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Psalm 89:3
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant,
1A contemplation by Ethan, the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving kindness of the LORD forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
2I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them.”
3“I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant,
4‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah.
5The heavens will praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
Notice
The words “covenant” and “sworn” give weight to God's choice of David: a named servant receives a commitment that God himself has made.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about David being both God's chosen one and his servant?
Write on thisWhat difference, if any, does God's sworn oath make to how you read his promise to David?
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Where else Scripture says this
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Psalm 132:11The LORD has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne.Both passages name David as the recipient of God's oath, with Psalm 132 specifying the promise of a descendant on his throne.
2 Samuel 7:10–16I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will …Both passages record God's pledged commitment, concerning David in the psalm and a secure dwelling place for Israel in Samuel.
Hebrews 7:21(for they indeed have been made priests without an oath), but he with an oath by him that says of him, “The Lord swore and will not change his mind, ‘You are a …Both passages describe God swearing an oath, concerning David's covenant in the psalm and an enduring priesthood in Hebrews.
1 Kings 8:16‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but …Both passages name David as God's chosen one; Kings specifies that God chose him to rule over Israel.
Acts 2:30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the …Both speak of God's oath to David; Acts identifies the promised heir to his throne as the Christ.
Psalm 89:28I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him.Both verses speak of God's covenant with David, with verse 28 declaring that this covenant will stand firm.
2 Samuel 23:5Isn’t my house so with God? Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation and all my desire. …Both passages speak of God's covenant with David; Samuel describes that covenant as everlasting, ordered, and sure.
Psalm 89:34–35I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.The covenant God declares he has made in verse 3 is the commitment he declares he will not break in verse 34.
Jeremiah 30:9but they will serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.Both passages name David in relation to God's purpose; the psalm names him servant, and Jeremiah names him king.
Jeremiah 33:20–21“The LORD says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, so that there will not be day and night in their time,Both passages use covenant language for God's commitments, concerning David in the psalm and the order of day and night in Jeremiah.
Ezekiel 34:23–24I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.Both passages name David as God's servant; Ezekiel describes God appointing that servant as a shepherd who feeds his people.
Romans 9:4who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;Both texts speak of covenants given by God: the psalm names David's covenant, while Romans lists the covenants among Israel's gifts.
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One step
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Encouragement
David is named as God's servant, and God is the one who chooses and swears; the covenant begins with God's own pledged word.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).