My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Psalm 89:34 is God’s own guarantee of the covenant mercy He had sworn to David. The psalm began, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever,” and immediately joined those mercies to His faithfulness and covenant: “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations” (Psalm 89:1-4). These were the sure mercies of David (Isaiah 55:3), for God had mercifully promised David an everlasting seed and throne, which could only be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. David’s natural house would fail terribly, but God’s covenant could not fail. He had sworn that David would have a Son to reign for ever, and He fulfilled that mercy by raising Jesus Christ from the dead to an everlasting kingdom (Acts 2:30; 13:32-34).
“My covenant” identifies both the source and certainty of the promise. God had already said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant” (Psalm 89:3). It was God’s covenant because He conceived it, declared it, swore it, and would perform it. David did not bargain for it, and the faithfulness of his descendants did not secure it. At the end of his life David confessed that his own house was not as it should have been, “yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (II Samuel 23:5). David’s confidence was not in himself or his sons. His salvation and desire rested in the everlasting covenant God had made with him, the sure promise of a perfect Son and an everlasting throne.
“Will I not break.” God could chasten David’s children without breaking His covenant with David. The preceding verses make this distinction explicit. If his children forsook God’s law, He would “visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes”; nevertheless, “my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail” (Psalm 89:30-33). Solomon sinned, later kings sinned worse, the kingdom divided, Jerusalem fell, and David’s throne appeared destroyed. None of it could break what God had sworn. Their sins deserved judgment, but their sins could not make God a liar.
This is the great tension within the psalm. The writer later mourned, “Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground” (Psalm 89:44). By sight, the promise appeared to have failed. David’s earthly throne was gone, his kingdom was ruined, and no son of David visibly ruled in Jerusalem. But God had already answered every such appearance: “My covenant will I not break.” The promise was greater than the temporary throne of David’s natural sons. God had sworn concerning Christ. Peter explained that David knew “that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne” (Acts 2:30). What appeared destroyed in David’s house was established for ever in David’s Son.
“Nor alter” means God would not revise His promise when circumstances appeared to contradict it. He had promised, “His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me” (Psalm 89:36). He would not change “for ever” into a temporary reign because David’s sons failed. He would not diminish the promise after Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. He would not redefine His oath because centuries passed without a king sitting visibly upon David’s throne. “Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David” (Psalm 89:35). God would fulfill exactly what He had promised.
Jesus Christ is that fulfillment. Gabriel told Mary, “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). Paul went even farther by joining Christ’s resurrection directly to the covenant mercy promised David. After declaring that God had fulfilled His promise “in that he hath raised up Jesus again,” he added, “And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David” (Acts 13:32-34). The resurrection established the certainty of David’s mercies. David’s promised Son lives for ever; therefore His throne and kingdom endure for ever.
“The thing that is gone out of my lips” makes the certainty of the covenant rest upon the words of God Himself. He did not say He would preserve an undefined intention; He would not alter “the thing” He had spoken. His covenant had definite content: David’s seed would be established for ever, his throne would endure to all generations, God’s mercy would remain with him, and His covenant would stand fast (Psalm 89:3-4,28-29,35-37). These promises had gone out of Jehovah’s lips. David could therefore rest upon them when everything visible appeared contrary, for “God is not a man, that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19).
There is exquisite mercy in these words. David’s house was not worthy of an everlasting kingdom, but God had promised one. David’s sons could not maintain the throne, but God provided the Son Who could. Human sin brought rods, stripes, division, captivity, and apparent ruin, but it could not defeat the mercy of God. The covenant was “ordered in all things, and sure” because its fulfillment depended upon God, not David. Jesus Christ was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, raised from the dead, exalted to His throne, and given a kingdom that shall never end. These are indeed the sure mercies of David.
Psalm 89:34 therefore stands as God’s answer to every appearance that His promise to David had failed. He did not break His covenant when David’s sons sinned. He did not alter His word when David’s throne was cast down. He did not forget what had gone out of His lips during the long centuries before Christ. He fulfilled every necessary word in Jesus Christ. The Son of David lives and reigns for ever, and the everlasting covenant remains exactly what God promised it would be. “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Psalm 89:34 is God’s own guarantee of the covenant mercy He had sworn to David. The psalm began, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever,” and immediately joined those mercies to His faithfulness and covenant: “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations” (Psalm 89:1-4). These were the sure mercies of David (Isaiah 55:3), for God had mercifully promised David an everlasting seed and throne, which could only be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. David’s natural house would fail terribly, but God’s covenant could not fail. He had sworn that David would have a Son to reign for ever, and He fulfilled that mercy by raising Jesus Christ from the dead to an everlasting kingdom (Acts 2:30; 13:32-34).
“My covenant” identifies both the source and certainty of the promise. God had already said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant” (Psalm 89:3). It was God’s covenant because He conceived it, declared it, swore it, and would perform it. David did not bargain for it, and the faithfulness of his descendants did not secure it. At the end of his life David confessed that his own house was not as it should have been, “yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (II Samuel 23:5). David’s confidence was not in himself or his sons. His salvation and desire rested in the everlasting covenant God had made with him, the sure promise of a perfect Son and an everlasting throne.
“Will I not break.” God could chasten David’s children without breaking His covenant with David. The preceding verses make this distinction explicit. If his children forsook God’s law, He would “visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes”; nevertheless, “my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail” (Psalm 89:30-33). Solomon sinned, later kings sinned worse, the kingdom divided, Jerusalem fell, and David’s throne appeared destroyed. None of it could break what God had sworn. Their sins deserved judgment, but their sins could not make God a liar.
This is the great tension within the psalm. The writer later mourned, “Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground” (Psalm 89:44). By sight, the promise appeared to have failed. David’s earthly throne was gone, his kingdom was ruined, and no son of David visibly ruled in Jerusalem. But God had already answered every such appearance: “My covenant will I not break.” The promise was greater than the temporary throne of David’s natural sons. God had sworn concerning Christ. Peter explained that David knew “that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne” (Acts 2:30). What appeared destroyed in David’s house was established for ever in David’s Son.
“Nor alter” means God would not revise His promise when circumstances appeared to contradict it. He had promised, “His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me” (Psalm 89:36). He would not change “for ever” into a temporary reign because David’s sons failed. He would not diminish the promise after Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. He would not redefine His oath because centuries passed without a king sitting visibly upon David’s throne. “Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David” (Psalm 89:35). God would fulfill exactly what He had promised.
Jesus Christ is that fulfillment. Gabriel told Mary, “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). Paul went even farther by joining Christ’s resurrection directly to the covenant mercy promised David. After declaring that God had fulfilled His promise “in that he hath raised up Jesus again,” he added, “And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David” (Acts 13:32-34). The resurrection established the certainty of David’s mercies. David’s promised Son lives for ever; therefore His throne and kingdom endure for ever.
“The thing that is gone out of my lips” makes the certainty of the covenant rest upon the words of God Himself. He did not say He would preserve an undefined intention; He would not alter “the thing” He had spoken. His covenant had definite content: David’s seed would be established for ever, his throne would endure to all generations, God’s mercy would remain with him, and His covenant would stand fast (Psalm 89:3-4,28-29,35-37). These promises had gone out of Jehovah’s lips. David could therefore rest upon them when everything visible appeared contrary, for “God is not a man, that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19).
There is exquisite mercy in these words. David’s house was not worthy of an everlasting kingdom, but God had promised one. David’s sons could not maintain the throne, but God provided the Son Who could. Human sin brought rods, stripes, division, captivity, and apparent ruin, but it could not defeat the mercy of God. The covenant was “ordered in all things, and sure” because its fulfillment depended upon God, not David. Jesus Christ was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, raised from the dead, exalted to His throne, and given a kingdom that shall never end. These are indeed the sure mercies of David.
Psalm 89:34 therefore stands as God’s answer to every appearance that His promise to David had failed. He did not break His covenant when David’s sons sinned. He did not alter His word when David’s throne was cast down. He did not forget what had gone out of His lips during the long centuries before Christ. He fulfilled every necessary word in Jesus Christ. The Son of David lives and reigns for ever, and the everlasting covenant remains exactly what God promised it would be. “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”