Devotion for Thursday 03/04/2025

Today’s devotion will be taken from another Messianic Psalm; Chapter 89:1-4 (NKJV)

A Contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite.

1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;

With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;

Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen,

I have sworn to My servant David:

4 ‘Your seed I will establish forever,

And build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah

This an upbeat and hopeful Psalm for a change. It is also a Psalm written by someone else other than David.

Research proves that a hopeful person generally is more successful in life. Hope puts wings on our performance and heightens happiness and gives us an edge to handle all issues of life. It is even good for our health! The key to be hopeful is to have faith in God, who holds your tomorrow, and has paid a price to secure your eternal future!

However, hope is like our muscles - they need regular exercise.

Ethan the Ezrahite mentioned here may be the same as noted in 1 Kings 4:31. They were a Levite/Canaanite family who integrated with Israel during their conquest of the Promised Land.

The psalmist begins with declaration that he will sing of God’s mercy forever! Biblical songs and habitual praise to God always build our faith.

Here in verse one, he begins with extensive praise of God, especially for establishing a covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:11–16). As part of this promise, the Lord promised to make David's descendants kings over Israel forever. But history proved that this promise failed after several generations of unfaithfulness of David’s descendants.

This promise of an everlasting kingdom can only be fulfilled by the promised Messiah: a role fulfilled only by Jesus, a descendant of David.

God's omnipotent might is among the reasons to worship Him. The upbeat beginning of this Psalm actually conceals a probable defeat that the Israelites will be facing shortly. The text in Verse 10 refers to Rahab, a sea monster, also used as a metaphor for Egypt (Psalm 87:4). Historically, this mention gives us a clue that the setting was most likely during Shishak's attack from Egypt (1 Kings 14:25), motivating Ethan to write this song to lift up the morale of his people.

God has shown in history that he has the ultimate power to secure victory. Ethan the psalmist depicts God in terms of His goodness, righteousness, glory and strength. Those who align with the Lord will see breakthroughs and deliverance.

Let us be encouraged to entrust everything to God. Let us ask the Lord for more opportunities to share the gospel. Pray for a renewed burden for those who have not known such an awesome God and the great salvation in Christ.