The Broken Promise?
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him. Psalm 89:23 · Berean Standard Bible
God Himself will actively destroy the king's enemies and strike down his haters—the victory belongs to God, not to human military strategy.
After promising passive protection, the psalmist now describes active divine intervention. This assured listeners that even when threats arose, God would fight on behalf of the covenant king.
The psalmist, deepening the covenant promise
You see this same pattern throughout the Old Testament—God fights for His anointed king. It's the same dynamic you find when David defeats Goliath or when God delivers Jerusalem from the Assyrian army.
God will actively defeat the king's adversaries, crushing his enemies and striking down those who oppose him.
The verbs here—'crush' (אַכְנִית, akhnit) and 'strike down' (אַגְּפֵם, aggefem)—employ military language drawn from royal ideology texts throughout the ancient Near East. Egyptian and Hittite covenant documents similarly promised divine military intervention on behalf of the favored king. The underlying historical reality was that Davidic kings did engage in military campaigns, and this verse theologically interprets those as expressions of divine will rather than merely human ambition.
God, pledging military vindication as part of the covenant arrangement.
This recalls David's own wars of conquest in 2 Samuel 8, but reframes them as divinely empowered. The promise persists even when historical Davidic kings suffer military defeat, suggesting that ultimate victory remains assured despite temporary reverses.
21My hand will sustain him; surely My arm will strengthen him.
22No enemy will exact tribute; no wicked man will oppress him.
23I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
24My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him, and through My name his horn will be exalted.
25I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand upon the rivers.
Read all of Psalm 89 — God promised David an eternal throne. Now the crown lies in the dust. The psalm swings from exuberant praise to anguished confusion.
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