The Resurrection and the Unfulfilled Psalm
by Joe Leavell
Has it ever seemed like God lied to you?
Have you ever experienced a significant loss or been in a situation where you desperately needed God to come through—yet there were seemingly no answers to your prayers?
Have you ever wanted to scream in anguish and pain, but feared that God would be angry or disappointed with you for your outburst?
Welcome to Psalm 89.
While we don’t know exactly when Psalm 89 was written, Ethan the Ezrahite identifies himself as the psalmist. The context suggests that Ethan wrote this song during the declining days of the kings of Judah—perhaps even after their captivity began.
Ethan begins his 52-verse discourse by singing of the steadfast love of the Lord. He spends the first 18 verses praising God for who He is and what He has done, culminating in God’s promises to His anointed, King David, of an enduring kingdom that would last forever.
The Binding Promise of God
Seventeen times in Psalm 89, the psalmist quotes the Lord, repeatedly restating what God says He has done and what He will do to keep His promises to David. Listen as God passionately reiterates His covenant:
I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations (v.4).
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.
I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
My steadfast love I will keep for him forever.
I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.
I will punish their transgression…but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness.
I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David.
Like a child reminding a parent of a promised ice cream cone, the psalmist says, “God, this is what YOU said! This is YOUR promise!”
God warns of punishment if Israel sins—but His covenant is secure. How sure? As sure as the moon will shine: “Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies!” (v. 38).
There’s no room for confusion or question. God leaves Himself no "out," no opportunity to claim He was misunderstood. He puts His entire character on the line.
So…what happened?
God kept His word, right? A son of David remained on the throne of Israel for all time, and, just like the moon, there continues to be a son of David ruling and reigning in Jerusalem today, right?
If you know anything about Old Testament history—or the story of Israel—you know that in 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem. He ransacked the city, destroyed the temple and the city walls, gouged out the eyes of King Zedekiah after killing his sons before him, and carried the king away to Babylon.
Wait…did God lie?
Enter the lament of Ethan, our psalmist.
While God said, “I will not lie…”, the psalmist responds twelve times with “But you have…”
Listen to the pain and anguish in his song:
But now you have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed.
You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
You have defiled his crown in the dust.
You have breached all his walls;
You have laid his strongholds in ruins.
All who pass by plunder him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
And you have not made him stand in battle.
You have made his splendor to cease and cast his throne to the ground.
You have cut short the days of his youth;
You have covered him with shame. Selah.
Just as God left no doubt about His promise, the psalmist leaves no doubt about his experience. God, you said THIS! But THIS is what I see happening! Ethan, speaking from his vantage point of history and heartbreak, boldly expresses that what God promised looks nothing like what he’s witnessing.
Where’s the Nice Bow at the End?
At the end of the poem, we expect Ethan to resolve things. To have a “big reveal” where everything turns out right and God comes through in the end. Maybe we expect him to prophetically remind himself of the coming King. Or, at the very least, to trust that God always keeps His word.
But that’s not how it ends.
The final section is a cry of despair and confusion. Though he began by singing of God's steadfast love forever, now he asks,
“Where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?”
Wow. Can he say that to God? And... this is in the Bible??
Ethan still expresses genuine trust in God by concluding, “Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.” But that's it. The story ends with a feeling of unresolved tension. A story without a tidy, happy ending.
We want to jump in and comfort him! To give him a word of hope. But what could we even say?
How Would You Counsel Ethan?
From our point in redemptive history, it seems obvious: Give him Jesus! Tell him that God would keep His promises to David, but in a much grander and more drawn-out way than he could ever imagine. He just couldn’t see the long-term plan to redeem the world through the Son of David—Jesus Christ.
But that’s a hard word for someone crying, “How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is!”
What could we say?
“Don’t worry, Ethan. God will keep His promises…in about 600 years after you die.”
Ouch.
In truth, Ethan died never seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise to David.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so easy to console Ethan after all.
The Kingdom Is Here…Kind Of
The Son of David did come. And He brought the Kingdom with Him.
Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, took on human flesh from David’s line and preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. Yet the people were still looking for a king to deliver them from Roman oppression. Their hope made sense—especially in light of Psalm 89. They thought God would finally keep His promise to David.
So imagine their confusion when the crowds shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people laid down palm branches and coats before Him. Their King had come! All of God’s I will promises were about to be fulfilled!
Then they watched in horror as He was betrayed, arrested, beaten, and crucified by the very Romans He was supposed to conquer.
“My God, my God…why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus, the Son of David, was dead.
Did God…lie?
The Kingdom That Is Still Coming
As we celebrate every year on Easter, Jesus’ first coming was not about victory over the Romans or the reestablishment of a Jewish state. It was about victory over our greatest oppressors: sin, death, and Hell. By taking our rebellion upon Himself on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus redeemed the citizens of His Kingdom once and for all.
It is finished!
Before ascending to heaven, the disciples—still echoing Ethan’s sentiments—asked Jesus if He would finally establish the Kingdom as had been promised. Jesus’ response? “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority... but you will be my witnesses...” They could not have imagined that Jesus would use them in the coming age to graft countless more into His Kingdom.
As Jesus returned to His heavenly throne and sat down at the Father’s right hand, there is still, to this day, no son of David reigning on a physical throne in Jerusalem. Like Ethan, all of the disciples died without seeing the Son of David rule from that throne. So, while Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords—and His Kingdom reigns in our hearts today—Ethan’s cry, “How long, O Lord?” from Psalm 89 still continues to be our cry almost 2,600 years after he penned those words.
We have the advantage of living on this side of the resurrection, but we join Ethan in longing for our King to sit on David’s throne.
Did God lie?
The hope of Resurrection Sunday is not merely that Jesus is alive and reigning from Heaven. That alone would be glorious—but there’s more!
Jesus will come again.
He will return physically to the earth, remove the curse of sin, exact justice, bring His reward, and rule from Jerusalem as our long-awaited King. Every one of God’s promises will be fulfilled—completely and visibly. The resurrection is our proof that God keeps his promises!
He. Will. Not. Lie.
What About My Own Lament?
So I ask again: Has it ever felt like God didn’t keep His word to you? Are you confused, frustrated, angry, or stuck?
Like Ethan in Psalm 89, many look longingly through the pages of Scripture and struggle to reconcile God’s promises with their reality. They wonder if it’s okay to cry out to God in their pain.
Yet Ethan was never rebuked. In fact, his psalm is preserved in Scripture for us to learn from—and even to emulate.
Do your children complain to the neighbor when they’re hungry? No—they come to you. Why? Because they know you are the one who cares. You’re the one with the power to provide. Their complaint is rooted in relationship.
So too with God. Our cries of confusion are not faithless. They’re an expression of trust—an acknowledgement that He is the one who promised to care.
These cries are not scoffing or rebellion. They are the honest questions of a hurting child to a loving Father. The reality is that God never lied to Ethan. There was still an entire redemptive arc that God was shaping and Ethan only got to experience a small part, just like you and me. God welcomes your lament and all of our darkness will turn to light when we look upon his face.
If you are struggling to see where God is in your story, we would be honored to walk with you. We won’t offer trite answers or bumper-sticker theology. We will give you space to grieve. We will sit with you in the tension, walk you through the redemptive story of God, and remind you of where you and I find ourselves within it.
We will point you to the promise of the returning King.
Blessed be the Lord forever.
Amen and Amen.
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