Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

on which they city was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he slipped away through the crowd and left them.” (Lk. 4:28-30)

“My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows. But the Lord is good; he has cut the cords used by the ungodly to bind me.” (3, 4)

The image is from a farming culture and pictures the Israelites as a people in bondage being plowed under a field. This was the practice of ancient nations when they conquered their most vicious enemies. Some see it as the abuse suffered by the animal pulling the plow; ‘its back is torn open like furrows of the field.’ 2 The Lord mercifully cuts the cords that bind the person or the animal to the plow and allows them to go free. The Book of Hebrews tells us about some of the great believers of the Old Testament: “Some were mocked, and their backs were cut open with whips.” (Heb. 11:36) Christ fulfilled these verses centuries later when he gave his back to be beaten by the Roman sol- diers: “Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.” (Jn. 19:1) Isaiah prophesies of the spir- itual significance of that horrible event, Jesus was paying the price for our peace and healing: “He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!” (Isa. 53:5) The Apostle Peter again underscores the profound depth of the meaning of his suffering: “You have been healed by his wounds.” (1 Pet. 2:24) He turned the turmoil and sickness of sin into peace and wholeness as his back was cut deeply by the plowmen of Rome. All of the Apostles experienced persecution by flogging in the days following Christ’s resurrection but no one in recorded history has ever experienced more scars upon his back on behalf of Christ and his church than Paul. • “I have been whipped…times without number, and faced death again and again.” (2 Cor. 11:23) • “ Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes.” (2 Cor. 11:24) • “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned.” (2 Cor. 11:25) Christ’s suffering was a completed work never to be repeated again but he does suffer with his peo- ple as his Kingdom advances with persecution. 1.) “May all who hate Jerusalem [Zion] be turned back in shameful defeat.” (5) All Zion-haters is ‘a newly coined name for the enemies of the religion of Israel.’ 3 It is not clear whether these are internal or external enemies as there were those within the nation that were twisted into opposing the taberna- cle worship established by David on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It most certainly included the hostile na- tions surrounding them: ‘It is hatred against the place of God’s revelation and presence that Israel has to bear and suffer.’ 4 2.) “May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop, turning yellow when only half grown, ignored by the harvester, despised by the binder.” (6, 7) This verse strengthens the idea that Hezekiah authored the psalm in remembrance of the Assyrians siege of Jerusalem during his reign. Isaiah uses this phrase to explain the power that God had granted to the King of Assyria over all the nations; “They are like grass sprouting on a housetop, easily scorched by the sun.” (Isa. 37:27) Now that same power and au- thority is used against Assyria causing them to become like “grass on a rooftop.” There are ‘internal haters of Zion’ who despise the church and band themselves together in opposition to godly leaders. They have no harvest as their rooftops with shallow soil, are incapable of producing healthy plants for the Lord. 3.) “And may those who pass by refuse to give them the blessing: ‘The Lord’s blessings be upon you; we bless you in the Lord’s name.’” (8) There was a joy among the harvesters of the nation as they saw the fields yielding crops that would feed the people. They would greet each other with a blessing as in the days of Boaz and Ruth: “Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. ‘The Lord be with you!’ he said. ‘The Lord bless you!’ the harvesters replied.” (Ruth 2:4) The ‘haters of Zion’ can- not rich reward of conversions to Christ. Paul dealt with the jealous attitudes among believers that destroy II TURNED BACK IN SHAMEFUL DEFEAT - v.5-8 The Triumph of His People Now the singer turns to the future and offers three ‘may…’ prayers concerning the destiny of those who oppose God’s nation and purposes.

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