Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 89:8
O LORD God of hosts, who [is] a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
8. God of hosts ] A significant title in this connexion. See 1Ki 22:19; and note on Psa 46:7.
Who is a mighty one like thee, O Jah?
And thy faithfulness is round about thee.
Name and question both recall the great hymn of redemption, Exo 15:2; Exo 15:11. Cp. Psa 68:4; 2Sa 7:22. Strength and faithfulness are the attributes upon which the Psalmist dwells, as the pledge for the fulfilment of the promise. Faithfulness surrounds Him like an atmosphere of light, as in a different aspect “clouds and darkness are round about him” (Psa 97:2).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8 14. Jehovah’s incomparableness is manifested in nature and in history.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O Lord God of hosts – See the notes at Isa 1:9; Psa 24:10. God, commanding the armies of heaven; leading forth the stars; controlling all forces – all powers.
Who is a strong Lord like unto thee? – The original word here rendered Lord is Yahh, or Jah. This is one of the few places where that word occurs, except in the compounding of words. It is an abbreviation of the name Yahweh, and has the same signification. See the notes at Psa 68:4. The meaning is, that there was no one who in respect to power could be compared with Yahweh.
Or to thy faithfulness round about thee? – Rather, thy faithfulness is round about thee. That is, It attends thee at all times; it is always with thee; it is a part of thy very nature. To all round about thee, thou art faithful; wherever God is – and he is everywhere – there is faithfulness. He never changes; and people and angels may always trust in him. The psalmist then proceeds to illustrate the greatness of his power, and of his faithfulness, in the works of creation. The design of these illustrations, doubtless, is to keep before the mind the idea of the divine faithfulness as shown in the works of nature, and then to apply this to the covenant which had been made with David. The idea is, that he who is so faithful in nature will be the same in grace; that he who had shown such unchangeableness in the works of creation might be expected to show the like in respect to the promises which he had made.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 89:8
I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant.
The covenant of redemption
The psalmist is anticipating the time when the families of mankind should be raised from a condition of spiritual ruin, when the covenant should be given back to them, whereby they should be brought back to a state of reconciliation and friendship with God. This rising fabric which the psalmist here contemplated, therefore, instead of being an edifice of temporal prosperity, appears before us as a great spiritual temple, of which the plan is laid in the eternal ages, and of which the building up and the completion is to be effected by the eternal Son of God.
I. The origin of the covenant of grace. It was devised and set on foot by God Himself. It was not to propitiate the Father that Christ came into the world. It was that God so loved the world that He sent His Son into the world. Here, therefore, is our security. It is the Judge Himself signing the prisoners release. It is the infinite Creditor Himself forgiving us all our debt. It is the King whose laws we had broken, against whose throne we had conspired, and whose sceptre we had cast aside; He it is who out of love and mercy to us, and in the councils of infinite wisdom, originated that convenant whereby we may be restored to His friendship and reconciliation.
II. With whom this covenant was made. My chosen,–the eternal Son of God. Both actively and passively Christ manages the whole business of our salvation. It is therefore–
1. Everlasting.
2. Perfect.
3. Sure.
III. For whose benefit this covenant was intended, (1Ti 2:4; Joh 3:16; 1Jn 2:2.) (D. Moore, M.A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. O Lord God of hosts] Thou who hast all armies at thy command, and canst serve thyself by every part of thy creation, whether animate or inanimate.
Who is a strong Lord] See Ps 89:6.
Thy faithfulness round about thee?] Or, more properly, thy faithfulness is round about thee. Thou still keepest thy promises in view. God’s truth leads him to fulfil his promises: they stand round his throne as the faithful servants of an eastern monarch stand round their master, waiting for the moment of their dismission to perform his will.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Who is a strong Lord like unto thee? who is equal to thee in power, or, as it follows, in faithfulness?
To thy faithfulness round about thee, Heb. and thy faithfulness is round about thee, like a girdle adorning and encompassing thee. It appeareth in all thy paths and actions, in thy words and works.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8-14. To illustrate His powerand faithfulness examples are cited from history. His control of thesea (the most mighty and unstable object in nature), and of Egypt (Ps87:4), the first great foe of Israel (subjected to utterhelplessness from pride and insolence), are specimens. At the sametime, the whole frame of nature founded and sustained by Him, Taborand Hermon for “east and west,” and “north and south,”together representing the whole world, declare the same truth as toHis attributes.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O Lord God of hosts,…. Of all the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, and of all the heavenly hosts of angels, of all the armies in heaven, and the inhabitants of the earth:
who is a strong Lord like unto thee? he is Jah, or Jehovah, and he alone is so, and is the most High in all the earth, Ps 83:18 and there is none like him for his great power and strength, by which he has made the heavens and the earth, and upholds them in their being; and by which he has redeemed his people, plucked them out of the hands of sin and Satan, and preserves them safe to his kingdom and glory: see
Job 40:9,
or to thy faithfulness round about thee; none so faithful as the Lord, none to be trusted as he, either angels or men; some understand it of the faithful ones that are about him, his trusty servants the angels, who stand round about him ready to do his will; or the glorified saints that are with him, the called, chosen, and faithful; see Ps 103:19 or rather the words are to be read, “and thy faithfulness is round about thee”; and so the Targum,
“and thy truth (or faithfulness) surroundeth thee:”
look all around him, and his faithfulness is everywhere to be seen; to himself, and the perfections of his nature; to his Son, and agreements with him; and to his counsels of old, his purposes and decrees, and to his covenant and promises: he is as it were clothed with faithfulness, and it appears in all the dispensations of his providence and grace.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8) O Lord.The Hebrew marches more grandly than the Authorised Version:
Jehovah, God of Hosts,
Who as Thou is mighty, Jah?
And Thy faithfulness surrounds Thee.
Or the last clause may be rendered, and what faithfulness is like that round about thee? We must either think of the attendant throngs of loyal angels, or of God clothed as it were with faithfulness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(8-13) Not only is God incomparable in heaven, He is also the only mighty and lofty one in nature or history.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Thy faithfulness round about thee Compare Isa 11:5: “Faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” But the idea here is, On all sides the evidences of thy “faithfulness” appear.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 89:8. Or to thy faithfulness round about thee? And thy faithfulness encompasseth thee. This poetical phrase seems to allude to the expression in the foregoing verse, concerning the saints or angels that are about him; and signifies, that as they wait upon God, and execute his will; so, far above the strength of those, God’s fidelity, exactly encompass him, and he is ready to perform whatever he has promised.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 89:8 O LORD God of hosts, who [is] a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
Ver. 8. Who is a strong Lord, like unto thee ] Heb. Who is like thee, mighty Jah? This is to magnify God, when we get above all creatures, in our conceptions of him.
Or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
LORD. Hebrew Jah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
O Lord: Psa 84:12, Jos 22:22, Isa 28:22
a strong: Psa 89:13, Psa 24:8, Psa 147:5, 1Sa 15:19, Job 9:19, Isa 40:25, Isa 40:26, Jer 32:17, Mat 6:13
like: Psa 89:6, Psa 35:10, Psa 71:19, Deu 32:31, 1Sa 2:2
Reciprocal: Exo 15:6 – right hand Deu 3:24 – what God 2Sa 7:22 – none 1Ch 17:20 – none 2Ch 6:14 – no God Psa 86:8 – Among Psa 113:5 – like Isa 40:18 – General Isa 46:5 – General Jer 32:21 – with a strong Jer 49:19 – who is like Jer 50:44 – for who Mic 7:18 – a God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 89:8-10. Who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Who is equal to thee in power, or, as it follows, in faithfulness. Or to thy faithfulness round about thee Hebrew, and thy faithfulness is round about thee, encompassing and adorning thee like a girdle. It appears in all thy paths and actions, in thy words and works. Thou rulest the raging of the sea Giving commands, and setting bounds to its waves when they are most impetuous and unruly. Thou hast broken Rahab Egypt, as Psa 87:4. As one that is slain Thou didst wound them not slightly, but unto death.