GOD’S ETERNAL COVENANT

PSALM 89

My covenant I will not break.… Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: His seed shall endure forever …

(Ps. 89:34–36).

While facing affliction, the writer of Psalm 89, in need of comfort, raises his thoughts to the eternal promises of God, to the covenant He made with David and all His people forever. He reminds the people of God’s powerful reign over all creation, of His mercy toward His people in particular, and of the unchangeable promise He made to David. The mercies of the Lord could be praised because He does not remove His promises, but fastens them to a people. The people may be rebellious and stiff-necked, but He remains faithful because of His covenant.

David is called the chosen of God because God of His own good pleasure, and from no other cause, preferred him not only to the posterity of Saul, but even to His own brothers. The origin of this covenant, therefore, is not in human decision, but in the steadfastness of divine election. A covenant is an agreement, a bond in blood, between two parties. God made a covenant with David that his line would be established forever and his throne would always endure. This, of course, was fulfilled in Christ, who is our King from the line of David. Those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ for salvation partake of this promise because they become part of the family of God, of which Christ is the firstborn among many brothers; they become part of the kingdom of God, of which Christ is the King. It is only by the grace of God that you become part of this kingdom. By His mercy He maintains this kingdom and preserves it forever.

We often need to be reminded of this great truth, that God remains faithful; no matter how great your sin, if you are His, He will pardon you. “For so easily do we slide into evil, and so prone are we to continual falls, that unless God, in the exercise of His infinite mercy, pardoned us, there would not be single article of His covenant which would continue steadfast,” Calvin wrote. God, therefore, has provided a remedy for sinners—His pardoning grace in Jesus Christ. This does not mean that we will escape without fatherly discipline, that we have the liberty to sin. But it does mean that we are forgiven and secured by the love of God, who is faithful to His covenant promise.

CORAM DEO

Psalms 36–37

Acts 22:17–30

WEEKEND

Psalms 38–43

Acts 23–24

Read Romans 5–6. How is a person justified? Is this based on his own merit or on the merit of Christ? Because Paul’s emphasis in chapter 5 is on the grace of God in salvation, what is his warning to us in chapter 6? If you are a believer, how should you behave in light of the fact that you have been saved by grace?

For further study: Deut. 7 • Isa. 54 • Jer. 31 • Heb. 6:13–20

WEEKEND