Good morning everyone. How are we this morning? Excellent.
Well, it is my honor and joy to preach the word this morning.
When I was in fifth grade, I remember looking at the syllabus for English class and seeing that in the second half of the year we were going to focus on poetry. None of the boys were particularly excited about this and the dread only increased the closer we got. Once we started the unit, we learned about all the different types of poetry.
There were so many different types to choose from and our teacher told us that we were going to have to prepare a poem and read it in front of the class. We could have picked an acrostic where the lines are arranged so the first letter spells out a word, or a ballad where there’s a narrative poem following a four line stanza rhyming pattern. But frankly, those seemed like a lot of work. Elegy, epic, free verse, haiku, limerick, ode, sonnet. None of those were quite right.
Then one day one of the boys discovered a little known type of poetry buried deep within the textbook. It was called a minimalist monostitch. A minimalist monostitch is exactly what it sounds like. A poem consisting of one word. That was exactly what all the boys were looking for.
I think our teacher would have preferred if we not discovered this type of poetry. But there it was in black and white in the textbook. We all very quickly became minimalist monostitch poets. And if you will allow me, I would like to recite for you my fifth grade poem, written, composed and performed by me.
Leaf.
You like that? Is that doing something for you?
That exercise unfortunately did nothing but confirm for us our worst fears that poetry is a silly, abstract, impossible, short of genre, with no correct connection to the real world. I think this disconnect that many of us, especially perhaps males, have with poetry can hinder our comprehension of the Old Testament. Psalms, lamentations are entirely poetry. Job, Ecclesiastes, mainly poetry. Large portions of Isaiah, Jeremiah and the minor prophets.
Poetry. Speaking on preaching poetry, retired president of the Proclamation Trust, David Jackman says, do we just iron it all out and say let’s squeeze the systematic theology out of it and present that? Or does the genre actually do something which we need because God himself has inspired it in this form and which we need to learn about and work at if we are really going to learn the Bible for all it’s worth? Poetry conveys ideas and vivid imagery, revealing a deep understanding through its richness. When we look at the Bible, understanding Old Testament poetry has significant advantages.
The simian trust lists several of them. Compression compression forces you to see ideas formed closer together than possible in prose repetition, which enables us to understand emphasis Surprises Understanding connections that you would have never thought could go together that challenge our preconceptions and promote a deeper understanding of the text. Emotional reaction Using vivid verbs to deepen our worship Working through the mind to the heart and the will Memorization the rhythmic repeating nature allows for easier memorization. This is probably why the much of Old Testament prophecy is is written in poetry. So when we study poetry in the Bible, there is so much more going on than pure prose.
So as we study psalms together over the summer, we will of course lay out the systematic theology, the ordering and understanding of Christian doctrines, but also look for how the poet deepens your understanding using what Jonathan Edwards calls your affections the mind, the heart and the response of the heart and the will. As Aaron pointed out last week, while the Book of Psalms is one book in our Bibles, traditionally it was broken down into five sections, mirroring the five books of the Torah. Book 1 Psalm 1:41 sets the stage with an introduction and focuses on on the themes of God’s law and the Davidic covenant. Book 2, Psalms 42:72 explores themes of hope for the Messiah in the Messianic Kingdom. Book 3, Psalm 73:89 delves into God’s justice and the hope for God’s deliverance.
Book 4:90 to 106 emphasizes God in the kingdom as the King of all Creatures. Creation. Book 5, 107 to 150 culminates in praise, thanksgiving, and songs of ascent. Each book concludes with a doxology that ends the section. Psalm 41 ends Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.
From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen. Psalm 72 Blessed be His glorious name forever May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. Psalm 89 Blessed be the Lord forever.
Amen and amen. Psalm 106 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting Let all the people say Amen. Praise the Lord. Psalm 150 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
See how understanding the structure brings out poetic elements. For this summer’s preaching series, we are focused on 11 Psalms in book 5. Aaron kicked it off last week with 107 and will close us with Psalm 150 at the end of July. Today we turn our attention to Psalm 110. I structured Psalm 110 into three parts, verses one through three the Lord of David’s Lord, verse four, a divine oath, and five to seven, a final judgment.
So if you would grab a Bible, let’s open to Psalm 110 together.
Psalm 110. The Psalm of David. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies.
Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments from the womb of the morning. The dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek.
The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook, by the way, therefore, he will lift up his head.
Let’s pray.
Father, we are humbled to be in your presence this morning. Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your presence.
Father, I pray that your words would be remembered and that my words would be forgotten in Jesus name. Amen.
If I were to ask you, what passage of the Old Testament is the most quoted in the New Testament? What would you guess? Isaiah 6 and 53 are quoted several times. Deuteronomy 6, the Ten Commandments and Exodus 20 are up there. But no passage is quoted and referenced more than Psalm 110.
The commentator James Montgomery Boice counted 27 direct quotations or indirect allusions. Augustine said of Psalm 110, a Psalm short indeed as to the number of its words, but vast and weighty as to its content, a signed copy of God’s promises. So let’s get into the text. The first question that we need to answer is who wrote it? Some of the time it doesn’t necessarily, necessarily matter who wrote what.
But in this case, it deeply, deeply matters. If you look down at your Bible at Psalm110, if you’re looking at an ESV, you will see a title that says, sit at my right hand. If you have an American Standard, it says, jehovah gives dominion to the King. New King James says announcement of the Messiah’s reign. King James, niv, nasb, among others, have no title.
The point is, is that the title is a superscription that the Bible editors inserted into the text to help the reader. But it’s not actually original biblical text. Why do I bring that up? Because the next thing you see sometimes in Smaller italicized lettering says a Psalm of David. And you could be forgiven for thinking that, like the title, it’s a superscription added by Bible editors at some point in history.
But it’s not. Bible scholar Don Carson says the entirety of Hebrew manuscripts that have come down to us, that not one leaves it out. And of course, they didn’t have different fonts in those days. So in every manuscript, the word a Psalm of David is written as part of the psalm and is meant to be read as such. As we dig into the text, we will see that we have an even better argument for Davidic authorship, the words of Jesus himself.
So let’s start with our first section, verses 1 to 3. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
As we read the beginning of verse one, the backdrop of Davidic authorship is important. The psalm starts. The Lord says to my Lord. The question naturally arises, to whom does David the King call my Lord? He says Lord in all capitals, denoting Yahweh.
The name of God says to my. My Lord, who is greater than David? Certainly the King would not refer this title to any living person. David here is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is getting a window into the Godhead. It would be Jesus who answers this question.
All three synoptic gospels record this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. We can find it in Matthew 22, Mark 12 and Luke. But let’s turn briefly to Matthew 22, verses 41 to 46. While you turn there, let me give you a little context. This is after the triumphal entry.
Jesus is in the temple in Jerusalem, speaking to what the text calls a large crowd. The religious leaders, Sadducees and Pharisees saw their chance to try and trap Jesus with wedge questions, to try and catch him, to either alienate Rome, Jewish law, or groups of his followers. They challenge him and his authority, paying taxes, the resurrection, the greatest commandment. Each time, Jesus outmaneuvers them, giving perfect answers. And now it is Jesus turn to ask the teachers a question.
Pick up in verse 41. Now, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, what do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He? They said to him, the Son of David. He said to them, how Is it then that David in the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.
If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him a word. Nor from that day did anyone dare ask him any more questions. Jesus in this exchange confirms for us two things. 1.
He confirms Davidic authorship. 2. Jesus confirms his own divinity. Jesus asked the Pharisees about the long awaited Messiah and whose son he would be. They reply, the Son of David.
And of course he is the Son of David. But if he is just the Son of David, then according to Jewish custom he would be inferior to David, for a father always had more honor than a son. But Jesus claims not just lineage but but divinity. In quoting Psalm 110, Jesus notes that the coming Messiah will not be just a special human descendant from David, he would also be David’s Lord. The fact that Jesus could claim more prominent of a role and title than his ancestor David indicates the divinity and uniqueness of the Messiah and the greater honor due to him as God made flesh.
Christopher Asch notes, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David prophesies about a person of infinite greatness who will be his descendant according to his humanity, but his Lord in virtue of his divinity, the greater David will be both king and priest, conquering the world with and for his people. Continuing in verse one. Sit in my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Another heavily quoted verse Carson comments, here is Yahweh, the great sovereign, Creator, covenant God, addressing the Messiah and saying, sit at my right hand. What do we infer from that?
1. He is greater than David. Acts 2:34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he ascended into heaven and sits at God’s right hand. 2 He is greater than angels. Hebrews 1:13 for to which of the angels, as he said, sit at my right hand?
There is no other mediating person that sits sits at the right hand of God. 3 He is exalted to God’s side. One author put it, God exalted him as emphatically as man rejected him. Acts 5:30 and 31 Jesus, whom you killed God exalted at your right hand for his seat at the right hand of God grounds his intercession for us. Romans 8:34 Acts 5:31 Christ, who is at your right hand the right hand of God intercedes for us.
5 His seating at the right hand of God signals the completion of his sacrifice. Hebrews 10 Every Levitical priest stands daily offering sacrifices repeatedly. But Christ sat daily down at the right hand of God because his work on the cross was utterly finished. The sacrifice of Christ never needs to be repeated, and covers us for all coming time.
Charles Spurgeon said, his work is done, and he may sit it is well done, and he may sit at his right hand. It will have grand results, and he may therefore quietly wait to see the complete victory which is sure to follow. 6. He awaits the ultimate conquest and surrender of his enemies. Hebrews 10.
He sits to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet. All these things we pick up about the Messiah from this one little verse. Verse 2. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter rule in the midst of your enemies. David expands on God’s declaration in verse 1.
The word Zion associates this prophecy with the Davidic covenant, a promise from God to King David guaranteeing an eternal kingdom and lineage through David’s descendants. But the verse says the Lord sends forth, meaning that this rule was not limited to Israel. The mighty scepter, like the rod of Moses from Exodus 14, is bringing freedom to slaves and defeating all of God’s enemies. Verse 3. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments from the womb of the morning the dew of your youth will be yours.
Verse three consists of two parts. The first half, your people refers to the Church. The poetry conjures up an image of spiritual warriors who offer themselves freely freely meaning prompt and cheerful obedience to Christ’s commands. James Hamilton observes that there will be no conscription necessary by the work of the Holy Spirit. They are made most willing converts by his omnipotent power, effectually inclining their hearts and making them willing.
Also important to note is that while Christ needs no help to conquer his enemies, he chooses to use the instrument of the Church. He gives us the gift of going to war with him, the war for people’s souls. We receive adoption as sons and daughters, and he draws us into himself to use us for his glory.
Wheaton College, my alma mater, Go Thunder for many, many years, had a very dominant soccer program. The men’s team won their first national championship in 1984. I remember when I was in school hearing a story about that game from a professor who was at it, who was there. Apparently the star of the team was a young man by the name of Dave Wolf. Dave would go on later to be the head coach at Westmont College.
In the championship game they were playing Brandeis University at Wheaton. Apparently there Were thousands of people there. He said he had never seen so many people lining the field all the way around. About three minutes before the end of the match, Dave blows out his ankle. He said it was 17 degrees outside and they put ice on his ankle.
Go figure. Wheaton won in a shootout. And all of a sudden the people charged the field to where the national championship trophy was going to be given.
And security roped off the area with yellow tape that they put out to keep the crowd back. And there was Wolf with his ankle wrapped in ice and crutches and. And he put his crutches under one arm and goes hopping out into the crowd. He wondered, what is he doing? His moment of glory.
Where is he going? And my professor said, I watched him, curious as all get out. And Dave goes and apparently found his little brother Phil. And he brings Phil in to the winners circle. Wow.
Years later, Phil coached a Wheaton team to a national championship out in Virginia. And I was told that when the yellow tape was put out just before they awarded the trophy, Phil went out into the crowd and he found the guy who had been the captain of the team the year before and missed out on the glory. And he brought him in to the winner’s circle.
God has chosen us to be an instrument of his will, and we get the privilege and the thrill of it to go out and to bring others in. Verse 3 continues on. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power. Ash says, the day of your power can be any day in which the Messiah wages spiritual warfare. And finally, it will be the day of his return.
I love the way that Isaiah 60 paints this picture. Starting in verse 19.
The sun shall be no more, your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light. But the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself. For the Lord will be your everlasting light. And your days of mourning shall be ended.
Your people shall all be righteous. They shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation. I am the Lord in its time, I will hasten it. God the Father continues speaking to the Son in verse three, where he says in the last line, from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
The people of God praising their victorious Messiah. The womb of the morning symbolizes a fresh start, an inauguration of Christ’s victorious reign from age to age. Christ’s reign will know no end. The dew of your youth will be yours. Verses 1 to 3 give us this portrait of a victorious warrior King, you, King Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the Father, his victory complete on the cross, and he has enlisted a beautiful, resplendent, eager army from every walk of life, every tribe and tongue and nation who joyfully follow the King into battle, the battle of fulfilling Christ’s call on His Church.
CS Lewis says in Mere Christianity it is so easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects education, building missions, holding services. But the Church exists for nothing else other than to draw men to Christ and to make them little Christians. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.
Second section is verse 4 the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Savior who will come to rule in the midst of his enemies is also the one who will come in a manner of Melchizedek. Dave Helm notes the English translation of the Order of Melchizedek could be better stated. This is not order in sense of a bloodline descent.
There wasn’t an order of Melchizedek that carried forward from his sons or a priesthood in that way. It’s not some kind of fraternal line of succession. No, rather, the order of Melchizedek would be more rightly stated the manner of Melchizedek or the likeness in which Melchizedek came. In other words, that God’s kingly priest is open to Melchizedek by way of analogy. So to come after the order of Melchizedek is to bear some likeness to Melchizedek.
To come after the order of Melchizedek is to come along under the scene in similar ways as Melchizedek did, so especially if you missed Aaron’s teaching in Hebrews 7 last fall. Who is Melchizedek? Melchizedek is a shadowy character found in just a few verses at the end of Genesis 14. Let’s turn to Genesis 14, and I’ll quickly remind us of the context.
So in Genesis 14 there are four kings who had banded together, and these are kings of small city states. So think of most likely 5,000 to 15,000 people in these nations. And these kings have armies that could probably best resemble raiding parties. The four get together under Kedorliomer and ultimately move south until they come into the area where Abram lives. And eventually they attack the king of Sodom and and the king of Gomorrah, who themselves are aligned with three other kings.
So now you have four kings versus five kings. Kedo Leomer wins and they take all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah along with them. Lot, the nephew of Abram. Abram then raises 318 of his own men, surprises them at night, defeats them and takes back the possessions. And of course, his nephew Lot.
There we are. So let’s pick up the story in Genesis 14 starting in verse 18 and Melchizedek, king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed him and said, blessed be Abram by God most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands. Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Carson comments now what should we learn from this?
From the most immediate context, Melchizedek clearly is a foil to Sodom. Abraham wouldn’t have anything to do with Sodom, wouldn’t receive anything from him, wouldn’t give anything to him. There’s a coldness between Sodom that represents the wickedness of the valleys. But but Melchizedek is another order. His name itself is significant, as so often in the Old Testament, it is meaning quite literally, king of righteousness.
He was the king of Salem. Salem meaning peace. So what are the things that we know about Melchizedek? 1. He was a king and a priest.
Why is that important? Because it was expressly forbidden. In fact, no one knew that better than David, who saw his predecessor Saul rejected by God for that exact thing, trying to take on the role of priest and king and his disobedience at Gilgal. 2 His name meant king of righteousness from peace. 3.
He arrives shrouded in mystery and then is gone. 4. He gives those with him bread and wine. 5. He gives all praise and honor to God most high.
6 Abram considered him worthy of a tithe. 7 His priesthood has no stated beginning, no stated end. How does our Lord Jesus take on the likeness of Melchizedek? 1. Only one who is fully God and yet fully man can claim the title of king and priest.
Jesus is the king who rules over God’s kingdom in Revelation 1 is heir to the throne in Hebrews 1 and will return to rule in 1 Corinthians 15.
Jesus is the perfect priest who Mediates on our behalf in Romans 8, offered the perfect sacrifice on the cross and continues to intercede for us. In Hebrews 7 Jesus number two Jesus embodied both righteousness and peace. Hebrews 7:3 Jesus arrives in Bethlehem shrouded in the amazing mystery of the virgin birth, completes his earthly mission and ascended. 4 Jesus pronounces to his followers that he is the bread of life. He gives bread and wine to his disciples, saying, this is my body, which is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it. Remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1 Corinthians 11:5 Jesus constantly gave all praise and honor to the Father. John Piper writes, what does Jesus mean in John 8:50 when he says, I do not seek my own glory? I think he means two things. First, he means, I do not seek the glory and wealth and power and prestige of the world. I am here to suffer and to be shamed, honored by the world.
And second, he means the glory that I do seek is my Father’s glory. For those who advise to see is also my glory. He does not seek his glory apart from the Father’s glory. He does not seek to be glorious with a private glory, but only with the Father’s glory embodied in his own person.
Number six Jesus calls to us to love and trust him in all areas of our lives because he is worthy of our praise. We must joyfully serve God in every aspect of our lives. Of course, this includes our money giving back generously to him what he has given to us. 2 Corinthians 9 Hebrews 7 asks, now if perfection has been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people receive the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron? But the author of Hebrews says Jesus was a higher priest, a guarantor of a better covenant.
Instead of the line of Aaron, you have a forever priest whose perfect sacrifice covers all transgressions for all coming time.
George Horne said it well. His priesthood is not like that of Aaron, figurative, successive and transient, but real and effectual, fixed and incommunicable, eternal and unchangeable.
Jesus can only be fully understood as both king and priest. Jonathan Edwards, in one of his most famous sermons, the Excellency of Jesus Christ said, there is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ. He continues, in the person of Jesus do not meet together infinite glory and lowest humility. Infinite glory and the virtue of humility meet in no other person but Christ. They meet in no created person, for no created person has infinite glory and they meet in no other divine person but Christ.
For though the divine nature be infinitely abhorrent to pride, yet humility is not properly predictable of God the Father and the Holy Ghost. That exists only in the divine nature, because it is proper excellency only of a created nature. For it consists radically in a sense of a comparative lowness and littleness before God, or the great distance between God and the subject of this virtue. But it would be a contradiction to suppose that any such thing in God, but in Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, those two diverse excellencies are sweetly united. He is a person infinitely exalted in glory and dignity.
Lastly, verses 5 to 7.
The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook, by the way, therefore he will lift up his head.
Verses 5 to 7 show us the final outworking of our priest and king. Just as his rule Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, so in conquest the Lord is at his right hand. The day of Wrath. The perfect judgment When God’s righteous anger is released on the enemies of God, God’s victory will be absolute and no one on earth will escape. The word chiefs is literally translated ahead, and when combined with over the wide earth, hints that all these kings are ultimately figures of a universal power of chaos that must be combated and destroyed so that peace may be a reality for God’s people.
While our modern sensibilities may have trouble with this stark language, the importance of absolute victory against evil and complete perfect justice should instill in us a peace, knowing that we need not fear the enemy’s of God. John Calvin writes, as a shepherd is gentle towards his flock, but fierce and formidable towards wolves and thieves. In like manner, Christ is kind and gentle towards those who commit themselves to his care, while they who willfully and obstinately reject his yoke shall feel with what awful and terrible power he is armed.
The Psalm ends with a return to the humanity of our conquering king. He will drink from the brook by the way, therefore he will lift up his head. Most commentators suggest that verse 7 seems to be a reference to Samson’s campaigns against the philistines. In Judges 15, Samson was dying of thirst after battle and God miraculously opened a spring and Samson was revived. David was writing thinking about these old deliverers of Israel, but Jesus Christ is the one to which all of them point and the one that ultimately fulfills them all.
In the 5th century there was a Greek Christian philosopher by the name of Pseudo Dionysus. Now would we fall in line completely with his theology? Probably not. Martin Luther was very critical of Dionysus in some writings, but was also very complementary of him and influenced by him heavily in in other writings. Dionysus created a framework for Christian spirituality.
It was later named the Scale of Perfection, but let’s more accurately label it the scale of maturity. It’s called the purgative, illuminative and the unitive phases of spiritual development.
David defines himself in relationship with his Lord. The Lord says to my Lord through sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. David, like a child outside his parents room, is listening to a conversation between the Godhead.
David sees God as holy and all powerful, conquering king. And if you read the Davidic Psalms, you’ll see David’s response so often is woe is me. I am unworthy, like in Psalm 51. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness. This is the purgative phase of spiritual development, the acknowledgement of God’s holiness and the responsive awareness of our brokenness.
David continues listening. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek, David, maybe for the first time realizes that the true Lord will not only be our forever king, a conquering king, the King of kings with all power and authority, but will equally be our forever priest, Capable of complete forgiveness, the perfect propitiation for all who he calls to himself. Like the example of Melchizedek, our Savior would confound the Jewish leaders just as he does today.
Scottish theologian James Stewart said he was the meekest and lowliest of all the sons of men. Yet he spoke of the coming on the clouds of heaven with the glory of God. He was so austere that evil spirits and demons cry out and terror is coming. Yet he was so genial and winsome and approachable that the children loved to play with him and the little ones nestled in his arms. His presence at the innocent gaiety of A village wedding was like the presence of sunshine.
No one was half so compassionate to sinners, yet no one ever spoke such red hot scorching words about sin. A bruised reed he would not break. His whole life was love. Yet on one occasion he demanded of the Pharisees how they would ever expect to escape the damnation of hell. He was a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions.
Yet for sheer stark realism he has all of our stark realists soundly beaten. He was the servant of all washing the disciples feet. Yet masterfully he strode into the temple and the hucksters and money changers fell over one another to get away from the mad rush and the fire they saw blazing in his eyes. He saved others, yet at last himself he did not save. There is nothing in history like the union of contrasts which confronts us in the Gospels.
The mystery of Jesus is the mystery of divine personality, the illuminative phase where we realize Jesus deep love for us that a perfect king would be our perfect sacrifice.
David the king, warrior, poet and in this case prophet who hears of Jesus victory writes these encouraging words. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power. David continues using stark language for the completeness of Christ’s victory. The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses. It is appropriately violent rhetoric, but listen to how Paul exposits this verse when he references it in Ephesians 1:20,23 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Did you catch that?
Tim keller comments. Psalm 110 says, the Lord is at your right hand, filling up the world with bodies. In Ephesians 1 Paul says, Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, filling the world with his body. And who’s the body? It’s us.
It’s the church. This is how Jesus Christ is defeating evil. He’s converting people. And for you and me to see the splendor of the king and come and follow him and join him in his kingdom, work is when you see the beauty of Jesus Christ.
David looks at God and God says, here’s my heart for the world. I am going to deploy my people into the world to joyfully fulfill my purposes. This is the final unitive phase when we unite our lives with the purpose that God has prescribed for us and doing his work in the world. There’s an evangelistic component to that and a discipling component to it.
Identify Christ for who he is. The purgative. God loves you and he forgives you. The illuminative. You move towards maturity when you unite with Christ, his kingdom, work and in the unitive, find yourself going out into the crowd and bringing others in to the winner’s circle.
Let’s pray together.
Father. Lord, we so often are humbled by your word. We’re such novices at this. Father. Father, I pray that through your Holy Spirit that you would teach us how to go out into the world and joyfully bring others in.
We thank you for who you are. We thank you for your forever son, your king and priest. Thank you for what you did for us on the cross, in the past, in the present and forever. Amen.