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Psalm 89:33
But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.
32then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
33But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.
34I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.
35Once I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David.
Notice
The turn from punishment to enduring loving kindness can unsettle the fear that God's correction means his covenant with David has come to an end.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your reading of the punishment when you reach the word “But”?
Write on thisHow does God's refusal to let his faithfulness fail challenge your assumptions about his response to sin?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Lamentations 3:23They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.Both passages name God's faithfulness as dependable: Lamentations praises its greatness, and the psalm declares that God will not let it fail.
1 Corinthians 10:13No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the …God's faithfulness grounds both assurances, concerning his enduring loving kindness in the psalm and his provision for endurance under temptation in Corinthians.
Isaiah 54:8–10In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.Both passages speak of God's loving kindness continuing through his wrath or punishment.
2 Samuel 7:15but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.Both promises declare that God will preserve his loving kindness toward the one receiving his promise.
Lamentations 3:31–32For the Lord will not cast off forever.Both passages place a limit on rejection: loving kindness will not be taken away completely, and the Lord will not cast off forever.
Hebrews 6:18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope …God's refusal to let his faithfulness fail accords with Hebrews' assurance that it is impossible for God to lie.
Jeremiah 33:20–26“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,The surrounding psalm verses and Jeremiah both speak of God's covenant as secure, with Jeremiah pointing to the order of day and night.
Psalm 89:1A 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 …The loving kindness and faithfulness praised at the psalm's opening are the same qualities God pledges to preserve here.
1 Samuel 15:29Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.”Both passages affirm God's reliability: he will not let his faithfulness fail, and he does not lie.
Psalm 89:24But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted.Both verses join God's faithfulness with his loving kindness and promise their continuance toward the same recipient.
1 Kings 11:36I will give one tribe to his son, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name …Both passages describe God's continuing commitment to David, expressed in Kings through the preservation of a tribe for his son.
Psalm 99:8You answered them, LORD our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.Psalm 89's surrounding verses pair punishment with enduring loving kindness; Psalm 99 likewise speaks of God forgiving while taking vengeance for wrongdoing.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. doubt. feeling distant from God.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The punishment in the surrounding verses is real, and so is the promise that follows. God's commitment to David rests on his own faithfulness, which he refuses to let fail.
Now put it in your words.
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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).