I just love Derek Kidner. This morning I was reading Psalm 89—the great psalm affirming the Davidic covenant—and I wanted some insight, so I sought him out. I wasn’t disappointed:
The foundation to this psalm is the great prophecy of 2 Samuel 7:4–17, at the heart of which is the promise of a throne for David’s dynasty for ever, and of unique honours for its occupant. ‘I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever….’ This psalm seizes chiefly on the clause ‘for ever’, which the turn of events seemed to have flatly contradicted.
So there is painful tension here, yet the spirit of the psalm is humble, never bitter. Instead of railing at the promise or explaining it away, it faces the full clash of word and event in an appeal to God to show his hand. Like an unresolved discord it therefore impels us towards the New Testament, where we find that the fulfilment will altogether outstrip the expectation.
I have been reading through one Psalm a week with Kidner’s TOTC as a guide. It is very helpful. Detailed, but not overly technical.