Psalm 89:22-30

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21 I have chosen David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him.
22 My hand will be with him; my arm will make him strong.
23 No enemy shall outwit him, nor shall the wicked defeat him.
24 I will crush his foes before him, strike down those who hate him.
25 My loyalty and love will be with him; through my name his horn will be exalted.
26 I will set his hand upon the sea, his right hand upon the rivers.
27 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father, my God, the Rock that brings me victory!’
28 I myself make him firstborn, Most High over the kings of the earth.
29 Forever I will maintain my love for him; my covenant with him stands firm.
30 I will establish his dynasty forever, his throne as the days of the heavens.
Looking for a little church fathers help here. We were reading this in bible study last night and I mentioned that it sure looked like this psalm transitioned from a description of David to a description of Christ at verse 27.

Anyhow, I’m looking for a little help in rounding out this idea. Comments anyone?
 
Here is St. Augustine
  1. I have found David My servant: that David from David’s seed: with My holy oil have I anointed Him Psalm 88:20: for it is said of Him, God, even Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows.
  1. My hand shall hold Him fast, and My arm shall strengthen Him Psalm 88:21: because there was a taking up of man; because flesh was assumed in the Virgin’s womb, Luke 1:31 because by Him who in the form of God is coequal with the Father, the form of a servant was taken, and He became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Philippians 2:6, 8
  1. The enemy shall not be able to do him violence Psalm 88:22. The enemy rages indeed but he shall not be able to do Him violence: he is wont to hurt, but he shall not hurt. How then shall he afflict Him? he will exercise Him, but he shall not hurt Him. There shall be profit in his raging; for those against whom he rages shall be crowned in their conquering. For how is he conquered, if he rages not against us? or where is God our helper, if we fight not? The enemy therefore shall do what is in his power; but he shall not be able to do Him violence: the son of wickedness shall not come nigh to hurt Him.
  1. I will cut in pieces His enemies before His face Psalm 88:23. They are cut in pieces from their conspiracy, and in that they believe they are cut in pieces; for they believe by degrees; as when the calf’s head was ground small, they will come to be the drink of God’s people. For Moses ground down the calf’s head, and sprinkled it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink it. Exodus 32:20 All the unbelieving are ground: they believe by degrees; and they are drunk by the people of God, and pass into Christ’s body. I will cut in pieces His foes before His face: and put to flight them that hate Him.
  1. My truth also and My mercy is with Him Psalm 88:24. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Remember, as much as you can, how often these two attributes are urged upon us, that we render them back to God. For as He showed us mercy that He might blot out our sins, and truth in fulfilling His promises; so also we, walking in His path, ought to give back to Him mercy and truth; mercy, in pitying the wretched; truth, in not judging unjustly. Let not truth rob you of mercy, nor mercy hinder truth: for if through mercy you shall have judged contrary to truth, or by rigorous truth shall have forgotten mercy, you will not be walking in the path of God, where mercy and truth meet together. And in My name shall His horn be exalted. Why should I say more? You are Christians, recognise Christ.
  1. I will set His hand also in the sea Psalm 88:25: that is, He shall rule over the Gentiles; and His right hand in the floods. Rivers run into the sea: avaricious men roll onwards into the bitterness of this world: yet all these kinds of men will be subject to Christ.
  1. He shall call me, You are My Father, and the lifter up of My salvation Psalm 88:26.
And I will make Him my first-born; higher than the kings of the earth Psalm 88:27. Our Martyrs, whose birthdays we are celebrating, shed their blood on account of these things, which were believed though not yet seen; how much more brave ought we to be, as we see what they believed? For they had not yet seen Christ raised on high among the kings of the earth: as yet princes were taking counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed: what follows in the same Psalm was not then fulfilled, Be wise now therefore, O you kings: be learned, you that are judges of the earth. Now indeed Christ has been exalted among the kings of the earth.
  1. My mercy will I keep for Him for ever: and my Testament faithful with Him Psalm 88:28. On His account, the Testament is faithful: in Him the Testament is mediated: He is the Sealer, the Mediator of the Testament, the Surety of the Testament, the Witness of the Testament, the Heritage of the Testament, the Coheir of the Testament.
  1. His seed will I make to endure world without end Psalm 88:29. Not only for this world, but unto the world without end: whither His seed, which is His heritage, the seed of Abraham, which is Christ, will pass. But if you are Christ’s, you are also Abraham’s seed: and if you are destined His heirs for ever, He will establish His seed unto world without end: and His throne as the days of Heaven. The thrones of earthly kings are as the days of the earth: different are the days of Heaven from those of earth. The days of Heaven are those years of which it is said, You are the same, and Your years shall not fail. The days of the earth are soon overtaken by their successors: those which precede are shut out from us: nor do those which succeed remain: but they come that they may go, and are almost gone before they are come. Such are the days of earth. But the days of Heaven, which are also the One day of Heaven, and the never failing years, have neither beginning nor end: nor is any day there narrowed between yesterday and tomorrow: no one there expects the future, nor loses the past: but the days of Heaven are always present, where His throne shall be for ever and ever. …
 
cont.
  1. This is a strong pledge of the promise of God. The sons of this David are the children of the Bridegroom; all Christians therefore are called His sons. But it is much indeed that God promises, that if Christians, that is, If his children forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments Psalm 88:30; if they profane My statutes, and keep not My commandments Psalm 88:31; I will not spurn them, nor will I send them away from Me in perdition: but what will I do? I will visit their offences with the rod, and their sin with scourges Psalm 88:32. It is not the mercy of one that calls them only; but also that chastises and scourges them. Let therefore your Father’s hand be upon you, and if you are a good son, repel not chastening; for what son is there, to whom his father gives not chastening? Hebrews 12:7 Let Him chasten him, so long as He takes not from him His mercy: let Him beat him when obstinate, as long as He does not disinherit him. If you have well understood the promises of your Father, fear not to be scourged, but to be disinherited: for whom the Lord loves He chastens: and scourges every son whom He receives. Hebrews 12:6 Does the sinful son spurn chastening, when he sees the only Son without sin scourged? I will visit their offences with the rod. Thus too the Apostle threatens: What will you? shall I come unto you with a rod? 1 Corinthians 4:21 Let not pious sons say, if You are coming with a rod, come not at all. For it is better to be taught with the Father’s rod, than to perish in the caresses of the robber.
  1. Nevertheless, My mercy will I not utterly take from Him Psalm 88:33. From whom? From that David to whom I gave these promises, whom I anointed with my holy oil of gladness above His fellows. Do you recognise Him from whom God will not utterly take away His mercy? That no one may anxiously say, since He speaks of Christ as Him from whom He will not take away His mercy, What then will become of the sinner? Did He say anything like this, I will not take My loving-kindness utterly from them? I will visit, He says, their offences with the rod, and their sin with scourges. You expected for your own security, I will not utterly take my loving-kindness from them. And indeed this is the reading of some books, but not of the most accurate: though, where they have it, it is a reading by no means inconsistent with the real meaning. For how can it be said that He will not utterly take His mercy from Christ? Has the Saviour of the body committed anything of sin either in Heaven or in earth, who sits even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us? Romans 8:34 Yet it is from Christ: but from His members, His body which is the Church. For in this sense He speaks of it as a great thing that He will not take away His mercies from Him, supposing us not to recognise the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; John 1:18 for there the Man is not counted for His Person, but the One Person is God and Man. He therefore does not utterly take His mercies from Him, when He takes not His mercy from His body, His members, in which, even while He was enthroned in Heaven, He was still suffering persecutions on earth; and when He cried from Heaven, Saul, Saul, not why do you persecute My servants, nor why do you persecute My saints, nor My disciples, but, why do you persecute Me? Acts 9:4 As then, while no one persecuted Him when sitting in Heaven, He cried out, Why do you persecute Me? when the Head recognised its limbs, and His love allowed not the Head to separate Himself from the union of the body: so, when He takes not away His mercies from Him, it is surely that He takes it not from us, who are His limbs and body. Yet ought we not on that account to sin not without apprehension, and perversely to assure ourselves that we shall not perish, be our actions what they may. For there are certain sins and certain offences, to define and discourse of which it is either impossible for me, or if it were possible, it would be too tedious for the time we have at present. For no man can say that he is without sin; for if he says so, he will lie; if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8 Each one therefore is needfully scourged for his own sins; but the mercy of God is not taken away from him, if he be a Christian. Certainly if you commit such offences as to repel the hand of Him who chastens, the rod of Him who scourges you, and art angry at the correction of God, and fliest from your Father when He chastens you, and will not suffer Him to be your Father, because He spares you not when thou dost sin; you have estranged yourself from your heritage, He has not thrown you off; for if you would abide being scourged, you would not abide disinherited. Nor will I do hurt in My truth. For His mercy in setting free shall not be taken away, lest His truth in taking vengeance do harm.
 
When I read your OP it got me to thinking. I’m trying to connect some dots, and wondering if my thinking makes any sense.
28 I myself make him firstborn, Most High “elyon”] over the kings of the earth.
If I’m not mistaken “elyon” refers to God. (It would be great if someone can confirm this)
That makes me think of this quote by St. Basil. (I don’t know that he is refering to Psalm 89.)

**Worshipping as we do God of God, we both confess the distinction of the Persons, and at the same time abide by the Monarchy. We do not fritter away the theology in a divided plurality, because one Form, so to say, united in the invariableness of the Godhead, is beheld in God the Father, and in God the Only begotten. For the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son; since such as is the latter, such is the former, and such as is the former, such is the latter; and herein is the Unity. So that according to the distinction of Persons, both are one and one, and according to the community of Nature, one. How, then, if one and one, are there not two Gods? Because we speak of a king, and of the king’s image, and not of two kings. The majesty is not cloven in two, nor the glory divided. The sovereignty and authority over us is one, and so the doxology ascribed by us is not plural but one; because the honour paid to the image passes on to the prototype.” Basil, On the Spirit, 45 (A.D. 375). **

It also makes me think of

Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants (would) be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:36-37)
 
Looking for a little church fathers help here. We were reading this in bible study last night and I mentioned that it sure looked like this psalm transitioned from a description of David to a description of Christ at verse 27.

Anyhow, I’m looking for a little help in rounding out this idea. Comments anyone?
The whole quote is about Jesus. My Servant David is Jesus. This is one of the reasons Matthew went through his genealogy to show that Jesus is a descendant of David. This psalm (and several other prophecies) declare the the Messiah will come from David’s line.
 
MarcoPolo,

Sorry the PM did not work, but I have now looked for you and all I found so far is one comment, unfortunately I have not found an abundance of comments on this.

Here is a quote from St. Gregory Thaumaturgus…
These things, moreover, as I judge, he gives forth only and truly by participation in the Divine Spirit: for there is need of the same power for or those who prophesy and for those who hear the prophets; and no one can rightly hear a prophet, unless the same Spirit who prophesies bestows on him the capacity of apprehending His words. And this principle is expressed indeed in the Holy Scriptures themselves, when it is said that only He who shuts opens, and no other one whatever; and what is shut is opened when the word of inspiration explains mysteries. Now that greatest gift this man has received from God, and that noblest of all endowments he has had bestowed upon him from heaven, that he should be an interpreter of the oracles of God to men, and that he might understand the words of God, even as if God spoke them to him, and that he might recount them to men in such wise as that they may hear them with intelligence.
 
MarcoPolo,

Sorry the PM did not work, but I have now looked for you and all I found so far is one comment, unfortunately I have not found an abundance of comments on this.

Here is a quote from St. Gregory Thaumaturgus…
Thanks sir! Let me know if you find anything else. And I’m sorry to derail this thread. If you need to start another one COPLAND, feel free. :o
 
Thanks sir! Let me know if you find anything else. And I’m sorry to derail this thread. If you need to start another one COPLAND, feel free. :o
It was not a problem at all. I don’t have the Ancient Christian Commentary on Isaiah at home and the one on my site happens to not have that very page (ain’t that how it works!). I searched the Scripture indexes in my Church Fathers collections and that one quote is all I found.
 
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