Psalm 89: How Long, O Lord?

"Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,

which by your faithfulness you swore to David?"

Psalm 89:49

Has you ever felt as if the Lord was not true to his promises? Have you ever felt as if the Lord had forsaken his word? Let's be honest: we all have. Although the stoic might say that he has always seen God's faithfulness, the fact of the matter is that amidst difficult times in our lives, it is often incredibly hard to trust in the faithfulness of God. However, we are not the only ones who doubted God's faithfulness. We see in Psalm 89 that biblical characters did as well.

In Psalm 89, Ethan the Ezrahite (the author of the psalm) spends the first 37 verses speaking of the Lord's mighty power and great faithfulness to the Israelite people. However, in verse 38, the tone strictly changes, and he charges God with a crime: "But now you have cast off your rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed." In other words, what Ethan is saying here is that although the Lord has promised to be faithful, in the present time, he has forsaken his covenant. Ethan continues by asking, "How long, O Lord? Will you hid yourself forever?" Here we see how God is distant from Ethan, as if he wasn't even there. All of the drama climaxes in verse 49 when Ethan asks, "Where is your steadfast love?" In Hebrew, the word for "steadfast love" is hesed, and it refers to a constant, loyal, covenant love. The point of hesed is that it never fails, but here, Ethan cries out to God and asks him where it even is. The Lord's steadfast love is gone; all is hopeless.

So, what do we do with this Psalm? For the average reader of the Bible, this Psalm (and many others like it) might seem hopeless, dim, and even contrary to the pattern of the rest of scripture. Did God truly forsake his covenant? Has he truly been unfaithful?

Let us point out three things from this Psalm that ought to shift our thinking about it, and then apply them to our lives.

Firstly, let us remember that the entire Psalm is rooted in God's faithfulness. Once again, verses one through thirty-seven speak of how faithful God is to his chosen people. Thus, when we reach the turning point in verse 38, we have already understood for 37 verses how God's steadfast love is ever-present. Thus, verse 38 must not mean that God has changed, but rather that it seems as if God has changed. For whatever reason, the struggles of life have convinced Ethan that the Lord is no longer faithful to him. However, this is only the way that it looks, not the way that is truly is. Amidst the storms and chaos of Ethan's life (as well as our own), the Lord is so faithful, even if we have to trust that by faith and rather by sight.

Secondly. note that this entire Psalm is a lament to God. One might conclude from this Psalm that the Christian life is in the end hopeless because it leaves Christians to a God who leaves them and forsakes his steadfast love. However, if we read this Psalm rightly, the only thing that we find is that the Christian has a God that he can call out to amdist his trials. Does it seem like God has left Ethan? Certainly. Does it seem as if his love has left him? Certainly. But what do we find him doing in this Psalm? Crying out to the very God who he feels has forsaken him. Thus, we find great hope even through the hopelessness of this psalm, because even in the deepest, darkest valleys, we can cry out to our God and expect him to answer.

Lastly, notice how this Psalm ends: "Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen." This does not seem like an appropriate end to a Psalm that was written for the purposes of hopelessness. After his entire lament, Ethan still knew that the Lord was worthy to be praised. This reminds me of the book of Job, where the Lord takes away all of his possessions and his only remark is that "the Lord gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." If we lament in the right way to our God, it will lead us to nothing but praise.

So, have you called out to God when he seems far away, or have you forsaken him when life gets hard? Have you lived by sight in your circumstances or by faith in a steadfast God? Have you lamented your struggles to God, petitioning him to deliver you?