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Psalm 89:34
I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.
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.
36His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me.
Notice
God’s refusal to break his covenant or change his words puts the weight of trust on his faithfulness to David.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How do the surrounding words about David shape your reading of this promise?
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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
Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.God refuses to alter his spoken word in the psalm; Jesus declares that his words will outlast heaven and earth.
Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?Both passages affirm that God keeps what he has spoken, with Numbers contrasting his truthfulness with human falsehood.
James 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow.James describes the Father as without variation, sharing the psalm’s emphasis on God’s constancy in what he says and does.
Malachi 3:6“For I, the LORD, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.God’s unchanging character grounds both declarations: his covenant remains intact in the psalm, and Jacob’s descendants are not consumed in Malachi.
Romans 11:29For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.The covenant God will not break shares a thread of permanence with the gifts and calling Paul describes as irrevocable.
Jeremiah 14:21Do not abhor us, for your name’s sake. Do not disgrace the throne of your glory. Remember, and don’t break your covenant with us.Jeremiah asks God not to break his covenant, echoing the very commitment God declares in Psalm 89.
Leviticus 26:44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and to break my …Both passages state God’s refusal to break his covenant, with Leviticus naming his people’s life in enemy territory as the setting.
Jeremiah 33:20“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 speak of breaking God’s covenant; Jeremiah introduces a condition involving the covenant governing day and night.
Jeremiah 33:21then my covenant could also be broken with David my servant, that he won’t have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levitical priests, my ministers.David’s covenant and throne appear in both settings, with Jeremiah making the covenant’s breaking conditional and the psalm declaring God’s refusal.
Psalm 55:20He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.Covenant-breaking forms the contrast: Psalm 55 describes a man violating his covenant, while Psalm 89 records God’s refusal to break his.
2 Samuel 7:15but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.The promise that loving kindness will remain in Samuel matches the surrounding assurance in Psalm 89 that God’s faithfulness will not fail.
Psalm 111:5He has given food to those who fear him. He always remembers his covenant.God’s enduring commitment to his covenant joins these passages: he remembers it in Psalm 111 and refuses to break it in Psalm 89.
Where this verse fits
Doubt. fear for the future. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The surrounding verses include discipline, yet God refuses to withdraw his faithfulness. His covenant with David rests on his own holy word, which he will not change.
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).