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Psalm 89:35
Once I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David.
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.
37It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah.
Notice
God stakes his word to David on his own holiness, making trust in this promise a matter of trust in God’s character.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does God’s appeal to his holiness add to the promise he makes to David?
Write on thisWhere do you feel tension between God’s sworn faithfulness and what you can see?
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Where else Scripture says this
11 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
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 deny that God lies, grounding confidence in his word in the character of the one who speaks.
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 God’s oath to David and insist that he will remain true to what he has sworn.
Titus 1:2in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began;Both connect God’s promise with his truthfulness, though Titus speaks of eternal life and the psalm speaks of David.
Hebrews 6:13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,God swears by his own holiness to David and by himself to Abraham, grounding each oath in who he is.
Hebrews 6:17In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath,Both passages present God’s oath as assurance that his declared commitment will stand.
Amos 4:2The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness, “Behold, the days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.Both passages record God swearing by his holiness, though Amos announces violent judgment through capture with hooks.
Psalm 110:4The LORD has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”Both passages declare that God has sworn an oath and will remain true to it.
Psalm 60:6God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.Both present God declaring what he will do, though Psalm 60 concerns triumph and territory rather than his oath to David.
Amos 8:7The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works.Both record a divine oath, though Amos concerns God remembering wrongdoing and Psalm 89 concerns his truthfulness toward David.
2 Thessalonians 2:13But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through …The shared thread is truth concerning God; Thessalonians addresses salvation and belief, while the psalm declares God’s truthfulness toward David.
Psalm 89:49Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, which you swore to David in your faithfulness?The later lament appeals to the same oath to David, asking where God’s sworn loving kindnesses can be seen.
Where this verse fits
Doubt. waiting. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The promise concerns David and his throne, and its certainty rests in God’s holiness. The psalm’s later questions do not erase this claim: God will not lie.
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).