An interim edition of Mizmor 089 was posted to the Tehillim section today (Thursday, October 30). This limited edition covers only the first 5 of the 53 verses that make up this fascinating mizmor. For the purposes of the NAFSHI Project, the mizmor has been tentatively named “Chesed and Emunah”, which are revealed here as essential concepts in the existence of the world and the renewal of the Royal House of David. Chesed represents the loving kindness of Hashem, the essential quality in His choosing to create the world. That decision was then combined with Emunah, indicating His faifthfulness in preserving and enabling the continued existence of the world.

Corresponding to this cosmic demonstration of Chesed and Emunah, Hashem exercised these qualities on an individual  scale with His choice of David as the King of Yisrael. Hashem sealed a covenant with David, assuring him that his descendants would continue to survive throughout all the generations of human existence and that, even if there were long periods of Exile, the Royal House of David would be restored for all time.

These issues are dealt with in the few verses that we have covered here. They indirectly address the challenge of reconciling the misfortunes that have occurred to many of David’s descendants with the commitments that Hashem made in His covenant to him.