Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

Psalms. What an amazing credit to his character that he respected Saul as King yet was the victim of his insane jealousy and wrath.

As David is going around the mountain in the wilderness of Maon, Saul is circling on the other side like lions described here. As people of faith, we experience the same opposition in the spiritual realm from the dark prince of this world: “ Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.”(1 Pet. 5:8) “ Arise, O Lord! Stand against them and bring them to their knees! Rescue me from the wicked with your sword! Save me by your mighty hand, O Lord, from those whose only concern is earthly gain. May they have their punishment in full. May their children inherit more of the same, and may the judgment continue to their children’s children.”(13,14) David prays the banner prayer that was handed down to him from Moses: “ Arise, O Lord.”(See Psalm 3:7) This emergency prayer gains immediate access to God’s presence and mercy. The lan- guage of this psalm turns dark and dissonant as David prays in a realm he has not touched before. He is praying that his enemies receive the punishment that God has reserved for those who would do evil actions. As those who live in an age of grace, Jesus taught us to bless our enemies and leave the judg- ment to him. Both righteousness and evil have a way of transferring to subsequent generations. “ But because I have done what is right, I will see you. When I awake, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you face to face.”(15) The NKJV renders this: “ I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. ” The greatest hope of the believer is expressed here in poetic language, the resurrection of our bodies from the dead. David describes it as ‘awakening from the sleep of death.’ Because of Christ’s resurrection in Psalm 16, those who love him will experience the resurrection of the righteous at the end of time. Isaiah explained: “ Yet we have this assurance: those who belong to God will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For God’s light of life will fall like dew on his people in the place of the dead! (Isa. 26:19) The final triumph of Christ’s victory will bring us face to face with the God we love IV WHEN I AWAKE - The Prayer of Eternal Life- 15

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Keil & Delitzsch

PSALM 18: I WILL PRAISE YOU AMONG THE NATIONS Making His Victory Known

This magnificent psalm is presented in two parallel dimensions. The first dimension is a poetical description of God rescuing David from his enemies and causing him to be the ruler of the nations and the second is God rescuing his Son from the grave and giving him Lordship over his worldwide kingdom. The New Testament writers quote two of the verses and interpret them to be the words of Christ. Verse 2 is quoted in Hebrews 2:13 “ He (Jesus) also said, ‘I will put my trust in him ’” and verse 49 is attributed to be the words of Jesus in Romans 15:9 “ …That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote: ‘I (Jesus) will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name. ’” Verse 50 affirms that this psalm is speaking prophetically of God’s king, his anointed Messiah, the ‘seed’ of David. Jesus is the one who fulfills that three-fold description. This psalm is also found in 2 Samuel 22 but with some differences. Whenever God repeats a song, it is very important for us to listen. This is the longest of the hymn psalms of David. The first part of the psalm focuses on the ‘shield’ (1-27) representing God’s defense and rescue of David from all his ene- mies. The second introduces the ‘horn’ (28-50) representing the ‘offensive’ conquering of the nations and establishment of the great kingdom of God. It ends with a worldwide vision of praise for the Messiah.

I THE SHIELD OF PROTECTION - 1-27 II THE HORN OF POWER - 28-42 III THE NATIONS PRAISE - 43-50

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