3. God Is Faithful in His Chastening (vv. 39-45). Again, Ethan faced the question: “If God did so much for David, why did his throne and crown fall in defeat and disgrace?” The answer: because the terms of His covenant declare that the same Lord who blesses the obedient will also chasten the disobedient. The principle applied not only to David’s successors on the throne (vv. 30-37; 2 Sam. 7:12-15) but also to the nation of Israel collectively (Deut. 28). “For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Prov. 3:12 nkjv; Heb. 12:3-11). Because of their disobedience and self-will, many of the kings of Judah were chastened by the Lord, but the Lord never broke His promise to David. The “witness” in verse 37 is probably the Lord Himself in heaven (see nasb), but the constancy of the heavenly bodies is also a witness to the faithfulness of the Lord’s promises (Gen. 8:20-22; Jer. 31:35-36; 33:19-26).

Ethan told the Lord what He had done to Judah’s anointed king, the descendant of David. The Lord was angry with the kings because of their sins, especially idolatry (v. 38), so He permitted the Babylonians to come and ravage the land, destroy Jerusalem, and burn the temple (vv. 40-41). To Ethan, the Lord was actually aiding the enemy (vv. 42-43)! But the glory had once more departed from the temple (v. 44; see 1 Sam. 4:21-22; Ezek. 8:1-4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22-23) because the leaders had turned their backs on the Lord and turned to idols. It appears that verse 45 applied especially to King Jehoiachin, who was but eighteen years old when he became king and reigned for three months and ten days (2 Kings 24:8). He became a captive in Babylon for thirty-seven years.