Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, Lord, please save us. [Hosanna!] Please, Lord, please give us success. Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. (24-26) The exact parallel between this psalm and ‘The Triumphal Entrance of Jesus’ into Jerusalem is un- mistakable. The gospel of John says: “A huge crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, ‘Hosanna!’ Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna to the King of Israel.”(Jn. 12:12, 13) Luke’s gospel says; “…all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.” (Lk. 19:37) Matthews gospel recounts; “He was in the center of the procession…” (Mt. 21:9) . This was a day where it seemed that the nation was receiving their King and Messiah with great rejoicing. They were shouting the word ‘Hosanna’ , found in verse 25 of the psalm which means ‘save us now.’ Even ‘the tab- ernacle branches are called “Hoshanoth 4 ”’ . As in this psalm, Jesus was in the middle of the Jerusalem procession receiving praise that was only reserved for the Messiah, the God of Israel. The children of the nation were blessing him calling him the Son of David from the Temple as predicted in the psalm: “…even the little children in the Temple shouting, ‘Praise God for the Son of David.’” (Mt. 21:15) Verse 26, “Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord…” this verse was reserved for the Messiah in the Jewish mind. When the religious leaders heard the crowds praising Jesus with this spe- cial phrase they reacted: “But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, ‘Teacher, rebuke your fol- lowers for saying things like that!’ He replied, ‘If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!’” (Lk. 19:39, 40) They did not ‘bless Jesus’ and missed their opportunity to receive him yet there is still a prophetic promise in the gospels of Matthew and Luke that the Jewish people would one day accept him. Jesus was looking over the city and prophesied; “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers!…For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Mt. 23:37, 39) This last section represents the possible beautiful antiphonal structure of the psalm that was sung by different groups of singers in the services of the temple; ‘ …it is the body of Levites and priests above on the Temple-hill who thus receive the congregation that has come up 5 .’ Verse 27 is translated in the NIV as; “The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the fes- tal procession up to the horns of the altar.” (27 NIV) Kraus says of this verse; ‘Very likely a sacred dance is involved, that of circling about the altar…’festival round dance’ or the ‘solemn dance around 6 ’ as the sacrifice was brought by the crowd of worshippers. This prophetic picture was fulfilled by Jesus, “the light of the world” , when he entered Jerusalem to offer his life upon the altar of the cross. He was the sacrificial lamb surrounded by the worshippers. After his passion and death the sacrifice of animals offered between the horns of the altar would no longer be required to cover the sins of humanity. Although there was extreme sadness at his impending cruci- fixion, there was joy in his heart as he anticipated his resurrection and the salvation of multitudes of be- lievers. Jesus, the great worship leader of heaven sings; “You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you!” (28) The world’s greatest Biblical scholars agree that these ‘individual verses were interpreted as applying to Jesus Christ, his suffering, and his resurrection 7 .’ We are invited to join in the massive congregation of believers who sing the National Anthem of the Kingdom of God in the closing verse of this song: “The Lord is God, shining upon us. [sung by the congregation] Bring forward the sacrifice and put it on the altar. [sung by the Levites and priests] You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! [sung by the worship leader] Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His love endures forever. ”[sung by the congregation] (27-29)

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” (29)

1 Kraus 2 Scroggie

3 Kraus 4 Kraus

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