jehovah,

Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed."

The appeal to God in these verses comes about as near as any mortal could have dared to come toward charging God with unfaithfulness to his covenant with David and lodging an accusation that God had failed to keep his promises. All of this was due to one thing, "The Jews simply could not get the "earthly kingdom" out of their minds. All of the terrible things mentioned here did not merely "seem" to have happened; they had actually occurred. David's earthly dynasty was being liquidated. All of the prayers for God to intervene were of no avail. "God said, I have given them a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath" (Hosea 13:11). Despite the misunderstanding of all Israel, God never intended David's earthly successors to his throne to be an eternal institution. Historically, with very few exceptions, David's descendants who inherited his throne were as evil a group of monarchs as the world ever saw.

Yates has given us a summary of the extensive complaint in this section.

"What a contrast between the promises of God and that current situation! The covenant had been made void; the city walls were broken down; the land was spoiled; the battle was lost; the throne was cast down; the king's youth was shortened when Nebuchadnezzar took him to Babylon at age 18; and many had been carried away captive at the same time."[14]

"Remember how short my time is" (Psalms 89:48). The thought here is that the psalmist prays that God will rescue Israel and restore the old order of things while he is yet alive.

"Remember the reproach of thy servants" (Psalms 89:50). This was to call God to notice the terrible reproaches being heaped upon Israel, and upon their kings, and upon God's name by all of the enemies.

Leupold commented, concerning one extensive section of this psalm that, "Few comments are needed."[15] And, in a sense, this applies to the whole psalm, the great element of which, is the pitiful disappointment of Israel; and yet, there is no way to avoid the conclusion that Israel itself was largely responsible of their tragic mistake.