The Anointed King—David

 

 

Psalm 8:6-9: You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen--even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.  O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

 

A.  The Background of Psalm 8—What was the occasion why David wrote this Psalm. 

1.    Psalm 8 corresponds with David’s slaying of Goliath in I Samuel 17.   David talks in verse 2 about the enemy and the avenger which would fit with Goliath.  Goliath talked about giving David’s body to the birds to eat; and in Psalm 8 it speaks of man as having dominion over the birds.

2.    David had been anointed king by the Lord

(I Samuel 16:13), and the Spirit of God had come upon him in power.  How did David win.  He was a teenager facing a man over 9 feet tall.  His family was not important in Israel, and he was even the least important in that family as the youngest.  He didn’t even have proper armor.  He won the victory because he acted like a king and depended on all the resources that God had given him when God anointed him king.  All of us face giants in life—health problems, difficult people, impossible demands, satanic attacks—and we will either conquer them or be conquered by them.  Like King Adam, we can depend on our old nature and fail—become a victim.  Or, like King David,  we can depend on Jesus Christ, and succeed.  But we have to have the anointing of God through faith.

3.    David “reigned in life” by faith at the moment he slew Goliath, even though he was not the recognized king at that time.  Application: We as Christians have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of God (I John 2:27), and even though we are not on our thrones we are seated with Christ on His throne.

B.   How we can “Reign in Life” like David

1.    Belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17)

2.    Yield ourselves to Christ and depend on His power (Romans 5:17)

3.    Depend on the Holy Spirit in prayer to work through us

(Romans 6-8)

4.    Live for God’s glory alone (Psalm 8:1, 9)

 

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"The Created King--Adam"

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Psalm 8:1-4: O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens!  Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.  When I consider Your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?  For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

 

David is writing in this Psalm about what God thinks of man.  Psalm 8 explains what is wrong and how to remedy it as the Psalm invites us to meet three kings who help in that explanation.  Today we will look at the created king--Adam.

 

Man was created in God's image (8:5), and was created for God's glory (8:1).  Man was created to serve as king over God's creation.  However, man lost his throne and his crown through sin (Psalm 8:4).  The story of Genesis 3 is that man wen t his own way and followed his own will.  Sin marred God's image in man, and sin robbed man of God's glory.  Sin ruined man, and man has all but ruined the creation.  Yet this passage says that God crowns him with glory and honor.

 

The most important question in the Bible is: What think ye of Christ?  The Psalms speak to that quite often.  David here asks: What is man?  God's opinion is quite different from evolution which sees man as an advanced animal, and communism, which sees man as an economic factor.   Man is of great value.  In fact, the Almighty thought so much of man and his plight that the Second Person of the Trinity was sent to this earth to take man's place.  How thankful we should be for redemption.

 

 

"The Appeal of the Messiah"

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Psalm 2:10-12: Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth.  Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.  Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

 

Here is an outline of these final verses that I trust you will review as they speak so much of the future that awaits us as believers.  I am sure there are days that you feel defeated.  Let these verses cheer you.   Indeed, we win!

 

A. The Admonition—Be wise (v. 10)

1. Destruction awaits rejecters (Matthew 21:44)

2. The stone will defeat the nations (Daniel 2)

B. The Direction—Serve the Lord with fear (v. 11)

1. The fear is a trembling reverence (Hebrews 12:28)—there must ever be a holy fear mixed with the Christian’s joy. Fear, without joy, is torment, and joy, without holy fear, would be presumption.

2. The rejoicing is gladness in the Lord and His service (Psalm 32:8). I think about all those who laugh to themselves that they have fooled God. They have cheated him from their time of worship, or think that they will still get all they need even though they cheat him with their tithes that they do not give.

C. The Final Persuasion—Kiss the Son (v. 12)

1. The thought of requiring a kiss is a sign of honor and a sign of allegiance to the King.

2. From John 5:23 we find that if we do not Kiss the Son, we have no part with the Father also.

Note the benediction with which the Psalm closes: “Blessed are they that put their trust in Him.” Our faith may be slender as a spider’s thread; but if it be real, we are in our measure blessed. The more we trust, the more fully shall we know this blessedness. We may therefore close the Psalm with the prayer of the apostles: “Lord increase our faith.”

"The Way to Prosperity"

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Psalm 1:3-6: He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.  The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

 

A.    Giving Produces Prosperity (Psalm 1:3; Luke 6:38)

We are to soak up God’s Word, producing actions and attitudes that honor God.

B.     Obedience to God’s Word Brings Prosperity (Joshua 1:8) 

C.     Honesty with God about our sins brings Prosperity

(Psalm 1:4-5; Proverbs 28:13)—Although evil people may get the upper hand at times, God assures us that a day is coming when their sins will be punished.  Chaff is the outer shell that must be removed to get at the valuable kernels of grain inside.  Chaff was removed by a process called threshing and winnowing.  Chaff is a symbol of a faithless life that drifts along without direction.  Good grain is a symbol of a faithful life that can be used by God.

D.    Material Prosperity vs. Spiritual Prosperity (Psalm 1:6; Luke 12:16-34)  We are not left in suspense as to whether it is worth it to follow God’s Law.  The choice is clear—life or death!

"The Reign of the Messiah"

Psalm 2:7-9: I will declare the decree; the Lord has said to Me, You are my Son, Today I have begotten you.  Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.  You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.

 

We have looked into the council-chamber of the wicked, and to the throne of God, and now we behold the Anointed declaring his rights of sovereignty and warning the traitors of their doom. 

A.    His Unquestioned Authority (v. 7)

1.     The kings of Israel derived their authority from God, and thus the Messiah is sent from God (Romans 1:3-4  seed of David according to the flesh)

2.     The Messiah is not only sent from God, He is the Son of God—of Divine Nature; doing Divine work; and reigning under Divine authority (Acts 13:32-33; Hebrews 1:5-6; 5:5).

B.    His Universal Rule (v. 8)

1.     Ask of me—it was customary among great kings to give whatever a favored one might ask to show the extent of their power (Esther 5:6; Matthew 14:7).

2.     The obvious meaning is that the Father will deny nothing to His Son, which relates to the extension of His kingdom to the uttermost ends of the earth.

C.   His Irresistible Rule (v. 9)

1.     While Christ’s scepter was a reed in the time of His sufferings;  it will be an iron scepter in His Second Coming (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15).  Today, the nations think themselves quite powerful as they attempt to stop Christianity all over the world, like the killing of Christians by the Islamic government in Sudan.

2.     This verse teaches us that Christ will reign over even those who are against His authority.

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"The Victory of the Messiah"

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Psalm 2:4-6: He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure; yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.

Outline:

In these verses we turn our eyes from the wicked counsel chamber and tumult of man to the secret place of the majesty of the Most High.  What does God say?  What does God say?  What will the king do unto the men who reject his only begotten Son, the Heir of all things?

A. The Folly of Rebelling against God causes Him to Laugh (v. 4)

     1. God knows the boundaries of power in nations--nations are limited and God is transcendent

     2. God laughs because any power that a nation has comes directly from Him (Daniel 2:26-45)

B. The Folly of Rebelling against God causes Him to Speak Judgment to the nations (v. 5)

     1. The Word of God is sharp (Hebrews 4;12)

    2. The judgment on the nations is based on their rejection of the Messiah

C. The Folly of Rebelling against God causes Him to Speak Judgment to the nations (v. 5)

    1. Messiah is referred by God as the king

    2. Messiah's kingdom will be established in Jerusalem--holy hill of Zion (Zech. 14:4)

Thoughts from this passage:  How sad it is that man does not recognize the supreme power of almighty God.  Instead of submitting to God, man continues to rebel.  The Lord's laugh is that of scorn for man's attempts to remove God from the picture.  The United States began that removal process in 1962 and 1963 with the Supreme Court rulkings on prayer and Bible reading.  Such was not the intent of the founding fathers of America and the framers of the Constitution who were dependent in action and thought upon the Word of God.  Roger Sherman who created the Great Compromise that saved the Constitution also wrote the doctrinal statement and organization for his denomination.

Despite man's efforts, God will enthrone the Messiah ,  It is God's declared will that Christ shall reign, and that all things shall be put under His feet! (I Cor. 15:25-27)

 

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"Psalm 2: The Holy War: We Win!"

In the first Psalm, we saw that the wicked were driven away like chaff, in the second Psalm, we see the wicked broken in pieces like a potter’s vessel. In the first Psalm, we beheld the righteous like a tree planted by water, and in Psalm 2 we behold Christ the Covenant Head of the righteous, made better than a tree planted by water, for he is made king of all the nations, with the heathen bowing before him.  Psalm 2 is the first Messianic Psalm, meaning that the content while having some association with the life of David the King, also is a prophetic description of Jesus the Messiah (Christ)—his life, death, resurrection, and future reign.  Because this psalm describes the rebellion of the nations at the coming of Christ to establish his eternal reign, it is also referred to in the New Testament (Acts 4:25-26; 13:33; Hebrews 1:5, 6; 5:5; Revelations 2:26-27; 12:5; 19:15).  Because Psalm 2 is Hebrew poetry, we find that it naturally falls into four sections of three verses each. A different spokesman or topic is to be found in each section.  In verses 1-3, the speakers are the rulers of this world who are in rebellion against the Messiah.  In verses 4-6, God thunders his response.  In verses 7-9. That response is revealed—it is Christ himself coming to this world to bring the gospel.  In the last three verses, we have David’s advice to the other kings—and it is the wisdom to seek God.  Hebrew poetry is based on Parallelism, where the first line is repeated in the second line in a slightly different form which amplifies or explains the first line.

  

I.  The Revolt Against the Messiah (2:1-3)

A.     The Extent of the Revolt (vv. 1-2)—The sight of creatures in arms against their God amazes the psalmist’s mind.  The heathen rage, roaring like the sea, tossed to and for with restless waves, like the ocean in a storm.

1. In all Nations—Jews, Romans, Greeks

         2. In all Ranks—Kings and people

3.In all Generations—David’s day; Christ’s rejection by His own age (Acts 4:27); and the future rejection prophesied in the book of Revelation.

B.    The Determination by which the Revolt is Characterized (vv.1-2)

1.     It is deliberate—they take counsel

2.     It is combined—take counsel together

3.     It is resolute—set themselves; stand up against;  ( the same word used to describe  Goliath’s attitude toward Israel’s God in I Samuel 17)

C.   The Secret Cause of the Revolt (v. 3)

1.     It is a rebellion against God’s love—God draws us with bands of love (Hosea 11:4)

2.     It is a rebellion against God’s law as revealed in Christ—sacrifice and humility are the examples that Christ gives us.  Mel Trotter was the son of a saloon keeper, and he learned bartending when his dad was too drunk to pour a drink at the bar.  But he wanted to get away from the saloon, so ran away from home and took up the trade of being a barber.  He was so successful he had the opportunity to gamble and to drink at will.  He moved to Iowa in 1890 to get away from temptation, and stayed sober enough to get married.  He was even drunk when his son was born.  And he had been on a ten day binge when he returned home to find his wife weeping over the body of their dead son.  This time he ran out of the house and went all the way to Chicago.  It was the night of January 19 when he went out homeless hatless, coatless, and sold his shoes for one last drink before he was going to drowned himself in Lake Michigan.  The blizzard was so severe that he stumbled.  A young man stepped out and helped him into the only building with a light on.  It was the Pacific Garden Mission.  The superintendent was preaching to all the derelicts there, but stopped when Trotter came in and prayed aloud, Oh God, save that poor, poor boy.”  Well, he accepted the invitation to receive Christ, and the shackles of alcohol fell off.  He spent the next 43 years preaching to people on the streets.  He supervised a rescue mission in Michigan, and 68 of those who got saved in his mission founded missions in other areas across the USA.  Trotter became an international evangelist.