Wednesday: Eternal King of Unrivaled Power
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 28th of February 2024
Read Psalms 2:1-12; Psalms 110:1-3; Psalms 89:4,13-17; and Psalms 110:5-6. What do these texts teach us about Christ as King?
The portrayal of God as the Messiah’s Father points to the coronation of the king when the king was adopted into God’s covenant (Psalms 2:7, Psalms 89:26-28). Psalms 2:1-12:7 foresees Christ’s resurrection and exaltation as the dawn of the new everlasting covenant and Christ’s royal priesthood (Acts 13:33-39, Hebrews 1:5, Hebrews 5:5).
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
The Messiah sits at God’s right hand as Someone who has unprecedented honor and authority (Psalms 110:1; Acts 7:55-56). “Moreover, the interplay between the Lord and the ‘anointed’ (Messiah) even suggests an intention to identify this Davidic Messiah with the Lord Himself. . . . If the one who sits at the right is the Lord, then, the Lord is the Messiah, since the latter is also seen at the right [see Psalms 110:1, 5]._”—Jacques Doukhan, _On the Way to Emmaus (Clarksville, MD: Lederer Books, 2012), pages 26, 27.
In the end, Christ will have absolute victory over His enemies. To make the enemies a “footstool” is an image that reflects the custom of the ancient Near Eastern kings to place their feet on the necks of their defeated enemies to demonstrate total dominance over them. Yet, Christ’s rod here is not a tool of terror (Psalms 2:9, Psalms 110:2).
The rod (“staff”) was originally held by tribal leaders as the symbol of the tribe (Numbers 17:2-10). Christ’s rod comes from Zion because He represents the people of Zion. His rod is a symbol of divine judgment, which ends the rule of evil and depicts Christ’s unrivaled reign (Revelation 2:27, Revelation 12:5). Even the wicked kings are given a chance to repent and submit to the Messiah (Psalms 2:10-12).
One graphic depiction of Christ’s ultimate victory is found in the pre-Advent scene in Daniel 7:1-28, which shows that, after judgment is given “ ‘in favor of the saints of the Most High’ ” (Daniel 7:22, NKJV), His kingdom is established, and “ ‘His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom’ ” (Daniel 7:27, NKJV). Because of the Cross, the promise of the kingdom is assured.
A blessing is promised to all who trust in the King, and the people rejoice in the Messiah’s sovereign and righteous reign (Psalms 2:12, Psalms 89:15-17).
How nice it is to know that, yes, in the end, good will triumph over evil, justice will be done, and pain and suffering will forever be vanquished. How should this truth give us comfort now when, from a human perspective, evil seems to prosper?
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I don't think the Psalmists thought they were writing messianic prophecies in the sense that we interpret them today. Having read the book of Psalms from beginning to end in the last few months (Some of it was very hard to read) I get the idea that what was uppermost in their mind was that God was going to kick their enemies in the butt and that the Hebrew nation would be vindicated and come out on top. The significance of the messianic psalms was that Jesus applied these psalms to himself.
And in this context it is worth remembering a couple of quotes from C S Lewis's "https://amzn.to/49AbAJN" (I know I have used these quotes recently but they are relevant to the the current discussion):
I am leaving some of the argument out but Lewis's conclusion in incisive:
In reference to the Psalms, we accept the messianic message of the Psalms through the lens of Jesus' interpretation and the only way that makes sense is if he was exactly who he claimed to be.
Most important really is understanding the conceptualization of God from ancient Abraham days in Persia and through and within the Canaanite world not leaving alone Egypt. History indicates there were gods before the Supreme LORD GOD YAHWEH is His name. That said the title God was and is very commonly used throughout the Bible. Jesus is God
Science tells us that the Earth is rotating on its axis a bit faster. We may not feel that, but technology certainly makes time seem much faster. The speed of communication, the speed of information-getting, the speed of transactions...all of these things even our grandparents couldn't have imagined. My musician friend was showing me his new app yesterday where he can compose and access musical scores from people around the world on public domain instantly and in abundance...more creative options than he has life left to explore. When we skim information rapidly it gives even more of a feeling that the days of our life are slipping away. God told Daniel that one of the signs of the very end of time would be a frantic pace as "many will run to and fro and knowledge will increase" (Dan.12:4). We can run to and fro without leaving our couches!
Our texts today signal to us that time is indeed fast and running out. Jesus's resurrection is when He became the Son of God in power (Rom.1:4). God the Father made a declaration that the human throne in Jerusalem and the divine throne in heavenly Zion were now one ... Jesus ascended to heaven and took His seat on the throne as both the Son of God and the Son of Man/David (Heb.1:3-5). God the Father made a renewed declaration of Sonship (Ps.2:7).
Now that the resurrected King Jesus is on the throne, the rulers of the nations had better stop arguing and raging (Ps. 2:1-3) and start answering the Holy Spirit's call and repenting (Ps. 2:10-12). Satan's rebellion has already failed before all the universes. The war is already over. The white flag has been waved, and though the losing side is still attacking....God tells everyone that "the times of ignorance" are over (Acts 17:30-31).
We are in a time of judgment already. All the lives of we who call ourselves "Christian" are being reviewed in heaven's courts, first the dead and then the living. Is it our turn already? History is racing toward final judgment when the nations will soon see that they are a footstool for the feet of the Son (Ps.110:1). Those who thought they could crush Jesus underfoot like a helpless worm on the Cross will be bowled over when His true strength and authority are fully revealed (Mark 14:62; Ps.110:5,6).
Whenever we glorify and trust in our own strength we are just as foolish as unbelievers. It's only the light of Jesus's countenance lovingly looking at us that is our strength (Ps.89:15,17). Oh dear Lord, help us to stay focused upon Your face! Everyone needs to kiss the Son and hide in Him while there is time to make this choice (Ps.2:12). Those of us who have made the choice to live under the rule of King Jesus want to save plenty of time each day to contemplate His divinity and power. We want to be among those who "serve the Lord with reverential fear and rejoice with trembling" (Ps.2:11).
Every time Christ's portrait is shown, a different attempt to describe Him should be made. Some repeated pictures of Him, in the human form, may give us a different idea of how He was. Noticeably, He was an ordinary man, One Who blended in with the multitude. The difference from the surrounding human figures was the glow. A glow that only the time spent with the Father could give Him. Through prayer, He could (imaginaryly) be restored to His original nature. Let's do the same! Would you like to look special today? So, spend some time with the Father and fool your programmed genetic decay; look for the Father, and people will notice your glow, too. This glow is all about someone full of Love.
Psalm 2:12 - “Blessed are those who put their trust in Him”!
Psalm 110:3 - “.. In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth!
I have struggled to understand which of the words of God pointing to David as the blessed one and which point to Jesus the Messiah. It is still not totally clear to me who God addresses or points to, but I found that it does not really matter as both of them are called out/blessed to reveal God’s unrivaled power.
I place my focus on that both trusted God to be involved in all aspects of their lives ‘from the womb of the morning’. David’s blessing was that he was able to know and acknowledge that the power for his victories is God's power in Whom he trusts.
Jesus’ blessing was His utter abandonment of self, His willingness to immerse Himself in God’s calling for Him to do His Will – Matt.12:18. Both are called to trust God whom they represent to their people to have fully equipped them to introduce/demonstrate His power to them.
The lesson writer states: “His rod is a symbol of divine judgement, which ends the rule of evil ..”. I see this 'bringing about the end of evil' is what David and Jesus came to accomplish through God’s unrivaled power - and both succeeded! We are called to do likewise!