The Messianic Psalms
Gospel Folio Press
Grand Rapids MI
Copyright 1997
To the memory of the intrepid pioneer evangelists and Bible teachers of the last generation, who left home, comfort, and safety to bear the Light to dark places of the world for love of Christ, this volume is respectfully dedicated.
Introduction
On the resurrection day, the risen Christ met two disciples on the way to Emmaus, and from Moses and all the prophets He expounded to them the things concerning Himself. As a result, their whole outlook was changed. Later they declared: “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?”
At eventide, in the Upper Room, He appeared to the gathered disciples and said: “These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me.” He then opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
There are a number of psalms which speak of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are called Messianic psalms obviously because they speak of the Messiah. The question may be asked: “How can we recognize a Messianic psalm?” The answer would be: where there is a reference to the Messiah in a psalm, and it is applied to Christ and expounded in the New Testament. Sometimes a whole psalm applies to Christ, e.g., Psalm 22. Sometimes a paragraph, e.g., Psalm 40:6-10. Sometimes several verses, e.g., Psalm 69:4, 9, 21. Sometimes a single verse, e.g., Psalm 41:9.
It is obvious that some of the psalms are occupied entirely with the Person and the thoughts and feelings of our Lord while others clearly refer to the experience of the psalmist, and then there is included an isolated reference to the Messiah. Psalm 69 is an example. When David exclaims: “O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from Thee,” he obviously is referring to himself (v. 5). But when he says: “They gave me…gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (v. 21), and these words are applied to Christ in Matthew 27:34, 48, they are clearly Messianic. So we must be careful to distinguish between the spiritual experience of the writer of the psalm and the prophetic reference to Christ Himself.
We need to pay careful attention to the exhortation of Paul to Timothy: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
While keeping in mind this rule, that a quotation in the New Testament from a psalm, which applies it to the Lord Jesus, confirms it as Messianic, there are three psalms which are exceptions. They are obviously Messianic but are not quoted in the New Testament:
Psalm 24 speaks of the King of Glory.
Psalm 72 outlines the millennial reign of Christ.
Psalm 89 expounds the Davidic covenant fulfilled by David’s greater Son, the Messiah. We therefore include them in the list of Messianic psalms.
It is to be noticed that the references to the Messiah in the psalms do not follow in sequence or in chronological order. Psalm 2 is an introduction to the whole collection, giving a prophetic outline of the official glories of the Messiah. Psalm 40 refers to His incarnation; Psalm 22 to His crucifixion; Psalm 16 to His resurrection. In our exposition we shall follow the chronological order in the life of our Lord. There are sixteen Messianic psalms and we shall consider them in the following sequence: (1) Psalm 2: The Official Glory of the Eternal Son; (2) Psalm 40: The Incarnation; (3) Psalm 91: The Temptation; (4) Psalm 41: The Betrayal; (5) Psalm 22: The Crucifixion; (6) Psalm 69: The Trespass Offering; (7) Psalm 16: The Resurrection; (8) Psalm 68: The Ascension; (9) Psalm 45: The King-Bridegroom; (10) Psalm 24: The King of Glory; (11) Psalm 110: The Priest-King-Judge; (12) Psalm 8: The Last Adam; (13) Psalm 72: The Millennial Reign; (14) Psalm 89: The Davidic Covenant; (15) Psalm 102: The Unchangeable One; and (16) Psalm 118: The Headstone of the Corner.
It is our earnest prayer that our understandings may be opened to see the things concerning Him in these precious psalms, and that the Holy Spirit who inspired them will help us to interpret them, and apply them with power to our hearts.
Chapter 1: Psalm 2 Official Glories of the Eternal Son
Psalm 2
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set My king upon My holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.
8 Ask of Me, and 1 shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the
earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling,
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and we perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.
Psalms 1 and 2 are linked together in the Hebrew Bible. They are an introduction and a preface to the Psalms as a whole. Attention has been drawn to the fact that the first psalm begins with a beatitude, and the second ends with a beatitude. Together they form an admirable introduction to the Messianic psalms. In the first we see Christ’s moral glory; in the second, His official glory. In the first, He is the happy Man, occupied with a book, a tree, and a river; in the second, He is God’s King, destined to rule the nations with a rod of iron. In the first, we have His humanity; in the second, His deity. The common theme of both is the glory of God’s beloved Son, the Messiah, who, in spite of all the anarchy and wickedness in the world, will one day occupy the throne of world dominion.
Psalm 2 is quoted seven times in the New Testament: Acts 4:24-28; 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5; and Revelation 2:27, 12:5; 19:15. All of these references are applied to the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, giving us our authority for calling it a Messianic psalm, there are four official Messianic titles in the psalm, one in each section: The Anointed (v. 2); My King (v. 6); My Son (v. 7); the Lord (v. 11).
An Outline of Psalm 2
Psalm 2 has 12 verses, divided into four sections of three verses each. There are four speakers, one in each section:
1. The voice of rebellion—man in revolt (vv. 1-3).
2. The reply of Jehovah—God in His wrath (vv. 4-6).
3. The revelation of the Son (vv. 7-9).
4. The Spirit’s call to reconciliation (vv. 10-12), the answer of the Holy Trinity to the anarchy of man.
1. The Voice of Rebellion—Man in Revolt (Ps. 2:1-3)
“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying: Let us break their bands asunder, and east away their cords from us.”
The Apostle Peter applies these words to the crucifixion in Acts 4:27-28, “For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.” This is the primary application of the passage, but it has a prophetic application as well.
Here we have a fourfold coalition of power united against Almighty God and His Christ. First, the united nations; secondly, “the people,” the nation of Israel; thirdly, organized government represented by Herod; and finally, judicial power represented by Pontius Pilate. The confederacy at the cross foreshadows another at the end. They imagine a vain thing—that they can overthrow God! The words “take counsel” and “set themselves” indicate the deliberate adoption of a policy, the passing of a resolution. It is the overthrow of law and order, the underwriting of the slogan, “God is dead.”
The law of God in the Bible and all rules concerning morals and marriage are to be rejected. Man is the maker of his own destiny and “situation ethics” is to be the rule of life. All bands and cords are to be thrown away and modern man is to be liberated from all restraint. Even today there are straws in the wind which indicate what will happen at the end when all the bars are down. It starts in the home where the child instead of the parent rules. It continues in the school, where it is illegal to discipline with the rod, and where evolution and Hegelian philosophy is taught by infidel teachers and professors. It increases in the social sphere, where the gay generation openly claims license for unnatural sin, abortion has been legalized, and unisex breaks down the distinction between man and woman. Then it reaches into the sphere of government: sex scandals, graft, and corruption, from the policeman on the street to the judge on the bench, penetrating into the highest echelons of government.
If those things take place while the Holy Spirit and the Church are here as restrainers (2 Thess. 2:7), what will it be when they are removed? Today the mystery of iniquity is already working, but it will be revealed in all its lurid wickedness when the avalanche breaks forth.
The French Revolution of 1798 was a little foretaste of it, when a harlot was enthroned in Notre Dame, and again in 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution, when millions were liquidated and godless atheism took over. It was repeated in Red China when Mao and Communism swept the country, and kangaroo courts accounted for the lives of untold millions of victims.
The second Psalm points forward to that day when satanic trinity, the two wild beasts of Revelation 13, backed by the devil himself, will proclaim a decree prohibiting the worship of God and His Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:3-4; Rev. 13:4-8; 12:17). Those that refuse to obey, to carry his mark, and to worship the image of the man of sin will be executed. This will be the climax of the work of the united nations of the earth and the final fulfillment of the first section of this psalm.
2. The Reply of Almighty God (Ps. 2:4-6)
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord [Adonai] shall have them in derision.” It is a terrible portent when God laughs. The very idea that puny man can defy the One who has the universe in the palm of His hand, is supremely ridiculous. Ballistic missiles and laser beams are as children’s toys to Him. He knows their secrets and more.
“Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.” “The wrath” in the book of Revelation is a technical term, indicating the final series of judgments in the Great Tribulation. The seal judgments are those that men bring on themselves by their own folly, such as the building up of nuclear arms, which one day will be unleashed, with a large portion of the world’s population wiped out and material resources destroyed. The trumpet judgments are mainly satanic, when men will reap the wages of sin. They are similar to the plagues of Egypt described in Exodus 7-12. But the bowls or vial judgments are the wrath of God, the concentrated anger of the Almighty poured out on the seat of the beasts and their followers.
The climax of all this is: “Yet have I set My king upon My holy hill of Zion.” This is God’s unalterable purpose, and nothing on earth or in hell can thwart it. In the first section of the psalm, He is the Anointed, but here He is King. This points forward to that day foretold by the prophets, when, after dealing with the enemies of God at Armageddon, He will enter the city at the head of His victorious army and occupy the hill and the house. He will be the King-Priest on the throne of His father David (Ps. 24 and 110; Zech. 6:13). God regards this in His purpose as already accomplished.
3. The Revelation of the Son (Ps. 2:7-9)
“I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.” This is one of the decrees of the Godhead in eternity past, here revealed for the first time by the Son. It is one of the greatest Messianic pas- sages in Holy Scripture. The eternal Sonship of Christ is one of the most vital, basic doctrines of the Word of God. It is denied by many heretical cults, but should be held and valued by all those who know and love our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the great passage on which the doctrine is based. Another term, used only by the Apostle John, is “the Only Begotten Son,” the monogenes. John uses the term five times.
Some theologians teach that the word “begotten” must not be understood as referring to am act in time but to what they term an “eternal generation.” The word “day” is explained as “eternity.” Taken in this way, the eternal Sonship of Christ is safely guarded. But others maintain that the three places in the New Testament where the words are quoted give the explanation. In view of the definiteness of the term “this day,” it would seem difficult to define it as synonymous with eternity. It must refer to some special act in what we know as “time.” Here we must be on our guard against those who say that He only became the Son of God at His incarnation and who deny His eternal Sonship.
The statement in verse 7 is in two parts: “Thou art My Son,” the decree in eternity past. That is an eternal relationship, “This day have I begotten Thee,” is Messianic, quoted in three contexts in the New Testament. Notice them carefully.
Acts 13:32-34 states. “And we decline unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us His children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. And as concerning that He raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.”
Verse 33 clearly refers to His raising up to Israel, His incarnation, and verse 34 to His resurrection. Between the two statements, we have the quotation from Psalm 2:7; “Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.” Thus it is linked with His incarnation and His resurrection.
In Hebrews 5:5, it is quoted in connection with His exaltation as our High Priest. “So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, to day have I begotten Thee.”
In Hebrews 1:5-6, the quotation is linked with His second advent. No angel receives worship, but when He brings again the First-Begotten into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” So it was that at His birth He was saluted as Son by the angels (Lk. 1:35), by His Father at His baptism (Lk. 3:22), and at His transfiguration (Lk. 9:35).
To summarize: the two statements of Psalm 2:7 indicate “Thou art My Son,” a unique eternal relationship; and “This day have I begotten Thee,” an official salutation, a term linked with His incarnation, baptism, transfiguration, resurrection, priesthood, and Second Advent. Kenneth Wuest, who does not believe that it refers to His incarnation, but to His resurrection, comments, “The reference is not to entrance into life, but to entrance to an office.”
After Sonship comes Heirship: “Ask of Me, and 1 will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” This points forward to the day when He shall return to reign. The shepherd’s rod, symbolizing authority and rule, to His people will be a golden scepter, but to the rebel nations at Armageddon will be a rod of iron (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15; Ps. 110:2).
4. The Spirit’s Call to Reconciliation (Ps. 2:10-12)
The admonition of the Spirit is to the kings and judges of earth, the executive and judicial branches of government. True wisdom is in reconciliation while there is time and before the judgment of God falls on the unrepentant.
“Kiss the Son” (v. 12). The kiss in Scripture is a symbol of various attitudes. In Luke 7:38, it is a sign of repentance. The poor woman who came into the house of Simon and stood behind Jesus, did five things: she wept, she washed His feet with her fears, she wiped them with the hairs of her head, she kissed His feel, and she anointed them with the ointment. The tears and the kiss were an evidence of true repentance. Our Lord said, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.”
The kiss is also a token of forgiveness. In Luke 15:11-24, the prodigal came back home to his father, and after his confession, received the kiss of forgiveness, a ring, a robe, shoes on his feet, and a welcome-home banquet.
But here it is an expression of homage and loyalty (Gen. 41:42; I Sam. 10:1). The ARV renders the expression, “with trembling, kiss His feet.”
It is interesting to notice that two words for “son” are used in the psalm. In verse 7 it is ben, but in verse 12 it is bar. The first is the Jewish word, cf., Benjamin; the second is the Gentile word, cf., Barabbas. Why the difference? The first is His relation to God as the Son of His right hand; the second His relation to the Gentile powers referred to in the psalm. At the crucifixion they cried, away with Him, give us Bar-abbas. The use of the word here would be a stab at their conscience. Judas gave Him the kiss of hypocrisy and treachery, but here the admonition is to kiss the Son in true contrition and repentance. If the psalm was written at the time of the Absalom rebellion, what a tragic local reference it has!
The psalm ends with the beatitude: “Blessed are all they that take refuge in Him!” Indeed, there is no other sure refuge when Heaven comes to settle Earth’s accounts.
Chapter 2: Psalm 40 The Psalm of the Incarnation
Psalm 40
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest.
10 I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation: I have not concealed Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth from the great congregation.
11 Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: let such as love Thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: Thou art my help and my deliverer: make no tarrying, O my God.
The Psalm of the Incarnation
In the study of the Messianic psalms, we are repeatedly confronted with the difficult problem of determining that which refers to the author and that which refers to Christ. Very often the psalmist, under the Spirit’s power and inspiration, is lifted beyond She limits of his own personality, to present the Person of the Messiah. The difficulty is greatly increased when only a part of the psalm is quoted in the New Testament with reference to our Lord, and the remainder of the psalm would seem to refer to the psalmist himself. This is especially so in Psalm 40.
In this psalm there are three verses which are quoted in Hebrews 10:5-7 as having been addressed to the Father by our Lord on His coming into the world, the quotation being taken from the Septuagint version. There is no doubt that these words of the psalmist found their complete fulfillment in our Lord.
But in the latter part of the psalm, there are two statements which make it difficult to see a personal utterance of the Messiah. They could be true of David but not of Christ. First, the personal confession of iniquities in verse 12; and secondly, the imprecations of verses 14-15. Some would meet this difficulty by saying that the spotless Victim was so taken hold of by our sins that He confesses them as His own. There is no question that, in voluntary, vicarious atonement, our Lord bore our sins in His own body on the tree, but we never find Him confessing personal sin as David did when he said: “Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more Hum the hairs of mine head.”
Then again, the imprecatory exclamations seem to be the very antithesis of our Lord’s cry on the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” But we can make no mistake in applying the central portion of the psalm, verses 6 to 10, quoted in Hebrews 10 and applied to our Lord, and the rest of the psalm to David’s personal experience.
An Outline of Psalm 40
1. David’s desolating experience and deliverance (vv. 1-5).
2. The Incarnation of the Messiah (vv. 6-10).
3. David’s prayer for help and comfort (vv. 11-17).
1. David’s Desolating Experience & Deliverance (Ps. 40:1-5)
Historically, the first part of the psalm could be applied to David’s experience during the Absalom rebellion or to the dark episode in his life when he sinned against God in the matter of Bathsheba, and his cry of repentance described so vividly in Psalms 51 and 32. As Jeremiah literally sunk in the deep mire of the pit in which King Zedekiah had allowed him to be cast by the princes, so David had a similar spiritual experience. This seems to have occurred often in his life: when he was hunted by Saul, when he fled to Gath, when he was rejected and living in the cave of Adullam, and when his sons rebelled against him. Then he was not able to look up (v. 12); his cry of distress went up (v. 1); he was brought up and cleaned up (v. 2); he was set up and his feet placed upon the rock (v. 2). Then he was tuned up, with a new song placed in his mouth, even praise unto God. As he contemplated all of God’s wonderful works and thoughts towards him, he tells us that they could not be reckoned up. These elevating experiences, which David had, are true of every redeemed soul today. We, too, can add, that one day soon we are going to be caught up! What a joy it is for the saint to have the solid rock of ages for his feet, the new song of redemption in his mouth, and the law of God in his heart!
2. The Incarnation of the Messiah (Ps. 40:6-10)
This great central section is in four parts, with the incarnation clause in the center. “Lo, I come” (v. 7). Note:
a) The inadequacy of the Levitical sacrifices (v. 6).
b) The opened, digged ear of the Servant (v. 6).
c) The predictions of the sacred Scriptures (v. 7).
d) The law hidden in the inner shrine of His heart (v. 8).
The Inadequacy of the Levitical Sacrifices (v. 6). “Sacrifice [zebach] and offering [minchah]. Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt offering [olah] and sin-offering [chataah] hast Thou not required.” The four Hebrew words used cover the principal offerings of the Levitical code. Zebach is a general term for all the eucharistic sacrifices, the peace, votive, and thank offerings. Minchah is the meal offering with which is connected the drink offering. Olah is the burnt offering. Chataah refers to the expiatory sacrifices, the sin and trespass offerings. All pointed to the death of Christ on the cross.
As we study the ancient sacrifices described in Leviticus 1-7, we find that they are divided into two groups. The first are “sweet savor” offerings, consisting of the burnt, meal, and peace offerings. The second are sin and trespass offerings. The sin offering had reference to sin against God, violating His holy character, and called for judgment. The trespass offering added to this the injury done to man, for which reparation had to be made.
The offerings were different, but all set forth various aspects of the Person and work of Christ. The burnt offering was the highest and most important. In all the other sweet savor offerings, parts were offered on the altar and went up to God; but the other parts were divided among the people and the priests, and became the food of the people of God. But the whole burnt offering was completely consumed on the altar. There was something in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ which only God Himself could understand and appreciate in all its fullness.
The meal offering presents His moral glory and sinless humanity linked with His deity. The peace offering speaks of that One who made peace by the blood of His cross. The sin offering portrays the sinless One who was made sin for us, and the trespass offering tells of the Sufferer who was wounded for our transgressions, and who in love restored that which He took not away.
It is a mistaken view that the sacrificial system of Israel was merely ritual. The sacrifices were God’s kindergarten to the nation, pointing forward to a coming Messiah who was to suffer and die for the sins of the nation, indeed, for the whole world. The offerings were profoundly educational and spiritual. But alas, they degenerated from this ideal into mere external performances. Then God expressed His repudiation of them. (See 1 Sam. 2:12-17; 15:22; Isa. 11-12; Amos 5:21-24; Prow 15:8; Mai. 1:7-8.)
In the Mosaic sacrificial system, millions of animals were sacrificed and rivers of blood flowed. The ox, goat, sheep, lamb, and turtle dove were sacrificed upon the altar. All had meaning, and all pointed to the cross. This was the picture-book stage of Israel’s history. But Psalm 40 renders a twofold verdict: “Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire... Burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required.” The Epistle lo the Hebrews gives us the reasons.
The Opened, Digged Ear of the Servant (v. 6). “Mine ears hast Thou opened.” The Hebrew word for “opened” is karah. It is translated eleven times “digged,” once “opened,” and once “pierced.” In this passage it would seem to have the latter meaning, and refers to the Hebrew servant of Exodus 21:1-6 and Deuteronomy 15:12-18. In Exodus 20, we have the Law and the altar, and this is followed in chapter 21 with the law of the Hebrew bondservant. This is the order and teaching of Psalm 40:6-10. Our Lord voluntarily took the bondsman’s form (Phil. 2:7). The reason for the Hebrew slave’s bondage was either debt or bankruptcy. To liquidate this, he could sell himself and his service for six years or until the year of jubilee. All this is a picture of man’s ruin by sin and of a groaning creation.
Note two distinct periods of service in the story. The first six years were compulsory; then there was a crisis and a decision. Brought to the judge, a public legal transaction takes place. “And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; 1 will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.”
In the first part of his service, his motive was love to his master; in the second, there is an additional love, that to his acquired wife and children. The first part of his service was compulsory, but the second was voluntary, motivated by love. Verse 3 says: “if he came in by himself” (literally, with his body) “he will go out with his body.” The doorpost was where the blood was sprinkled at the passover in Egypt, and where the written Law was placed when they reached the land of Canaan (Deut. 6:9; 11:20). The veil that covers the typical teaching here is very transparent and radiant.
It is a wonderful picture of the incarnation and of those permanent wounds, the tokens of His love to His Church, which were made upon Him at Calvary. In a coming day, the brand of the Beast will be on the forehead or hand of his dupes. Here, however, it is on the ear, the place where the Master’s voice is heard. In Hebrews 10, the ear is changed to “a body hast Thou prepared Me.” Why is this? When the ear of the servant is pierced as a token of love, God gets the whole body.
“Then said I, Lo, I come”—The Incarnation. Here we have a conversation between the Father and the Son. That blessed One, who was ever in the bosom of the Father, declares His coming into the world of time and space. It was a voluntary, self-conscious act. Of no other could this be said. Yet note how the Trinity is included in this act:
a. It was His own act of compassion (Jn. 8:42, 44; 6:38; 16:28; Heb. 2:14-16).
b. It was the Father’s act of love (Jn. 8:42; Gal. 4:4; 1 Jn. 4:9).
c. It was the Spirit’s work of power (Mt. 1:18-20; Lk. 1:35).
The incarnation is a profound mystery (Mt. 11:27; 1 Tim. 3:16). By that act, Jesus became God manifest in flesh. The Apostle John uses just four words to describe the incarnation: “The Word became flesh.” Luke, on the other hand, goes into detail, using 2,500 words. While assuming sinless humanity, Jesus never for a moment ceased to be God. There can be no gap or hiatus in deity. Instead of subtraction, there was addition. To complete, essential Deity, with all its attributes, was added a Holy, perfect, human body. “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see.”
Some have said that He didn’t understand His identity or His mission until His baptism in Jordan, when the Spirit descended and abode upon Him. Others have speculated that He only learned who He was by the study of the Old Testament Scriptures. But He certainly knew His identity and mission at twelve years of age, when He said to Mary and Joseph, who were seeking Him in the Temple: “Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” While it transcends our poor finite comprehension, we prefer to agree with the sentiment of the poet:
No less majestic at His birth, as on the throne supreme;
His hands upheld the rolling spheres while Mary held up Him.
In Him we see Omnipotence wrapped in swaddling bands. Omniscience though a little babe, Omnipresence dwelling in the City of David.
The Predictions of the Sacred Scriptures (vv. 7-8). “In the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God.” This can be nothing else but Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament Scriptures. From the proto-evangelium in the Garden of Eden, the promise of the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15) till the promised advent of the Messenger of the Covenant in Malachi 3:1, there is a long series of predictions of the coming of the Messiah. To cite just a few:
The Promise: The Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15).
The Place: Bethlehem, not Nazareth (Micah 5:2).
The Person: The Child virgin born, the Son given (Isa. 7-9).
The Program: Outline of His public ministry (Isa. 61:1).
The Passion: (Ps. 22; Isa. 53).
The Period: At end of 69 weeks Messiah cut off (Dan. 9:26).
The Priesthood: After the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110).
Over all these Old Testament references could be written: “I delight to do Thy will, O My God” (Ps. 40:8). When He was tired and hungry and thirsty at Sychar’s well, He could say to the disciples, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (Jn. 4:34). In His great high-priestly prayer in John 17 He prayed: “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory.” This is deity speaking to deity. But in His agony in dark Gethsemane, He cried, “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done” (Lk. 22:42). His whole life was a carrying out of His Father’s will and in this was His delight.
The Law Hidden in the Inner Shrine of His Heart (v. 8). The first clause of the new covenant is: “I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them” (Heb. 10:16). This was true, first of all, of our Lord. Just as the tables of the Law were hidden in the Ark of the Covenant, so the ancient Scriptures were hidden in His heart.
It is interesting to notice the use He made of Holy Scripture in His public ministry. He set the stamp of His authority on the writings of Moses (Mt. 5:18), of Daniel (Mt. 24:15), of David (Mt. 22:43), and of Isaiah (Lk. 4:17). At His temptation by Satan in the wilderness, He quoted three times from the book of Deuteronomy. On the cross He used the words of Psalm 22 amid the darkness, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” And just before He released His spirit, He cried, “It is finished,” a quotation from the last verse of the same psalm. Truly the Word of God dwelt in Him richly. He is the blessed Man of Psalm 1. “His delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth He meditate day and night.”
Fivefold Preaching to the Great Congregation (vv. 9-10). As a result of the work of Christ in His incarnation and His sacrifi- cial death on the cross, a fivefold message goes out to the great congregation, in fact, to all mankind:
Righteousness: This is the subject of the Epistle to the Romans—the righteousness of God—how God can be both just and the justifier of the ungodly.
Faithfulness: He is the God who is “utterly dependable” (Heb, 11:11, Phillips), and the Lord declared that steadfastness, even if it meant death on a cross.
Salvation: Salvation in its three tenses of deliverance from the penalty, power, and presence of sin, expounded in Ephesians 2.
Lovingkindness: The length and breadth and depth and height of God’s love, opened up for us in the Upper Room ministry of Christ in John 13-17.
Truth: Love is always balanced by truth, as John teaches us in his three Epistles.
3. David’s Prayer for Help and Comfort (vv. 11-17)
The third section of the psalm goes back to David’s personal experience. It consists of a prayer. First, conviction and confession: “Innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me” (v. 12). Then his cry for help (v. 13). Finally, salvation and deliverance come. “Let all those that seek Thee, rejoice and be glad in Thee; let such as love Thy salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified!”(v. 16).
The writer of Hebrews quotes the Septuagint version of the psalm. This is the Greek version of the Old Testament translated in Alexandria in the third century BC. The Holy Spirit sanctions the translation.
There is no discrepancy. It is simply an evidence of inspiration. The change of, “Mine ears hast Thou opened,” to “A body hast Thou prepared Me,” is apparently an allusion to the Hebrew servant of Exodus 21. The pierced ear is an evidence that the whole body is dedicated. The Hebrews passage emphasizes:
a. The will of God (v. 7),
b. The work of Christ (v. 12).
c. The witness of the Holy Ghost (v. 15).
d. All is sealed by the new covenant (vv. 16-17).
The old system is set aside by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (v. 10). Then twice we have the final word, “forever.” “After He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (v. 12). “For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (v. 14).
This is the fulfillment of the great Messianic prophecy of Psalm 40, and the climax of teaching concerning the incarnation and vicarious atoning sacrifice of the Saviour on Calvary’s cross as recorded in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Chapter 3: Psalm 91 The Psalm of the Temptation
Psalm 91
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.
3 Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.
Psalms 90 and 91 are the introduction to the fourth Book of Psalms. This Book, or subdivision, consists of seventeen psalms, from Psalm 90 to Psalm 106. It corresponds to the book of Numbers and is a commentary on the experience of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Moses is the author of Psalm 90 and probably of Psalm 91 as well. There are many expressions in both psalms similar to or identical with those used by Moses in his farewell address to Israel in Deuteronomy 32 & 33. Moses’ name occurs seven times in this section of the Psalms.
There is a vivid contrast between Psalms 90 and 91:
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600,000 overthrown |
Two survivors—Caleb and Joshua |
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Judicial punishment |
Divine preservation |
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Funeral dirge |
Doxology of victory |
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Tragedy and gloom |
Triumph and victory |
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“Dead March” in Saul |
Hallelujah chorus in Messiah |
Both begin with a divine dwelling place. Psalm 90 ends with a sevenfold prayer. Psalm 91 ends with a sevenfold promise. It may be noted that the seven promises are the answers to the seven prayers.
An Outline of Psalm 91
Divine protection (vv. 1-4). It is fourfold, as seen below.
Satanic perils (vv. 5-13). There are ten dangers.
Divine promises (vv. 14-16). There are seven.
In this psalm, sinful man is permitted to hear the sweet converse between the three Persons of the ineffable Trinity: the Spirit (v. 1); the Son (v. 2); the Spirit (vv. 3-13); the Father (vv. 14-16).
The psalm can be applied in a threefold way: a) Messianic (vv. 9-13) where the temptation is prefigured (Mt. 4:6; Lk. 4:10-11); b) a portrait of Joshua and Caleb, survivors of the wilderness tragedy; and c) as the believer today.
1. Divine Protection (vv. 1-4)
If we find our refuge in the Secret Place, who will be our companion? The Spirit mentions four names of God, a galaxy of titles, each with a specific precious meaning. The Most High—El Elyon, was used by Melchizedek (Gen. 14:19), and by Daniel (4:24). It is used mostly in relation to Gentiles (Deut. 32:8). Shaddai—Almighty, was used by Jacob and Job. Some say it is derived from shad, the breast. It speaks of God as the Provider, the All-Sufficient One. Jehovah—the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God, is also included in the introduction to this psalm, as is Elohim—the Creator (as in Gen. 1:1).
Thus these verses could be read thus: He that dwells (makes his home) in the secret place of El Elyon, shall abide (lodge) under the shadow of Shaddai. I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress, my Elohim: in Him will I trust.
These four magnificent titles of God, describing His majesty, glory, power, compassion, and tenderness, are the resource and hiding place for every timid and tried child of God. There are four descriptions of this hiding place for the saint: a) a secret place, known only to God and His children; b) a mighty fortress, impregnable to the enemy; c) A soldier’s equipment—a shield and buckler (perhaps a coat of mail, Eph. 6:11-18); and d) a bird’s nest, where we are covered by the wings of the mother bird. This is a beautiful simile used of creation, the Passover, the Tabernacle, Ruth, by David in the Psalms, and by our Lord in Matthew 23:37. Moses would see the eagle in the desert of Sinai, with its mighty wings and claws and beak protect its young in the nest.
I recall hearing an African say, “The mother hen has four calls: for food, when in danger, for warmth, and to call her chicks to be with her.” So the Lord would call out to us.
We have the same idea of shelter in the wings of the cherubim over the mercy seat in the holiest in the Tabernacle, and in the Shekinah cloud of glory covering the Tabernacle.
Theodore Beza, the reformer and Bible translator, when dying, went back to the three personal pronouns of Psalm 91:2: my refuge, my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Moses, Elijah, David, Paul, and John were well acquainted with this secret place. It is available for us, too.
In the days of the persecution of the Covenanters in Scotland, a group of humble saints were having a secret meeting on the moors. A scout suddenly reported, “The soldiers are coming!” The venerable Alexander Peden, the preacher for the “hill folk,” dropped on his knees and cried: “O Lord, cover old Sandy and his flock with the shadow of Thy wing.” Then a thick mist came down and blanketed them from view, and the soldiers passed on, unable to find God’s people.
2. Satanic Perils (w. 5-13)—The Wilderness Experience
Ten enemies are mentioned in three categories:
Weapons of the enemy. The arrow by day and the terror by night come suddenly upon us. The snare and the booby trap are like the attacks of Amalek and Moab. Later, the maledictions of Balak and Balaam also sought to ambush God’s own.
Bodily sickness. The noisome pestilence that walks in darkness, and the destruction that wastes at noonday portray the calamities that overcome us. The book of Numbers describes the various plagues that overtook the people in the wilderness, all of them brought on by their own folly and sin. In the rebellion of Korah, 14,700 died (Num. 16:49). In the plague that followed their sin with the women of Moab, 24,000 died (Num. 25:9). At the end of forty years, out of the 600,000 men that left Egypt, only two survived—Joshua and Caleb.
Wild beasts. The lion, the adder, and the dragon are mentioned. All three are used as figures of Satan in the Scriptures. The lion devours (1 Pet. 5:8); the serpent or adder is the most subtle (Gen. 3:1); the dragon is the persecutor (Rev. 12:13).
In this section of the psalm is the passage used by Satan at the temptation of our Lord in the wilderness. Satan used the same tactics as he did to Eve in the garden of Eden. He misquoted the Word of God, and then he added to it.
The Temptation of Christ (Mt. 4:1-11; Lk. 4:1-13): The first act of our Lord after His baptism in Jordan, at the beginning of His public ministry, was to go into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Mark says: “He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Mk. 1:12). This does not mean that there was compulsion against His will. As the last Adam, He was to be tested where the first Adam had failed. But the conditions are in startling contrast.
The first temptation had to do with appetite; Christ was desperately hungry. “If Thou be the Son of God, make these stones bread” (Mt. 4:3), but He answered, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (v. 4). The temptation of Eve was in a garden of delight, a perfect environment, but our Lord was tested in a desert after He had fasted for forty days. The temptation in Eden was addressed to the body, soul, and spirit; likewise our Lord’s.
The second temptation was addressed to ambition. “The devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him: If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down” (v. 6). Then comes the misquotation from Psalm 91:11-12, “For it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.” Here are Satan’s tactics with the Word of God. He left out the words, “to keep Thee in all Thy ways,” and he added the words, “at any time.” The devil is never more dangerous than when he quotes or misquotes the Word of God!
Our Lord’s answer: “It is written…thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (v. 7). To throw Himself down from a pinnacle of the Temple, to impress the multitude always looking for a thrill, was not one of the ways directed by His Father.
The third temptation concerned adoration. “The devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and said unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence Satan; for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Mt. 4:8-10).
There are some important considerations concerning the temptation of our Lord which it is vital to understand clearly.
There is an important difference between Adam and the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam was created, and prior to his sin was innocent. Our Lord was the uncreated eternal Son of God and was holy, not merely innocent. We must always bear in mind that He was God incarnate. We must not separate His two distinct natures—His essential deity and His perfect sinless manhood. Scripture tells us that He was sinless: John says: “In Him is no sin” (1 Jn. 3:5). Peter says: “Who did no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22). Paul says: “Who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). He was the Lamb without blemish (1 Pet. 1:19).
He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet sin apart (Heb. 4:15). In Him there was no enemy to open the door, no evil fallen nature on which the enemy could work.
In spite of these plain statements of Scripture, some would say that while He did not sin, yet He could have sinned, else it was not a real temptation. This is very dangerous ground and raises some serious questions as to the Person of Christ. Some would cut the Gordian knot by saying that He was tempted in the realm of His humanity and therefore could have failed. But this again is dividing the two natures. To say that the GodMan could have sinned or could have fallen is blasphemous!
At the same time, He suffered being tempted. The temptations were real. His holy, sensitive nature revolted at the suggestions which were made to Him. There are two kinds of temptation. James speaks of one: “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (Jas. 1:14). This is true of men, but not of our Lord.
Another meaning is testing. Abraham was tested when God asked him to offer his son as a burnt offering. Every girder in a bridge is tested, not hoping it will break, but to prove that it can stand the strain. Pure gold can be tested by fire. The fire does not make it gold, but demonstrates that it is gold. Every gold coin can be tested by ringing on a metal disc and by weighing. Is it a sham test of those that have no alloy? It is possible for a city to be besieged although impregnable. Is it a sham siege? A sinless personality would be able to feel the force of temptation even more than we do. It was not a sham fight between His holy nature and Satan. Therefore we hold to an impeccable Christ.
The method He used in overcoming Satan is available to us all: “It is written…it is written…it is written.” The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God with its two edges, is like Goliath’s sword. David said: “There is none like that; give me it” (1 Sam. 21:9). If our Lord could drive back the enemy with just one book of the Bible, surely we may do it with sixty-six!
Psalm 91:13 can therefore confidently declare: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” These words seem to have a direct reference to Genesis 3:15. The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head. Satan was soundly defeated at the temptation in the wilderness, but it was at the cross that his head was crushed and his power over death annulled (Heb. 2:14). Paul could comfort the saints at Rome with the words, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. 16:20). Praise God! We are included in the victory!
3. Divine Promises (vv. 14-16)
Here we have the voice of God the Father. Seven times we have the words, “I will.” These are things He did for His beloved Son, but also what He will do for His people. They are not spoken to the trusting soul, but of him to others by the Father. This makes the utterances very impressive. Notice that the seven promises are the answers to the seven prayers of Psalm 90:14-17.
His love. All is traced back to God’s love and our response to it. This was true, first of all of Christ and His love to His Father, mentioned many times in John 13-17. We love Him because He first loved us. The New Testament speaks of six people whom Jesus loved. He loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus; the rich young ruler; the Apostle John—the disciple whom Jesus loved; Paul could say: “He loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). As the seventh, we can put in our individual names and say: “He loved me, blessed be His name.”
His Name. “I will set him on high, because he hath known My name” (v. 14). This could be applied to the Lord Jesus in His resurrection and exaltation to God’s right hand. But we, too, when we know and enjoy the meaning of the names at the beginning of this psalm, can be lifted out of this dreary world and enter into the peace and rest of the secret place of the Most High.
Prayer. “He shall call upon Me and I will answer him.” This was true of the secret prayer life of our Lord when He was here below, so beautifully outlined in Luke’s Gospel. We can also gladly testify to answered prayer. Again and again the Lord has heard our cry and answered in the nick of time.
Trouble. “I will be with him in trouble.” Job said: “Man …born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). But in contrast, the Saviour said: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me” (Jn. 14:1). What a comfort it is to have the presence of the Lord with us in our trouble.
Honor and deliverance. “I will deliver him, and honor him.” The Word declares: “Them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Sam. 2:30). This is illustrated in the lives of Moses, Joseph, and Daniel, and in the experience of many others since.
Long life. “With long life will I satisfy him.” In spite of the seventy to eighty years predicted as frail man’s life span in Psalm 90:10, Moses lived 120 years, and at the end, his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated. Joshua lived 110 years. Caleb at 85 asked for a tough task; he took on the three sons of Anak and captured Hebron, the royal city (Josh. 14; Eph. 6:2-3). We might ask, If long life is promised to obedient children, why do some submissive children die at a young age. The answer in part may be found on the tomb of a young believer in the Catacombs: “He lived long enough.” Rebels never live long enough to fulfill the purpose for which they were made. Only the obedient child lives “long enough.”
And show him My salvation. Salvation has three tenses: past, present, and future. There is deliverance from the penalty, power, and presence of sin.
A venerable Scottish brother preached a sermon with three heads:
1. 1 John 1:7—”The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” He exclaimed: “There’s my sins awa’.”
2. Psalm 55:22—”Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” He cried: “There’s my burden awa’.”
3. 1 Thessalonians 4:17—We will be “caught up to meet the Lord in the air.” And he concluded: “There’s maself awa’.”
Chapter 4: Psalm 41 The Psalm of the Betrayal
To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee.
5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
7 All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
10 But Thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
11 By this I know that Thou favorest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, Thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face for ever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
The Psalm of the Betrayal
The background of Psalm 41 is the rebellion of Absalom against his father, King David, recorded in 2 Samuel 11-16. This is the last of a group of psalms (38-41) which belongs to that period. The last verse of Psalm 41 is the formal conclusion of Book One of the Psalter. The book opens with the Blessed Man of Psalm 1 and closes with the Betrayed Man of Psalm 41.
Psalm 41 is an example of a psalm in which only one verse is definitely Messianic. Verse 9 was quoted by our Lord in John 13:18-19 and applied to Judas Iscariot. The rest of the psalm is David’s experience, when some of his best friends, including his own son, conspired against him, and raised an army to overthrow his throne and his kingdom.
These were sufferings which David had brought upon himself as a result of his great sin recorded in 2 Samuel 11. When the prophet Nathan came to David and, after telling the story of the little ewe lamb, dramatically accused him of the sin of adultery and murder, David confessed his sin and truly repented in the words of Psalms 51 and 32. Nathan’s reply was: David, your sin is forgiven, but the sword will never depart from your house! David had wrecked a man’s home and taken that man’s life. He had to reap with bitter tears and suffering what he had done, in the actions of his own sons and family. He had to learn that whatever a man sows, that he also reaps. He had overindulged his handsome and proud son, Absalom; he had shut his eyes and ears to his crimes; now he had to reap the consequences.
Among the conspirators in the Absalom rebellion was Ahithophel, formerly one of David’s best friends and a trusted counselor. When David heard that Ahithophel had joined the conspirators, he groaned: “O Lord, I pray Thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!” (2 Sam. 15:31). His best friend had turned traitor!
When we consider that Ahithophel was grandfather of Bathsheba, we can understand the motive behind his treachery. This is the background to verse 9 of the psalm: “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” These are the words which our Lord applied to Judas Iscariot and his act of betrayal. Judas would receive the morsel of bread from the hand of the One who was the Bread of Life, and perish still.
There are three other passages in the Old Testament which speak prophetically of the betrayer:
Psalm 69:25 is quoted by Peter in Acts 1:20, “Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents.”
Psalm 109:8 was also quoted by Peter: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office” (Acts 1:20).
Zechariah 11:12-13 is the third: “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price: thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast [it unto] the potter in the house of the Lord.” This passage is quoted in Matthew 27:9-10.
An Outline of Psalm 41
The psalm is in five parts or stanzas:
1. David’s confidence in God (vv. 1-3).
2. David confesses his sin (v. 4).
3. The conspirators’ whispering campaign (vv. 5-8).
4. His counselor Ahithophel’s betrayal (v. 9).
5. David’s cry to God for vindication (vv. 10-12).
The psalm, and Book One, ends with the words: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.”
The Messianic Passage (v. 9)
The passage is quoted by our Lord in the Upper Room (Jn. 13:18). “He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me,” and is applied to Judas Iscariot. There is a mystery about the person and career of Judas that is difficult to understand, but he is a type of many in the religious world today. His history, as recorded in Scripture, falls into twelve stages or steps.
Judas’ mention in prophecy. We have already referred to the four places in the prophetic Word where he appears. His name is not mentioned, but his actions and his end are. It is significant that he has the same name as the man who sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver (Gen. 37:26-27).
Chosen by the Lord as an apostle. After a whole night spent in prayer, our Lord chose the apostles (Lk. 6:16). He called whom He would, to be with Him, and sent them forth to preach (Mk. 3:13-19). Judas was linked with Simon the Canaanite in this service (Mt. 10:4). He is always last in the list, and always called the traitor or betrayer. He was chosen by the Lord, and yet John 6:64 tells us: “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.” Here we have at the same time the omniscience and the love of the Saviour.
Man is a freewill agent, and not a machine subject to inexorable fate. There came a point in Judas’ life when he deliberately chose his own way, in spite of all the love and privilege conferred upon him. He is a type of Christendom’s unconverted preachers. “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out demons? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me ye that work iniquity” (Mt. 7:22-23).
Treasurer of the apostolic band, but a thief (John 12:6). Apparently our Lord, during His public ministry, lived by faith and trust in God for daily needs. We read of “certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered to Him of their substance” (Lk. 8:2-3). When He sent the apostles on their preaching tours, He instructed them, “Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey…for the workman is worthy of his meat” (Mt. 10:9-10).
But Judas, as the trusted financial expert of the group, carried the bag and surreptitiously helped himself from their meager resources! How often has the story been repeated in modern times. Sympathetic saints, sometimes out of deep poverty, contribute to worthy causes, and later it is found that the funds have been embezzled by someone in a position of trust. Judas was guilty of this crime.
The anointing of our Lord by Mary of Bethany. Matthew 26 and John 12 record a feast early in Passover week, in which the characters of Mary and Judas respectively are revealed. It was definitely the crisis in the life of Judas. Mary pours the contents of her alabaster flask of precious ointment on the head and feet of Jesus, and wipes His feet with her hair. Mary’s act of love and devotion reveals the character of Judas. Note his reaction:
1. His attitude to the Lord: Why this waste? Why was not the ointment sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor? Worship was a foreign idea to him.
2. His attitude to the woman: He instigated indignation and murmuring against her (Mk. 14:4), speaking evil of her good.
3. His attitude to money: He was a thief! He had a gift for evaluation and statistics. But it was not the evaluation of the Holy Spirit, who declares the ointment to be “very precious.” Judas’ estimate was three hundred pence. Both Matthew and Mark link the anointing and his frustration with his going to the priests to sell the Saviour. “What will you give me?” They agreed on thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave gored by an ox (Ex. 21:32). It is called in Matthew 27:6 and Acts 1:19 the price of blood. This is the sin of Balaam, Gehazi, Ananias and Sapphira (2 Pet. 2:15; Jn. 13:2; Lk. 22:3; Acts 5:1-11). It has often been said that “a man’s attitude to money is an acid test of his character.” It was so with Judas Iscariot. From this point on, he sought opportunity to betray the Lord.
At the table (John 13). There are six references to Judas as the apostles sat at the Passover table in the Upper Room. “The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him” (v. 2). “Ye are clean, but not all. For He knew who should betray Him” (vv. 10-11). The quotation from Psalm 41:9, “He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me” (v. 18). The outright statement (v. 21), “One of you shall betray Me.” The sop (v. 27) consisted of a portion of the passover lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs. It was usually offered to an honored guest as a token of courtesy and affection. It was one of the last stabs at the man’s conscience. Having received the sop, he went immediately out: and it was night (v. 30). That was a night never to have a sunrise for the betrayer!
Satan enters him. “After the sop, Satan entered into him.” Our Lord had previously said (Jn. 6:70-71), “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil [diabolus]?” Whenever the word “devil” is applied to an evil spirit, it is always a mistranslation, and ought to be rendered “demon.” Our Lord called Judas Iscariot a devil. Satan has many servants at his beck and call to do his infernal work, but when it came to the betrayal of the Saviour, he did not delegate that task to a demon. He himself entered into Judas, and from that point on, Judas was a Satan-possessed man.
At the beginning of our Lord’s life, Satan in the person of Herod sought to destroy Him; at the temptation in the wilderness, he tried to move Him out of the position of dependence on His Father’s will. Now, at the end, he personally enters into a man to treacherously betray the Son of God’s love and purpose.
The arrest in the garden. “Judas…knew the place, for Jesus oft times resorted thither with His disciples” (Jn. 18:1-2). It was a place of retreat and of prayer. The arresting party came with lanterns, torches, and weapons. The identifying sign was a kiss and a salutation. One’s mind immediately goes back to Absalom (2 Sam. 15:5-6), who also gave the traitor’s kiss. Note that Judas never called Jesus, “Lord.” Here it is, “Master, master” (Mk. 14:43-45). Our Lord’s reply was, “Friend” (hetairos, comrade), one of the most touching entreaties in the Bible (Mt. 26:50).
Judas’ return to the Temple (Mt. 27:3-10). When he saw that Jesus was condemned, Judas “repented himself.” He probably never expected that Jesus would be condemned and executed. He knew His sinless character and had seen Him a number of times escape from His enemies, but he never counted on this. When the awful truth that Jesus was really going to die dawned on Judas’ consciousness, he was filled with remorse. It was not repentance in the real sense of the term. He could not now change his mind, or that of the priests, his co-conspirators. He cried: “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” The priests callously replied: “What is that to us? See thou to that.” That is the world’s cynical answer to the tortured mind of the criminal. The silver coins burned like fire in Judas’ hand; he flung them into the Temple and went out and hanged himself.
The suicide. There are a number of comparisons between Judas and Ahithophel. Both had been in a position of trust and intimacy; both had been treated with kindness and courtesy; both performed an act of treachery; the motive behind Ahithophel’s action was probably malice and vengeance, that behind Judas’ was greed. Then both committed suicide by hanging.
Our Lord did not quote all of Psalm 41:9. He did not say of Judas that he was one in whom He trusted. He knew him from the beginning and did not commit Himself to him (Jn. 2:24-25). Self-murder is a pathetic act. Its history, not only in Scripture but in the secular records, makes sad reading. Human life is sacred, and its termination should be left in God’s hand where it belongs.
The potter’s field. Apparently Judas had in mind to buy this piece of real estate. When he was foiled in his purpose by Mary’s act of devotion, and his plan on how to use the thirty pieces of silver did not work out, like a moth drawn to the light of a candle, he went to the spot on which his mind had been set, and there took his own life. Peter gives the details in Acts 1:18-20. “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known to all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.” It is possible, in attempting to hang himself, the rope broke, with the result that Peter describes.
Matthias takes his place (Acts 1:20-26). Because Matthias is never mentioned again in Scripture, some say that Peter acted in a hurry, and that Paul was the man chosen by God to take the place of Judas as an apostle. But Paul’s apostleship was unique. Peter gives us the qualifications of the man chosen to take the place of Judas and to be numbered among the twelve. “Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection.” We have to take the record as it stands, that Matthias was God’s choice.
Judas went to his own place. Our Lord told Simon Peter that He was going to prepare a place in the Father’s house (Jn. 14:1-3). But here is another place prepared for the son of perdition. The term “son of perdition” is used again only of the man of sin (2 Thess. 2:3). He, too, will ultimately find himself in the same place. It is a place of: distance—Judas was near to the Lord on earth, but now a great gulf is fixed (Lk. 16:26); darkness—he went out into the night, ultimately the outer darkness (Mt. 25:30); defilement—for he that is filthy, let him be filthy still (Rev. 22:11); and it is a place of despair—for such punishment is everlasting; in that place there is no hope (Mt. 25:46).
There are ultimately only two places—heaven and hell. Where do you have your place?
Chapter 5: Psalm 22 The Psalm of the Crucifixion
To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver Him: let Him de- liver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.
9 But Thou art He that took Me out of the womb: Thou didst make Me hope when I was upon My mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou art My God from My mother’s belly.
11 Be not far from Me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed Me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset Me round.
13 They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet.
17 I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me.
18 They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.
19 But be not Thou far from Me, O LORD: O My strength, haste Thee to help Me.
20 Deliver My soul from the sword; My darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth: for Thou hast heard Me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare Thy name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.
23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise Him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath He hid His face from Him; but when He cried unto Him, He heard.
25 My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation: I will pay My vows before them that fear Him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek Him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and He is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before Him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this.
The Psalm of the Crucifixion
There are four psalms that speak of the death of Christ, each looking at it from a different standpoint:
Perhaps the most important is Psalm 22 on account of the wealth of detail and the universal results that issue from the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. This goes wider and deeper than the others.
The psalm was written by David circa BC 1050. It contains thirty-three items describing death by crucifixion. When we consider that this cruel and painful method of execution was invented many centuries later, it gives us a vivid demonstration of the inspiration of Holy Scripture by the Spirit of God.
The psalm divides into two parts. The dividing point comes in the center of verse 21, where the suffering Saviour cries, “Thou hast heard Me!” Everything previous to this is suffering; everything after it is an unbroken song.
An Outline of Psalm 22
Each part has three sections:
1. Suffering from a threefold source:
a. Divinely from God (vv. l-6a)—the holiness of God.
b. Physically from man (vv. 6b-18)—hatred of man.
c. Diabolically from Satan (vv. 19-21a)—his hostility.
2. The second section reveals three circles of blessing in
resurrection (vv. 21b-31):
a. My brethren (v. 22).
b. Seed of Jacob, seed of Israel (v. 23).
c. All the ends of the world (v. 27).
Two banquet tables are spread in the psalm: The meek shall eat and be satisfied (v. 26); and all they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship (v. 29).
To the chief musician upon Aijeleth Shahar. The Hebrew words of the title mean: “The hind of the dawn.” The ancient synagogue took the title as a name for the Shekinah, and as a symbol of dawning redemption, and applied it to the morning sacrifice.
Delitzsch says that, according to the traditional definition, it refers to “the early light preceding the dawn of the morning, whose first rays are likened to the horns of a hind.” And the kibbutz Aiyalet ha-Shahar in Galilee today has the figure of a hind leaping over the rising sun at its entryway.
Because the hart and the hind (male and female deer) are often referred to in the poetical books and applied symbolically to our Lord, could it not be applied also in this psalm? (see Song of Sol. 2:17; 8:14). The psalm mentions a number of animals that are the enemies of the “hind of the dawn” and that bring it down into the dust of death. In that case, a key to the interpretation of the psalm hangs at the door.
Four Applications of Psalm 22
Symbolic: the hind of the dawn and its enemies.
Messianic: notice especially four remarkable titles—the worm, My darling, the leader of praise, and the Governor among the nations.
Historic: it describes the birth, death, resurrection, exaltation of the Messiah.
Prophetic: there are three circles of blessing, ending with the kingdom.
1. The Symbolic: The Hind of the Dawn and its Enemies
In the Mosaic economy, our Lord as the sinless sacrifice is typified by the ox (son of the herd), the ram, the lamb, the kid, and the turtle dove. These were slain and offered on the altar. But in the poetical books, He is compared to the hind of the dawn, which is generally seen in the early morning, tripping along in the forest glades, licking the dew, and taking a bite of the succulent leaves as it makes its way along. It is one of the most beautiful creatures that God has made, but it is also defenseless. Its only means of survival are a keen sense of smell and speed in flight. It has many enemies in an environment where nature, “red in tooth and claw,” reigns supreme. This is the beautiful figure used of our Lord in Psalm 22. Four of its enemies are mentioned:
The bulls of Bashan (v. 12). The Prophet Amos (4:1) compares the leaders of the nation to the cattle of Bashan, and castigates them for oppressing the poor and crushing the needy. These are the ceremonially clean bulls, the highest of the offerings in Jerusalem. They would correspond to the chief priests and scribes who were responsible for the arrest and illegal trial of Christ, and who handed Him over to Pilate and the Roman government for execution. They cried: “His blood be on us and on our children” (Mt. 27:25), and there it re- mains until the present day. It will only be removed when, in a coming day, at His appearing, they will look on Him whom they pierced, and in true repentance they will confess their sin, and a fountain will be opened for sin and for uncleanness (Zech. 12:10-13:1).
The unicorn or wild ox (Hebrew, reem) (v. 21). H. A. Ironside writes: “There is no such animal as a unicorn. Our translators put that word in because they did not understand the exact meaning, but every Hebrew scholar now knows that it is the aurochs, a wild ox with great branching horns, as sharp almost as needles at the ends. The executioners used to lay hold of poor, wretched, condemned victims, bind them by the feet and the shoulders on these sharp horns, and then set the wild ox loose in the desert to run about until the man died. That is the picture used here. Crucifixion was like putting the man upon the horns of the wild ox.”
The word could also refer to the wild buffalo. It is one of the most powerful, vicious, malevolent beasts in the African forest, especially when aroused or wounded. It will pound its victim to pulp with its massive head and horns. It could be compared to the mob outside Pilate’s courtroom, howling in unison: “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” (Jn. 19:15). There are few things more frightening or vicious than a mob out of control.
The dog. The dog is mentioned twice, first in the plural (v. 16). “For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet.” This could refer to the Roman soldiers who carried out the execution. Then (v. 20): “Deliver My soul from the sword; My darling from the power of the dog.” This could be applied to Pilate, who in spite of his own statement, “I find no fault in Him,” sent Him to the death of the cross. He was the official representative of the power and authority of Rome. The dog in Scripture usually refers to the Gentile, the pariah dog. “How perfectly man was revealed in the presence of the cross! The dogs, heartless, shameless, unclean, and offal-feeding, hunting in packs like the assembly of the evil-doers here” (F. W. Grant).
The lion. Satan is called a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8). While amid the darkness, God had forsaken His well-beloved, and angelic help was absent, Satan and his hosts were there. Satan, after the temptation in the wilderness, left Him for a season. But he came back to the attack. He entered personally into Judas to do his nefarious work (Jn. 13:27). But it was on the cross that the final attack was made.
There is an important passage (Col. 2:14-15) which shows that, as well as Satan, the hosts of hell joined in the attack on Christ on the cross: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” The horns of the wild ox, the paw of the dog, and the lion’s mouth are dangerous weapons, but it was none of these that brought the Hind of the Dawn down into the dust of death. He was superior to them all.
The sword (v. 20). The sword of divine justice was sheathed in the bosom of the Good Shepherd. “Awake, O sword, against My shephe