Psalm 89

When you are so familiar with something, it becomes very easy not to see it. I think this is what often happens with Bible study. We get so familiar with certain Bible stories and passages that it becomes difficult to see them with “fresh” eyes. I have found this to be the case particularly with Psalms, since so many of our worship songs come from this book.

The beginning of this psalm was no different: “I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” (vs 1) I know at least two different worship songs that are based exclusively on this text (and I’m sure there are others). So, my brain was already switching into “been there, done that” mode, when I redoubled my efforts to use “fresh” eyes just in time for the next verse: “I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.” (vs 2)

I majored in Creative Writing in college, with an emphasis in Poetry, so I’m well aware of the license that poets employ from time to time. That’s why they end up making statements like you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Well, what does that really mean? Can I look up to the sky and see God is faithful written there? No.

But as my mind formed that question and I wondered if the author of this psalm was simply trying to engineer some beautiful-sounding song lyrics, I realized that his statement really is true. God has established His faithfulness in heaven itself.

What does that mean?

Perhaps the author of this psalm had something else in mind, but it occurred to me that there are few things on this planet that we can count on with absolute certainty. In fact, Benjamin Franklin famously quipped that the only two sure things in this life were death and taxes. But I think he overlooked something else—sunrise and sunset.

Since Creation week, there has never been a day on this planet when the sun didn’t rise and set. (Of course, we now know that the sun “rising” and “setting” isn’t because of the movement of the sun, but the rotation of the earth on its axis. Regardless, it happens every day like clockwork.)

I think this is what the writer meant when he said that God has established His faithfulness in the heavens. No matter what’s happening on this earth, the sun rises and sets every single day. It’s a surety. There is nothing human beings can do to change this reality. It is continual and unchanging—just as time itself.

In the same way, God is continual and unchanging. No matter what’s happening on this earth, God is there, right beside us every single day. There is nothing we can do to change this reality. His presence in our lives is as sure and certain as the rising and setting of the sun.

God is faithful, and we need look no further than His creation to learn that. He really has written His faithfulness in the heavens.