Mazmur 89:39

89:39 You have repudiated ¹  your covenant with your servant; ² 

you have thrown his crown to the ground. ³ 

Mazmur 89:1

Psalm 89 ⁴ 

A well-written song ⁵  by Ethan the Ezrachite.

89:1 I will sing continually ⁶  about the Lord’s faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 15:29

15:29 The Preeminent One ⁸  of Israel does not go back on his word ⁹  or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.” ¹⁰ 

[89:39]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb appears only here and in Lam 2:7.

[89:39]  ² tn Heb “the covenant of your servant.”

[89:39]  ³ tn Heb “you dishonor [or “desecrate”] on the ground his crown.”

[89:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 89. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign creator of the world. He recalls God’s covenant with David, but then laments that the promises of the covenant remain unrealized. The covenant promised the Davidic king military victories, but the king has now been subjected to humiliating defeat.

[89:1]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 88.

[89:1]  ⁶ tn Or “forever.”

[89:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “to a generation and a generation I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.”

[15:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

[15:29]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

[15:29]  ¹⁰ sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.