Discovery BoxPsalms 89:25-29 
Context89:25 I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers. 1
89:26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father, 2 my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ 3
89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, 4
the most exalted of the earth’s kings.
89:28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure. 5
89:29 I will give him an eternal dynasty, 6
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above. 7
1 tn Some identify “the sea” as the Mediterranean and “the rivers” as the Euphrates and its tributaries. However, it is more likely that “the sea” and “the rivers” are symbols for hostile powers that oppose God and the king (see v. 9, as well as Ps 93:3-4).
2 sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
3 tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”
4 sn The firstborn son typically had special status and received special privileges.
5 tn Heb “forever I will keep for him my loyal love and will make my covenant secure for him.”
6 tn Heb “and I will set in place forever his offspring.”
7 tn Heb “and his throne like the days of the heavens.”
