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The Sure Mercies Promised to David

“I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever: your faithfulness shall you establish in the very heavens.”

Psalm 89:1-2

The scriptures speak throughout about what God has done, discovered in what He has promised—that, for the sake of His name, He will grant to the people of His choosing all that is necessary to bring them to that place, at the end of this age, where they will walk with Him in glory.[1] What God has primarily done throughout redemptive history is “… make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.”[2] The theme of the sure mercies of God runs deep.

Foremost, Yahweh’s mercy shines the brightest in His promise of the “sure mercies to David.”[3] The sure mercies of David are the truth that exemplifies the mercy and faithfulness of God to His people, despite their shortcomings.

The first rule to keep in mind is the one that declares redemptive history is what Yahweh is doing for His name’s sake.[4] There we discover that the purpose of God is to confer His name upon the people of His choosing.[5] To comprehend what is being expressed in the eighty-ninth Psalm,[6] it must be seen through the eyes and voice of the man whom God has declared as His chosen one.[7] This is where we find the sure mercies of God shining forth in full clarity.

To understand the “sure Mercies of David,” we need to remember that man is and was created a mortal creature. Death is and has always been the enemy of man.[8] With such an enemy before us, what are we, exactly, in the scheme of the cosmos? The cry of the Psalmist has been heard: "What is man that You are mindful of him?" [9] As individuals, we are but a breath, here one moment, gone the next.[10] Compounded by the inevitability of death, on top of the inherent fear of death[11] many people experience, is the reality that man cannot escape death, for “dust we are, to dust we shall return.”[12] The fear of going to the place of forgetfulness, to be forgotten in the grave, to come to that place as though we never existed,[13] is the reason some men put forth enormous efforts to build great monuments in their names, all in the hope they will be remembered.

The resurrection from the dead is the miracle of God that counters the known laws of science governing the universe. The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is beyond our comprehension, scientific or otherwise…a hint of that dimension[14] where he now dwells.[15] There have been others who were raised to life,[16] only to die again and return to the dust of the earth. But since the resurrection of Jesus, there is now a man, a glorified man,[17] who stands in the presence of God.[18]

This was the good news the apostles preached when they went out into the world. It is the gospel of Jesus the Christ that the children of God are to believe: God raised up Jesus of Nazareth,[19] the one who was like us, made like us in every way,[20] now glorified, made immortal and dwelling in the presence of God Almighty.[21]

 

In the purpose of God, the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth reveals two critical facts.

First, God is satisfied in the one whom He sent, the servant[22] who was obedient to the point of death.[23]

Second, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the demonstration of God’s righteousness.[24] Because of what God accomplished through Jesus, there is now justification for the ungodly.[25] “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[26]

For those who believe God is the hope of glory, honor, and immortality,[27] they are the reward for believing that God is,[28] and for believing in everything He has done concerning the Christ.[29] The hope exists purely through God’s mercy and grace, accentuated by the sure mercies of David.[30] The sure mercies of David were granted to Jesus[31] with the pledge that it will be granted to all those who believe God.[32]

Ultimately, the sure mercies are the means through which God’s will is actualized in His desire to create man in His image and likeness.[33]

What does this mean for mankind? The sure mercies point to this truth: There is far more to the story of God creating a man from the dust of the ground and breathing into him the breath of life, making him a living soul.[34] Before there was a man, before the creation of the earth, God desired to display before the heavenly host the goodness and mercy of His nature, His call for a people as illustrated by His designation of a people as His name’s sake. In other words, it is through His people, whom God has given the ear to hear His call, that he displays His goodness and mercy before all the creation.

An essential element of the call of God is His desire for His people to be holy.[35] To be holy is to be established in the righteousness of God.[36] For one to be established in the righteousness of God is the result of the new man[37] God desired to make in His image and likeness. Those who are to be found in His image, at the end of the age, are the ones who will awake[38]through the resurrection power of God,[39] to emerge in His likeness.[40] To be created in His likeness, in the end, is to be a partaker of the divine nature.[41] To be a partaker of the divine nature is to be one with God.[42] These are the goal of redemptive history, a clear demonstration of His manifold wisdom for the benefit of the heavenly host.[43]

During the process of redemptive history, the sure mercies of God reveal the gathering, the calling out of a people for His name’s sake. It is the desire of God that announces, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.”[44] In the determination of God to have a people for His name’s sake, it is clearly established that it is not with the angels or any other of the heavenly host, but instead it is man with whom God desires to dwell.

 

In conclusion, the “sure mercies” are exactly that. Yahweh remembers the substance of man is dust.[45] Man, mortal creature that he is, can expect nothing beyond the grave,[46] and is therefore in need of the mercy of God, His goodness, His holiness, and His righteousness.[47] Without His mercy and His imparted righteousness, man can be no different than the beasts of the field.[48] If there is a low point to be measured in man’s hope and prospect, it is put into perspective by the prophet, “All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness.”[49] On the other side of this coin are the sure mercies.

 

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[1] Leviticus 26:11-13 Deuteronomy 5:33 Psalm 116:9 Revelation 21:24

[2] Romans 9:23

[3] Psalm 89:24-37, *Act 13:34 The covenant promise of God to David is expressed by the Psalmist Ethan the Ezrahite.
 David's influence is certainly clear (89:3) but he might have been dead by the time Ethan penned the Psalm.|
 The depth and scope of Psalm 89 is not to be underestimated, as God's anointed one is in view throughout.

[4] 1Samuel 12:22 Psalm 25:11, 106:8 Isaiah 48:11 Ezekiel 20:11, 44 Daniel 9:17-19

[5] Exodus 3:15 2Samuel 7:13 Isaiah 29:22-23, 43:4-10, 52:6

[6] David penned many of the Psalms, although the 89^th Psalm was written by Ethan the Ezrahite, Psalm 89:1.
 Ethan served under David 1Chronicles 15:19, and Solomon, 1Kings 4:13.
 An all probability, David was dead when, one of the renowned singers, wrote the 89^th Psalm.

[7] Psalm 89:3

[8] 1 Corinthians 15:26

[9] Psalm 8:4, cited in Hebrews 2:6

[10] Job 14:1-3 Psalm 90:3-6

[11] Hebrews 2:15 -The great question before man, "if a man dies shall he live again?" Job 14:14

[12] Psalm 90:3 EVS, NAS

[13] "I should have been as though I had not been, carried from womb to tomb." Job 10:19 NAS

[14] Paul had a glimpse of that dimension, 2Corinthians 12:1-4, which words could not describe vs.4

[15] 2Corinthians 5:16b Revelation 1:18 Romans 14:9

[16] The story of Lazarus. John 11

[17] Acts 3:13 See also John 7:39

[18] Acts 7:55-56

[19] Acts 2:24, 32 3:15, 36 4:10, 5:30, 10:40, 13:30, 37 Romans 10:9 1Corinthians 6:14 Galatians 1:1 *1Peter 1:21

[20] Hebrews 2:17

[21] John 14:2, 4, 12, 16:10-17

[22] Isaiah 42:1 52:13-15, 53:1-12 Matthew 12:18 Philippians 2:7

[23] Philippians 2:8 Hebrews 5:7

[24] *Romans 3:25-26

[25] Romans 4:5, *8:33 Galatians 2:16, 3:24

[26] Romans 5:1

[27] Immortality: the promise of God, the hope of the believer. Romans 2:7, 2Timothy 1:10, 1Corinthians 15:42, 50-53

[28] "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."  Hebrews 11:6 NAS Romans 1:1-4

[29] Romans 10:9-10

[30] Isaiah 55:3 Psalm 89:33-37 Acts 13:34

[31] Acts 13:34 Psalms 89:24-29 Psalms 16:8-11 2Samuel 7:15

[32] Romans 4:24 1Thessalonians 4:14 2Timothy 2:13 *Galatians 2:8,9

[33] Jesus is firstfruits of the promise, having received the sure mercies, since been declared the image of the invisible God. 2Corinthians 4:4

[34] God is the Creator God. As revealed throughout redemptive history,
 God is creating the man He desires to be a holy habitation unto Himself.
 "In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:22 1Peter 2:5

[35] Leviticus 11:44 1 Peter 1:15, 16 Ephesians 1:4

[36] Matthew 6:33, Romans 1:17, 3:21-25, Galatians 3:6, Ephesians 4:24

[37] “...put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:24

[38] "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake..." Daniel 12:2 ESV

[39] John 5:25 1Corinthians 15:51-54 1Thessalonians 4:13-16 1John 3:2

[40] “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared;
but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”1John 3:2  see also Psalm 17:15

[41] 2Peter 1:4 2Corinthians 3:18

[42] John 17:11, 21-23 1Corinthians 6:17

[43] 1Peter 1:12 Ephesians 3:10

[44] Revelation 21:3 EVS Leviticus 26:11-12

[45] Psalm 103:14, 90:3, 78:39 Job 10:9 Ecclesiastes 12:7 Genesis 3:19

[46] The forgetfulness of the grave, the realm of the dead, Sheol. Psalm 6:5 Job 7:9 Ecclesiastes 9:10

[47] "Without holiness no man shall see God!" Hebrews 12:14

[48] *Psalm 49 The entire Psalm is a reflection of the man without God, without hope! See also
 Psalm 39:5 & Ecclesiastes 3:19-20. The beasts perish, and so the man.

[49] Isaiah 40:17 Psalm 39:5, 62:9