Psalm 21:1 ¶ «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.» The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! 2 Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. 5 His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. 6 For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
David gives thanksgiving to God. Notice in the first verse that
David’s salvation like most of the time salvation is mentioned in the Bible it
is a reference to physical deliverance from enemies and from trouble. I once
did a word study on saved and salvation throughout the Bible and
more than 90% of the time it had to do with deliverance from a temporal problem
or person. But, in reading this passage is this really only about temporal
salvation?
David declares that God has given him what he has asked for. Verse
3 gives us a tough word, preventest, used only here. It comes from prevent,
which can mean to go before another at the time of this translation. Think of
pre-event. See the following;
Psalm 59:10 The God of my
mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
Psalm 79:8 O remember not
against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for
we are brought very low.
Psalm 88:13 But unto thee
have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
Psalm 119:148 Mine eyes
prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
1Thessalonians 4:15 For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Note Psalm 21:4;
4 He asked life of thee,
and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
Is David declaring that God has given him eternal life as we are
promised as Christians or is for ever and ever just a long time, perhaps
a lifetime only? Again in verse 6 the phrase for ever is used.
Preacher and Bible commentator from the 1700s, John Gill, says
this is indeed a reference to everlasting life while Matthew Henry notes that
this is a reference to David’s kingdom as lasting his lifetime and beyond and
then he gives a more prophetic twist.
Prophetically, Matthew Henry notes that this points forward to the
salvation offered by Christ alone and also notes how Christ continues the
kingdom of David into eternity as a type of David.
Ezekiel 34:23 And I will
set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David;
he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my
servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have
given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall
dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for
ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the
days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and
a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the
earth.
This brings up a rather controversial point of Biblical interpretation.
In Biblical Christianity we are not called to believe absolutely on things we
cannot see. The Israelites saw the miracles of the Red Sea and their nation was
founded on signs. We have God walking in flesh like our own on the earth. We
sort of have Him in written form in the Bible. The Israelites see the record of
David as a righteous king and can imagine Christ in His return as a righteous
king ruling over mankind for a thousand years. We are told in the Psalms that
the Heavens declare the glory and handiwork of God. We see the proofs of God’s
existence and His love all around us just as we see the consequence of our sin
nature, death itself, all around us and we drive our cars and fly our
airplanes, regardless of what the communists fantasize, on the remains of the
pre-Flood biological life that has been compressed in the earth for thousands
of years. David is a type of Christ and that idea is used by the Holy Spirit in
several places.
For us, personally, notice this;
Revelation 1:6 And hath
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 5:6 ¶ And I
beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and
seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the
right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty
elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden
vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation; 10 And hast made us
unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years.
This can be a prayer of thanksgiving for us for through Christ we
have the victory in eternity.
Psalm 21:7 ¶ For the king
trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be
moved. 8 Thine hand shall find out all
thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. 9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the
time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire
shall devour them. 10 Their fruit shalt
thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against thee:
they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to
perform. 12 Therefore shalt thou
make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows
upon thy strings against the face of them. 13
Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and
praise thy power.
In this part of Psalm 21 we have the reason for David’s confidence
in the Lord God. It is because he trusts in God and in verse 7 the other side
of this coin is presented in that because of God’s mercy David shall not be moved
from a word that suggests being shaken or falling down. We might even say
troubled.
Psalm 10:6 He hath said in
his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
Psalm 15:5 He that putteth
not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that
doeth these things shall never be moved.
Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD
always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Psalm 62:2 He only is my
rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
Psalm 62:6 He only is my
rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
Psalm 112:6 Surely he shall
not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
David makes this statement in the third person and this passage is
about his confidence in what God will do for him, the king. Notice that it is
God whose hand finds all of David’s enemies and deals with them. This is a
statement of the confidence in David’s assurance that God is blessing his rule
and his kingdom. Literally, this passage is a song of praise and thanksgiving
about God’s protection of David’s kingdom.
However, that being said, in prophecy this can be applied to
Christ and to the end of His millennial reign. Read the prophets Ezekiel, Joel,
and also Zechariah as these passages may have references to the end of the
millennium and also see Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and Revelation and
read the contexts surrounding the following verses;
Ezekiel 39:6 And I will
send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and
they shall know that I am the LORD.
Joel 2:3 A fire devoureth
before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden
before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape
them.
Zechariah 14:12 And this
shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have
fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon
their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue
shall consume away in their mouth.
2Thessalonians 1:7 And to
you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Revelation 20:7 And when
the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which
are in the four quarters of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And
they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints
about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and
devoured them. 10 And the devil that
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and
the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Personally, for us now, we can’t take this to mean that God will
destroy our human enemies. We are not told to think that way toward those who
hate us and hurt us.
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Luke 6:27 But I say unto
you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Remember, Jesus’ correction of His disciples;
Luke 9:51 ¶ And it came to
pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set
his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent
messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the
Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53
And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go
to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples
James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to
come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye
know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
But our human enemies must sleep at some point and we have enemies
who are more hurtful and cruel than mere flesh and blood. They are spiritual
enemies and our warfare against them is part of our sanctification.
Ephesians 6:12 For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.
2Corinthians 10:3 For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness
to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
No comments:
Post a Comment