Arguing with God from Inside the Covenant Text: Psalm 89:38-51
Introduction: The Covenantal Lawsuit
We come now to the heart of a great difficulty. The first thirty-seven verses of this psalm are a magnificent rehearsal of the covenant promises of God. Ethan the Ezrahite has laid out God's resume. He has detailed the power of God in creation, the justice of His throne, and, most importantly, the specific, iron-clad, sworn promises made to David. God swore by His own holiness that He would not lie to David, that David's line and throne would endure forever. And then, with no transition at all, the psalmist slams on the brakes and makes a hard turn into a ditch. The entire psalm pivots on one word: "But."
This is a psalm of lament, but it is not a lament of despair. It is a lament of faith. This is not the whining of a man who thinks God has forgotten him. This is the legal brief of a man who knows God cannot forget His own promises. This is a man taking God to court, not as a hostile prosecutor, but as a covenant lawyer who is holding up the contract that God Himself wrote and signed in blood. He is pointing to the wreckage all around him, the broken crown, the ruined walls, the laughing enemies, and he is asking the Judge of all the earth to do right.
We live in a sentimental age where many Christians think it is impious to argue with God. We think faith means smiling placidly regardless of the circumstances. But biblical faith is a robust thing. It is a wrestling thing. Jacob wrestled with God and would not let Him go until He blessed him. Ethan the Ezrahite does the same. He grabs hold of the covenant promises of God and refuses to let go, even when every circumstance in the world is screaming that God has already let go of him.
This is a profoundly important lesson for us. When our lives seem to contradict the promises of God, we have two options. We can either throw out the promises, or we can bring the circumstances before God and demand an accounting based on His promises. The former is unbelief. The latter is the prayer of faith. This psalm teaches us how to pray when it looks like God Himself has become our enemy. It teaches us how to fight with God using the weapons He Himself has supplied: His own character and His own Word.
The Text
But You have cast off and rejected, You have been full of wrath against Your anointed. You have spurned the covenant of Your slave; You have profaned his crown to the ground. You have broken down all his walls; You have beset his strongholds with ruin. All who pass along the way plunder him; He has become a reproach to his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries; You have made all his enemies be glad. You also turn back the edge of his sword And have not made him arise in battle. You have made his splendor to cease And cast his throne to the ground. You have shortened the days of his youth; You have wrapped him up with shame. Selah. How long, O Yahweh? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men! What man can live and not see death? Can he provide his soul escape from the power of Sheol? Selah. Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness? Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your slaves; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, With which Your enemies have reproached, O Yahweh, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed. (Psalm 89:38-51 LSB)
The Indictment (vv. 38-45)
The psalmist opens his case with a series of blunt, staggering accusations. He is not beating around the bush. Look at the language. "You have cast off." "You have rejected." "You have spurned." "You have profaned." He lays the responsibility for the disaster squarely at God's feet.
"But You have cast off and rejected, You have been full of wrath against Your anointed. You have spurned the covenant of Your slave; You have profaned his crown to the ground." (Psalm 89:38-39)
This is shocking. After spending half the psalm detailing God's unbreakable covenant, Ethan now accuses God of spurning that very covenant. Now, does he actually believe God has broken His promise? No. This is sanctified, rhetorical argument. He is describing how things look from the ground. It looks for all the world like God has thrown His covenant in the trash. The anointed king's crown, a symbol of God's own delegated authority, is not just humbled; it is profaned, desecrated in the dirt.
This is a crucial point. The psalmist is not denying the sin of the king or the people. Earlier in the psalm, God Himself laid out the terms of chastisement: "If his sons forsake My law... then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes" (vv. 30-32). The psalmist knows this. He understands that God disciplines His own. But he is arguing that this current disaster goes beyond discipline. This looks like utter rejection. The rod of discipline is one thing; this feels like the sword of execution.
The litany of ruin continues. God is the active agent in this destruction.
"You have broken down all his walls... All who pass along the way plunder him... You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries... You also turn back the edge of his sword... You have made his splendor to cease And cast his throne to the ground." (Psalm 89:40-44)
Notice the relentless repetition of "You." This is not fatalism. This is not blaming circumstances. This is a robust theism that knows God is sovereign over all things, including military defeats and political collapse. When the walls are broken, God is the one who broke them. When the enemy rejoices, God is the one who made them glad. This is hard doctrine, but it is the only foundation for true prayer. If God is not in charge of the calamity, then He cannot be the one to end it. Ethan appeals to God precisely because he knows God is the one doing all this. He is appealing from God's wrathful actions to God's covenant character.
The result is total humiliation. The king is plundered, reproached, defeated, and shamed. His youth is cut short, meaning his reign is curtailed, and his life is covered in dishonor. The "Selah" at the end of verse 45 invites us to pause and feel the full weight of this catastrophe. This is what it looks like when God's anointed is under God's wrath.
The Desperate Questions (vv. 46-49)
Having laid out the facts of the case, the psalmist now turns to direct, anguished questioning. This is where the covenantal argument comes to a sharp point.
"How long, O Yahweh? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?" (Psalm 89:46)
"How long?" is the classic cry of the saints in Scripture. It is a cry of faith. It assumes that this state of affairs is not permanent. It assumes God will act eventually. The question is not "if," but "when." But the fear is that this judgment, which should be temporary chastisement, has become a permanent condition. Will God's wrath, which should be a refining fire, become a consuming one? This appears to contradict the promise that His lovingkindness would never be utterly taken away (v. 33).
Next, he appeals to the brevity and vanity of human life.
"Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity You have created all the sons of men! What man can live and not see death? Can he provide his soul escape from the power of Sheol? Selah." (Psalm 89:47-48)
This is a brilliant argument. He says, "Lord, you have to act soon, because I don't have forever. My life is a puff of smoke. If you don't vindicate your promises in my lifetime, what good is it? Did you create us just for this futility, to live and die under your wrath?" He is leveraging his own mortality to press God for action. He is essentially saying that God's reputation is tied to what He does in the here and now, in the lives of His frail and fleeting creatures.
And this leads to the central question of the entire lament:
"Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord, Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?" (Psalm 89:49)
Here it is. The psalmist puts God's lovingkindness (hesed) and His faithfulness on the witness stand. "Lord, where is the covenant love you promised? Where is the faithfulness you swore by?" He is not questioning whether God made the promises. He is questioning their present location. He is holding up the signed contract and asking why the benefits are not being paid out. This is not the prayer of a doubter; it is the prayer of a believer who takes God at His word so seriously that he is bewildered by the apparent contradiction.
The Final Appeal (vv. 50-51)
The psalm concludes not with a resolution, but with a final, raw appeal. The psalmist identifies himself with the suffering anointed one and begs God to consider the shame he is bearing.
"Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your slaves; How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples, With which Your enemies have reproached, O Yahweh, With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed." (Psalm 89:50-51)
The reproach is not just against the king; it is against God's slaves, His covenant people. And ultimately, the reproach is against God Himself. When God's anointed is mocked, when his every step is dogged by the taunts of God's enemies, it is Yahweh's name and reputation that are on the line. The enemies are not just mocking a failed king; they are mocking the God who made promises to that king. They are reproaching the footsteps of the anointed, meaning they are mocking his every move as futile and abandoned by God.
This is the final turn of the screw. The psalmist is saying, "Lord, this is not just about us. Your name is at stake. Your enemies are laughing, and their laughter is aimed at You. They are concluding that You are either unfaithful or unable to keep Your Word. Are you going to let that stand?"
The Unseen Answer in Christ
The psalm ends there, hanging in the air. There is no neat resolution in verse 52 (which is a doxology for the whole book of the psalms, not an answer to this prayer). So where is the answer? The answer is found by reading this psalm with New Testament eyes.
This psalm finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Anointed One, the Son of David. On the cross, all of these accusations became literally true of Him. God did cast Him off. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Psalm 22:1). God was full of wrath against His Anointed, as Jesus bore the sins of the world. His crown was profaned, twisted into thorns and pressed into His scalp. He was plundered and stripped naked. His neighbors, and even His disciples, reproached Him. God exalted the right hand of His adversaries, the Romans and the chief priests, and made them glad. God turned back the edge of the sword, giving Him over to death. His splendor was made to cease, and He was wrapped in shame.
On the cross, it looked for all the world like God had spurned His covenant with David forever. It looked like the promise had failed at last. The enemies reproached His footsteps, mocking Him, "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now" (Matthew 27:43).
But the story does not end at the cross. The answer to "How long, O Yahweh?" was "three days." The answer to "Where are your former lovingkindnesses?" was the empty tomb. God's faithfulness was not in question. He was keeping His covenant in the most profound way imaginable. He punished our transgression, which His Son bore, with the ultimate rod. He visited our iniquity with the ultimate stripes. And in doing so, He did not break His covenant; He fulfilled it. He established David's throne forever by raising David's greater Son from the dead and seating Him at His right hand.
Therefore, when we find ourselves in a place of suffering, where it feels like God has rejected us, we can pray this psalm. We can argue with God from inside the covenant. But we do so knowing the final answer. We do so knowing that our suffering is but a light and momentary affliction, and that because of Christ, God's wrath is exhausted. He may discipline us, He may chastise us, but He will never, ever cast us off. For He who did not spare His own Son, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? The covenant holds. The throne is occupied. The King reigns.