Ps. 89.6-8 (fear and faithfulness)

For who in clouds above / is equal to Yhwh?
who is like Yhwh / among divine beings?
God / dreaded in the council / of the holy ones
great and awesome / above all around him.
O Yhwh / God Sabaoth
who is like you / O Mighty Yah?
with your faithfulness / around you? 

As we have seen, with the exception of the covenant-with-David, the psalm has been gazing into heaven. That continues here. The questions presented are not about Yhwh’s incomparability to those on earth, but to those in the ‘heavenly council’. By stationing this question ‘in heaven’ the psalmist is raising his listeners attention to the source of all power and explaining that, even there, Yhwh’s power is full of ‘dread’ and ‘fear’. Even among the ‘holy ones’ Yhwh is without compare. The imagery here is not one of an ‘absolute distance’ but of an ‘overpowering light’. Yhwh’s ‘incomparability’ is due to his forceful sovereignty over all around him, like a king of such majesty that his glory radiates to all around. Perhaps more importantly, there is contained within this display of authority the absolute conviction that his authority is, in a way, of an entirely different order than that of the ‘holy ones’. He is ‘without compare’. The revelation of his presence, reveals his utterly uniqueness of his power. There is here, though, in the concluding line an interesting ‘reversal’ of movement. Up to the final question Yhwh’s presence has been one that evokes a reverence of “dread”, “awe” and “greatness”. In the concluding question though, Yhwh is envisioned as ‘surrounded by his faithfulness’. In other words, he is surrounded by that quality of his that makes him so utterly and powerfully for those whom he chooses. So, on the one hand his presence evokes this sense of utter superiority and glory while on the other hand it also reveals a just-as tremendous being-for those whom he loves. This is the ‘presence of a king’—the simultaneous sense of authority and concern, power and grace. And it deserves to be pointed out again that ‘faithfulness’ is mentioned seven times in the this psalm—indicating that Yhwh’s faithfulness is a type of ‘perfect expression’ of his power, that which marks him out as being ‘beyond compare’, that which identifies him as the Highest King in the heavens. We will see later that this incomparable quality of Yhwh, as well as his being ‘surrounded by faithfulness’, is something that will be reflected in David, who be made the ‘most high’ of the kings of the earth (vs. 27).  

It is with these reflections in mind that we can tentatively point toward the real center of the psalm:
the ruin of the Davidic line. First, there is no question that Yhwh is the supremely powerful one in the heavens. He has ‘no compare’ and, as such, cannot be thwarted in his mastery over his realm. Second, this utter mastery is embodied in his utter faithfulness. We might say that he is not ‘first’ powerful and ‘then’ faithful, but that his power (mastery) and his faithfulness coincide. As such, his ‘faithfulness’ is as certain, unique and established as his throne. How then, with these two perceptions, does the Davidic covenant fail? It is not because Yhwh’s has been thwarted in some manner, nor, it seems, could it be that he is not faithful. Then, what? Whey this ‘holy Saturday’ during the time of the covenant?