2023_07_31 Insight Post- Kim Feld

Psalm 89 is a tough one! Scholars are not on the same page regarding when it was written or even which category it falls in. It initially has elements of a royal Psalm, but the latter portion has a deep lament. In his book, The Case for the Psalms: Why They are Essential, N. T. Wright says that the promises and current situation within which the Psalm was written form “a massive and poetically majestic question mark.” (N. T. Wright, 2013, p. 67) The author, Ethan the Ezrahite, begins by reminding the reader of God’s covenant with David allowing David’s descendants to always be Israel’s King. By the end of the Psalm, Ethan asked how long God would allow the situation to continue and urged Him to remember.

In the N. T. Wright book I mentioned, he brings in the story in Mark 4 when Jesus and His disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a storm comes while Jesus sleeps. Let’s take a look at Mark 4:38 NLT:

³⁸ Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

Jesus is sleeping peacefully (and comfortably on a cushion!). At the same time, the storm rages all around, and the disciples ask the question that Wright connects to the question of Psalm 89: “Don’t You care?!” I’m not doing the book justice with my paraphrasing – I highly recommend reading it – the connection deeply impacted me. This is the question, isn’t it? Does God care when everything around me is falling apart, and I’m afraid? Does He care when life feels so painful that taking a deep breath is impossible?

God knew what Ethan the Ezrahite didn’t: David’s line would extend to the Messiah, the ultimate King. The plan didn’t look like Ethan expected it. That is certainly true of the disciples, who believed with all their hearts that Jesus was the Messiah. Still, again, God’s plan didn’t look like what they expected.

One consistent in the human experience is failed plans. I have yet to meet someone whose every detail of life worked exactly as they planned. We often live with a false sense of control and think that if we work harder, longer, and faster, we can ensure success. Whether we follow Christ or not, we are not in control. God has a plan, and nothing will deter it. That can feel harsh and cold, but I don’t believe that’s true. God is all those “O” words – omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (present in all places at the same time), and omniscient (all-knowing). But there’s a fourth, omnibenevolent, which means He is a God who is always good. So how do we put “always good” over Psalm 89, the disciples’ fear, or the parts of our stories that we have trouble reconciling with God’s care and goodness? Just as Ethan, the psalm writer, and the disciples couldn’t see the complete picture of what God was doing, neither can you and I. We live between what is seen and unseen, and the space in the middle can only be navigated with faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV). We can trust that God is in control and that His plans (which are good and for our ultimate good) will succeed, no matter what today may look like.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach

Reference: Wright, N. T. (2013). The Case for the Psalms: Why They are Essential. HarperOne.