Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

• Hezekiah- “ When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses every- where.” (35)

“ The Lord Almighty is here among us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah/Interlude.” (7)

Jesus Christ is seen in this psalm as the God who is among us. The angel told Joseph that his son would be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “ All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet; ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Im- manuel (meaning, God is with us).” (Mt. 1:22,23)

III THE REIGN OF GOD - 8-11

“ Come and see the glorious works of the Lord: see how he brings destruction upon the world and causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear in two; he burns the shields with fire.” (8,9) The influence of Isaiah upon this psalm is very strong. This passage along with the “ God with us” and “the river of God” scriptures show us that the song writers were deeply impacted by the great prophetic voices of their day. This event in Jerusalem where God caused the war to cease is projected into a future prophetic day when all wars will end. Again Isaiah prophesies: “ The Lord will settle inter- national disputes. All the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. All wars will stop, and military training will come to an end.” (Isa. 2:4) Boice says of this passage: “ this is not advice to us to lead a contemplative life…It means rather, “Lay down your arms. Surrender, and acknowledge that I am the one and only victorious God 2 .”’ Both Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah were elevated in honor by the nations around them after God’s victory on behalf of Jerusalem. • Jehoshaphat- “ When the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.”(2 Chron. 20:29-30) • Hezekiah- “ So there was peace at last throughout the land. From then on King Hezekiah be- came highly respected among the surrounding nations, and many gifts for the Lord arrived at Jerusalem, with valuable presents for King Hezekiah, too.” The name of the man “Israel/Jacob” is used as a collective name for the nation. Throughout Scrip- ture God never fully abandons Jacob’s name in favor of his new name, Israel. It is probable that Jacob represents our human nature that is subject to temptation, deceit and selfishness; and Israel refers to the ‘new man’, Christ, that is given to us at our second birth. God promises to ‘be with us’ as the ‘God of Jacob’, the God of imperfect humanity (Jacob) who have been given the perfect nature of Christ. (Is- rael) Jesus is the ‘Lord of Hosts’, Commander-in-Chief of the armies of heaven. In the end of all things, he will be victorious! “ Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, ” is the title of Luther’s Hymn; ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God’ in the German language. The Lord has been and will always be a refuge and fortress in times of trouble for his church. “ Be silent, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” (10) “ The Lord Almighty is here among us; the God of Jacob (Israel) is our fortress.” (11)

1 Boyce 2 Boyce

112