Psalms 89:5 - Meaning and Application

These verses are full of praise for God. We should notice, first, where God is praised and by whom. The angels in heaven praise him: “the heavens shall praise your wonders, O Lord” (Psalms 89:5). That means the glorious beings of the upper world keep celebrating his glory. Even the angels, who know God best, still find his works amazing. The more God’s works are known, the more they are admired and praised.

This should make us love heaven and long to be there, because there we will have nothing else to do but praise God and his wonders. God is also praised by the gatherings of his saints on earth. “Praise waits for him in Zion” means worship is ready for him among his people. Their praise falls far short of the angels’, yet God notices it, accepts it, and counts himself honored by it.

“Your faithfulness and your truth” are praised in the assembly of the saints. This refers to God’s faithful keeping of his promise, the solid rock on which the church stands. God’s people owe everything to that faithfulness, and their constant comfort is that he keeps his word. It is expected that God’s saints on earth will praise him, and especially when they come together as a church. The more people join in, the more it resembles heaven.

The psalm says again that God is “greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints” (Psalms 89:7). Saints should gather for worship so they can openly own their place before God and encourage one another to honor him. In such meetings, they keep fellowship with God and also with one another. God has promised his grace in these gatherings, but we must also remember his glory there. His nearness should never make us careless, because he is holy and awesome in his holy places.

A holy awe of God should fill us whenever we come near him, even in private prayer. Public worship should deepen that sense of reverence. All who serve him must honor him with respect. See Leviticus 10:3. Only those who serve God with reverence and godly fear serve him rightly (Hebrews 12:28).

Second, praising God means admitting that he is perfectly great, with no equal. “Who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?” (Psalms 89:6). If any beings could claim equality with God, one might look among the angels, but they are still far below him. They are called “sons of the mighty,” yet none of them is like the Lord. There is no real comparison between God and any creature.

This is repeated again: “Who is a strong Lord like you?” (Psalms 89:8). No angel and no earthly ruler can match God. No one has an arm like his power, or a voice like his thunder. “Your faithfulness is all around you” means that God is always true to his word in everything he does. Some understand it to mean that his angels stand around him, faithful and ready to serve. Either way, the point is that God is strong and faithful together. Human rulers often have the power to break their word, and therefore are careless about keeping it. God can do everything, yet he will never do anything unjust.

Third, in our praise we should give God credit for several great things. One is his command over the most untamed creation: “You rule the raging of the sea” (Psalms 89:9). Nothing is more frightening or wild, and nothing is less under human control. Yet the sea can rise no higher, roll no farther, strike no harder, or last no longer than God allows. When its waves rise, he can hush them at once, calm them, and turn the storm into stillness. Since this is shown as an act of God’s power, what kind of man was the Lord Jesus, whom the winds and seas obeyed?

Another thing to praise God for is the way he has defeated the enemies of his church. His settling the sea was a picture of this. “You have broken Rahab” (Psalms 89:10) means he has crushed many proud enemies, especially Egypt, which is sometimes called Rahab. He broke it like someone slain, helpless to rise again. After the head was broken, God scattered what remained with the power of his arm. God has more than one way to deal with his enemies and the enemies of his church. We may think he should destroy them at once, but sometimes he scatters them so they become reminders of his justice (Psalms 59:11). The memory of Egypt’s defeat comforts the church when Babylon seems powerful, because God has not changed.

We should also praise God for his unquestionable ownership of everything in heaven and on earth (Psalms 89:11, Psalms 89:12). People are honored for large holdings, but “the heavens are yours, the earth also is yours.” So we praise him, trust him, and do not fear what man can do. The world and everything in it, all its wealth, and all its people belong to God. He made them, and the maker has the right to own them.

The psalm especially mentions the farthest parts of the world, the north and the south, the lands near the poles that are little known and scarcely inhabited. God created them, so he knows them, cares for them, and receives praise from them. It also mentions the highest parts of the world, the two hills of Tabor and Hermon, one west and the other east. They “rejoice in your name” because they are under God’s care and provide offerings for his altar. The little hills are also said to rejoice in their fruitfulness (Psalms 65:12). Tabor is commonly thought to be the mountain in Galilee where Christ was transfigured, and then it would indeed rejoice in the voice that was heard there, “This is my beloved Son.”

God governs the world with power, justice, mercy, and truth, and he rules the lives of people. He is able to do everything, because he is the Lord God Almighty. His arm and hand are mighty and strong, able both to save his people and to destroy their enemies. No one can resist the force of his hand or bear the weight of it.

His right hand is high, able to reach even the highest places, even those who set their nests among the stars (Amos 9:2, Amos 9:3; Obadiah 1:4). His right hand is exalted because of what he has done, for he has shown his power in many places and times (Psalm 118:16). Yet he never has done, and never will do, anything unjust or unwise. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. None of his commands or plans has ever gone against fairness or wisdom, and no one could ever rightly accuse God of wrongdoing or foolishness.

Some understand this as saying that justice and judgment prepare his throne and also keep it firm. His rule, from his eternal plans to its endless outcome, is marked by justice and judgment. He always does what is good for his people and what matches the word he has spoken. Mercy and truth go before him like heralds, making room for his way, mercy in promising, truth in keeping his promises, truth in being faithful to his word, and mercy in giving even more than was promised. How praiseworthy these qualities are in human rulers, and how much more in the great God, where they are complete and perfect.