Psa 89:8-9 | KingComments | STEP | God, Who assures David of an eternal throne, is Himself seated on the throne from which He governs the universe. He is the Object of the praise of heaven, which by the mouth of the inhabitants of heaven praises His wonders ( ; cf. ). His “faithfulness” is praised on earth “in the assembly of the holy ones”, whereby we can think of the assembly of God’s people, i.e. the remnant. In the LORD is made great by the psalmist. From we see the response of heaven, which also starts to praise the LORD. The question “who in the skies is comparable to the LORD?” ( ), includes the answer. Of course there is no one who can measure up to Him, not in wisdom and understanding and not in strength. This also applies to the question of “who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD”, which are the angelic princes. Of course, no one is like Him. The reality is that God is “greatly feared in the council of the holy ones” ( ). His power, His holiness, His righteousness, it fills everyone with great awe, even the angels, who far exceed man in strength. Angels stand and go at His command (cf. ). He is “awesome above all those who are around Him”. He is surrounded by countless angels, but is not part of a circle of which He is said to be the principal. He is exalted far above the angels ( ). He is the Creator and they are but creatures, the work of His hands, ministering spirits whom He may send forth ( ). Deeply impressed by God’s great exaltation, Ethan cries out: “O LORD God of hosts, who is like You?” ( ). He calls God the “God of hosts” because God is above all earthly and heavenly hosts. All the powers, whether good or bad, are subject to Him, and He commands them (cf. ). No host can go its own way. God is the “mighty LORD”. No one is equal to Him in power, no one can be compared to Him ( ). He is the “LORD”, the God of the covenant with David. He is not a God of arbitrariness, but of faithfulness. His faithfulness “surrounds” Him; it belongs to His nature and becomes visible in His actions. He is completely trustworthy in His promises. All His actions result from His faithfulness. He is mighty, He is faithful. This means that whatever He has promised in His covenant, He is also able to fulfil. His omnipotence and faithfulness are evident from the following passage.

‏ Psalms 89:8-9

Who Is Like God?

God, Who assures David of an eternal throne, is Himself seated on the throne from which He governs the universe. He is the Object of the praise of heaven, which by the mouth of the inhabitants of heaven praises His wonders (Psa 89:5; cf. Lk 2:13-14). His “faithfulness” is praised on earth “in the assembly of the holy ones”, whereby we can think of the assembly of God’s people, i.e. the remnant. In Psa 89:1b the LORD is made great by the psalmist. From Psa 89:5 we see the response of heaven, which also starts to praise the LORD.

The question “who in the skies is comparable to the LORD?” (Psa 89:6), includes the answer. Of course there is no one who can measure up to Him, not in wisdom and understanding and not in strength. This also applies to the question of “who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD”, which are the angelic princes. Of course, no one is like Him.

The reality is that God is “greatly feared in the council of the holy ones” (Psa 89:7). His power, His holiness, His righteousness, it fills everyone with great awe, even the angels, who far exceed man in strength. Angels stand and go at His command (cf. 1Kgs 22:19-22). He is “awesome above all those who are around Him”. He is surrounded by countless angels, but is not part of a circle of which He is said to be the principal. He is exalted far above the angels (Heb 1:5-13). He is the Creator and they are but creatures, the work of His hands, ministering spirits whom He may send forth (Heb 1:14).

Deeply impressed by God’s great exaltation, Ethan cries out: “O LORD God of hosts, who is like You?” (Psa 89:8). He calls God the “God of hosts” because God is above all earthly and heavenly hosts. All the powers, whether good or bad, are subject to Him, and He commands them (cf. 1Kgs 22:20-23). No host can go its own way.

God is the “mighty LORD”. No one is equal to Him in power, no one can be compared to Him (Isa 40:25). He is the “LORD”, the God of the covenant with David. He is not a God of arbitrariness, but of faithfulness. His faithfulness “surrounds” Him; it belongs to His nature and becomes visible in His actions. He is completely trustworthy in His promises. All His actions result from His faithfulness. He is mighty, He is faithful. This means that whatever He has promised in His covenant, He is also able to fulfil. His omnipotence and faithfulness are evident from the following passage.

Proofs of God’s Omnipotence

God has proved in the past what He is capable of, whatever the circumstances. He “rules the swelling of the sea”, and “when its waves rise” He “stills them” (Psa 89:9; Psa 107:29). There is scarcely anything from which God’s power and dominion over all things is more evident than in His authority over the sea and the waves. As powerless as man is in the face of a storm, a hurricane, or a tsunami, He rules over them with mastery and calm (Job 38:8-11). The Lord Jesus also has that authority, which proves that He is God (Mk 4:39).

The overconfident brimming sea is a picture of the God-hating nations over which He also rules (Isa 17:12-13). An example of His reign over the overconfidence of the sea is that He “crushed Rahab like one who is slain” (Psa 89:10). He, emphatically, He and no one else, did that. Rahab stands for Egypt, but then presented in such a way as to reveal the evil power behind it (Isa 30:7 ; Isa 51:9-10; cf. Rev 13:1-18). What He has done with Egypt, He has done with all His enemies. He scattered them with His strong arm.

“The heavens” are His and “the earth also” is His (Psa 89:11). Firstly, this is so because He created the heavens and the earth; He has right to the heavens and the earth as its Creator (Psa 24:1-2). However, the created heavens are defiled by the presence of evil powers and the earth by the Fall. One day the heavens will be cleansed from the presence of these evil powers, and the earth will also be subject to God. Secondly, this can happen because the Creator has also become the Redeemer. He, as the Redeemer, will again take possession of creation (Rev 5:1-10 ; Rev 10:2).

Heaven, of course, belongs to Him; there He dwells. Of the earth, this does not seem to be the case at the moment, given the sin that reigns there. Yet faith says affirmatively: “The earth is Yours.” “The world and all that it contains” is His because He has “founded them” (cf. Psa 24:1-2).

His dominion concerns “the north and the south”, for they were created by Him (Psa 89:12). The north is what is hidden or dark, where it is cold. The south is what is in the light, where it is warm. Nothing is hidden from Him, for He has made everything. “He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him” (Dan 2:22). Where it is light, it is because of His presence.

The mountains “Tabor and Hermon” rise above the landscape. They are in their splendor and grandeur as it were the mouth of the earth that opens to sing joyfully to God’s Name. The Tabor is a mountain west of the Jordan, and the Hermon east of it. This means that God created all the earth, in four directions, and that by the conspicuous appearance of Tabor and Hermon, the creation, as it were, rejoices in the Name of the LORD.

All that He has created reveals His omnipotence, His supreme power. He has “a strong arm” (Psa 89:13). His “hand is mighty”. With His hand He works what He wants. His “right hand is exalted”. What He does is beyond the thinking and the power of man. God works out His plans in situations where everything is hopeless for mankind.

The “foundation of Your throne”, the throne on which He sits and from which He governs all and reigns over all, are “righteousness and justice” (Psa 89:14). He deals in perfect justice with everything and everyone and does justice to everything and everyone. Thereby “lovingkindness and truth” go before Him. They are, as it were, His heralds who proclaim that He is coming with His blessing. They hold out the prospect of His revelation as love and light (1Jn 4:8 ; 16 ; 1Jn 1:5). The way He goes on earth and all His works bear the stamp of Who He is in lovingkindness and faithfulness.

In this world there is a saying: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolute. This is why the French philosopher Montesquieu devised the ‘trias politica’. The trias politica – the theory of three powers or the separation of powers – is a theory of the constitution in which the state is divided into three bodies which monitor each other’s functioning. This is not how it is with God. He has absolute power, He is the Almighty (Psa 89:13) and He combines that with absolute justice, lovingkindness and faithfulness (Psa 89:14).