Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

6. He is Eternally Blessed - “ You have endowed him with eternal blessings.” (6) The ‘eternal blessing’ that God promised to David was that his ‘seed’ would forever reign on the throne. Revelation allows us to glimpse into the throne room of heaven : “ They also sang: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”(Rev. 5:13) 7. He is Forever in God’s Presence - “ You have given him the joy of being in your presence. ” David discovered the tremendous joy that is in the presence of God. “ You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” (Ps. 16:11) “ For the king trusts in the Lord. The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling.”(7) Our trust in the Lord is based upon God’s agreement with David. ‘ Unfailing love ’ was promised to him and his seed forever. We who believe in Jesus, the Son of David, have become heirs of the promises and can be assured that his love will never let us fall. “ You will capture all your enemies. Your strong right hand will seize all those who hate you. You will destroy them as in a flaming furnace when you appear. The Lord will consume them in his anger; fire will devour them. You will wipe their children from the face of the earth; they will never have descendants. Although they plot against you, their evil schemes will never succeed. For they will turn and run when they see your arrows aimed at them.”(8-12) This is a prophecy that is hard to understand outside of the context in which David lived in Old Tes- tament times. His enemies worshiped gods that were brutal and bloodthirsty and consequently the na- tions were incredibly cruel. The laws of the Old Testament gave the enemy nations the opportunity to surrender to Israel and have their lives spared although it rarely happened. “ As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace…But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town.” (Deut. 20:10,12) God first offers his goodness and mercy before turning to his less-preferable side of severity and judgment. David dealt with the nations according to the depth of their ungodliness and brutality: “ David also conquered the land of Moab. He made the people lie down on the ground in a row, and he meas- ured them off in groups with a length of rope. He measured off two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared.” (2 Sam. 8:2) We who live in the era of grace have enemies that we must deal with in severity or they will destroy us. First there is the devil and his kingdom of deception and lies. Jesus told us he came: “ to steal and kill and destroy.” (Jn. 10:10) We are to resist him steadfastly, make no room for him, and pray that we may constantly avoid him and be delivered from him. The second enemy is our own ‘sinful nature’ that expresses itself by lust, anger, murder, adultery, idolatry, jealousy etc. We must put to death our ‘sinful nature’ unmercifully just as David treated the natural enemies of the Old Testament. “ So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do…But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you (put it to death) and its evil deeds, you will live.”(Rom. 8:12,13) II THE VANQUISHING HIS ENEMIES - 8-12

III THE VOICING OF HIS PRAISES – 13

“ We praise you, Lord, for all your glorious power. With music and singing we celebrate your mighty acts.”(13)

Victory is the great source of our praise. Who celebrates after the contest? Surely not the defeated team but the winner. The kingdom of Israel celebrated David’s victory: “ But something happened when the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed Goliath. Women came out from all the towns along the way to celebrate and to cheer for King Saul, and they sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals. This was their song: ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!’”(1 Sam. 18:6,7) Jesus has ascended to heaven and is crowned Lord of all. He has become the source of never- ending praises for those who have experienced his triumph over sin. This psalm presents us with three expressions of praise:

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