My mercy I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall stand firm with him.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him.
- KJV My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
- BSB I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him, and My covenant with him will stand fast.
- NASB “I will maintain My favor for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.
- NLT I will love him and be kind to him forever; my covenant with him will never end.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God promises to keep His steadfast love for the king forever and to maintain His covenant firmly.
Overview
The permanence of God's chesed and the stability of His covenant are stressed: "forever more" and "stand firm." This is the heart of the Davidic covenant's unconditional dimension. Its everlasting security is guaranteed in the resurrection and eternal reign of Christ (Acts 13:34).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 55:3Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
- Jer 33:20–21“Yahweh says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;
- Acts 13:32–34We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers,
- Isa 54:10For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says Yahweh who has mercy on you.
- Ps 89:33–34But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.
- 2 Sam 7:15–16but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.
- Ps 111:9He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awesome!
- 2 Sam 23:5Most certainly my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he doesn’t make it grow.
- Ps 111:5He has given food to those who fear him. He always remembers his covenant.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 89:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.