Today's Messianic psalms speak of a coming King, whose reign would cover the whole earth and would extend to the "nations," those groups beyond the borders of the Israel of King David's time. It is clear that this coming King will be great and mighty, but the readers' perceptions of this King may have fallen short of their full intention. Would this King be solely an earthly ruler, or would His Kingdom extend beyond that? And how would these words be fulfilled?
Imagine for a moment that you lived in Israel in the time between the writing of these psalms and their fulfillment. Would you grow weary, not seeing their immediate fulfillment? How about if you had been exiled to Babylon? Or under Roman rule? Clearly, it is a natural (but sinful) tendency to express frustration at the incomplete and apparently untimely fulfillment of God's promises to us and to the world. Our pride wells up into impatience, and we grow disappointed and weary. Yet, those who chose to believe in God trusted Him for His time and manner of fulfillment. We see many examples throughout the Scriptures where even the faithful didn't understand how God chose to act. I have recently been studying the start of the Book of Acts, and we read about the early disciples' confusion about Jesus's Ascension. Wouldn't He return quickly in order to restore the Kingdom? No, Jesus explained; the Holy Spirit would come upon them so that they might carry out a great mission to both Jews and Gentiles -- to the utter ends of the earth -- before the Kingdom's true fulfillment would emerge.
I would like to highlight a few points from today's passages:
1. God is sovereign over the plan for the Kingdom. While originally read as a coronation psalm, concerned with an earthly king like David, Psalm 2 points ahead to the suffering of Jesus and the persecution of the early church (Acts 4:23-31). The psalm indicates that the nations and their kings will oppose the work of the Son, the Anointed One. Please note that Christ or Messiah are the Greek and Hebrew equivalents, respectively, for this term "the Anointed One." Once Jesus arrives on the scene, therefore, this psalm indeed takes on new meaning. We learn that the Son will have the nations as His "inheritance" and will mete out justice. As we see oppression and falsehood in the institutions that govern our society and others, we may have confidence that ultimately God will bring relief and justice to those who have fallen short of His commands. Still, we should partner with God to bring justice to those who are hurting and oppressed in this time, echoing the words of Jesus's mission in Luke 4.
2. Psalm 22 foretells Jesus's time on the Cross. As Pastor Scott has taught many times, Jesus's cry of agony on the Cross -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" -- also falls at the beginning of this psalm. To his Jewish hearers, this cry of agony would immediately call to mind this psalm; Jesus was claiming its fulfillment on the Cross! The graphic words used to describe the Savior's death in the middle of psalm would be strange to Jewish hearers in David's time because crucifixion had not yet emerged as a execution method. Yet, the words of the psalm cover specific elements of Jesus's passion: the disjointedness of crucifixion, His thirst, His piercing for our transgressions, and the casting of lots for His clothing.
3. The heart that worships will find its fill in God's presence. Psalm 27 gives us examples of how waiting on the Lord will ultimately lead to our deliverance. David is confident that God, "my lifht and my salvation," will be the "stronghold of my life" and will protect him from fear. What drives our fear? Some sources may include danger, financial struggles, health problems, or relationship disconnections. Most of our fear stems from uncertainty, or even more deeply a lack of complete trust in the Lord. I struggle with this daily. Intellectually, I know that God is fully sovereign and in control, but, as Pastor Scott wrote earlier this week, we often see our problems as big and God as small. How foolish of me! I trust Him for salvation, and yet the small details of life, I fear, are out of His control. More and more, I have been learning that walking with the Lord involves daily surrender of those factors that would cause us to fear and a replacement of those surrendered items with God's presence. Worship is an expression of that replacement: "to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD/ and to seek him in his temple." David concludes that we may "be strong and take heart" as we "wait for the LORD." We need to hear His voice and experience His presence to overcome fear.
QUESTIONS
1. What fears are in your heart right now? How can you trust in Him at this time?
2. How can you heart His voice and experience His presence to overcome fear?
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