Psalm 89
God made a covenant with David that there would be a King who would come from his lineage. We see in Jeremiah and in Isaiah that God will bring a branch or a root forth from Jesse. God made a promise and then fulfilled that promise when He sent His own son, Jesus. When God made a covenant to David, He made an unconditional covenant. He didn’t say I will establish your throne forever if… He said I will establish your throne forever.
In verse 30-32 the psalmist writes, “But if his descendants forsake my instructions and fail to obey my regulations, if they do not obey my decrees and fail to keep my commands, then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their disobedience with beating.” It’s easy for us to read that and think, “So much for God keeping His promise.”
Israel was judged for their wrongdoing because God is just. God was being a loving God when He brought Babylon down to send Judah into exile. He was using Babylon to clear the idolatry from His wife, Israel. There must be payment for sin, it’s just a matter of who pays it, you or Jesus. In the Old Testament, souls were saved by trusting in the coming Messiah. In the Church Age, souls are saved by trusting in the Messiah that has already come.
Jesus paid the cost in full for our sin on the cross. In Hebrews, we read that He died once, for all. The work has already been done. Now does that mean we should keep on sinning so that grace may abound? Absolutely not! God still chastens and disciplines believers for their sin, but He does not require additional retribution (Romans 8:1). Jesus already paid the cost. It’s easy to associate God’s chastening and disciplining with His judgment, but it is His love.
Read verses 33-34, “But I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him. No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.” God loves you so much that he will discipline and chasten you so that you will be perfect and mature, lacking nothing. He does it from His lovingkindness. Praise God that He kept His promise to David. If He kept His promise to David, then we can trust His promise to every believer. That He is going to prepare a place for you and will come back to take you to that place. Amen!