You have cut short the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah
The writer of this psalm approaches God's throne with the covenant made to David as his anchor: God promised to sustain His favor toward this people forever through their king. He rehearses God's power in all creation and His faithfulness in redemption, yet the complaint that follows cuts sharp, God has seemingly abandoned His Church to her enemies, withdrawn all help and comfort, as though He had forgotten His own word.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 89:1-52
The days of his youth hast thou shortened. The time of the king's energy was brief, he grew feeble before his time. Thou hast covered him with shame. Shame was heaped upon him because of his premature decay and his failure in arms. This was very grievous to the writer of this Psalm, who was evidently a most loyal adherent of the house of David.
In these verses we have, I. A very melancholy complaint of the present deplorable state of David's family, which the psalmist thinks hard to be reconciled to the covenant God made with David. "Thou saidst thou wouldst not take away thy lovingkindness, but thou hast cast off." Sometimes, it is no easy thing to reconcile God's providences with his promises, and yet we are sure...
Commenting on Psalm 89:38-52