The Return Of The King ... Psalm 9 pt 1

11-03-19 | Bill Randles

[pastorbillrandles]

The Psalms of the Bible are full of prophecy. A major theme of many of the Psalms is that of the return of the King, Messiah, and his sufferings and glory. The prophecies of the Psalms are eschatological also, describing in great detail the last great conflict of Israel, and of the world conditions at the time of the second coming of Christ.

The ninth Psalm is an example of this.

I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.(Psalm 9:1-2)

The voice of this Psalm is that of grateful Israel, willingly praising God in the aftermath of a severe testing. Israel had been besieged by the nations of the world, and would have been destroyed but for the intervention of God.

When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.(Psalm 9:3-4)

Notice that the Psalmist celebrates the final deliverance of Israel in the past tense… the “prophetic perfect”. It is an already accomplished fact, It is finished because God has spoken it.

The prophet Zechariah is but one of the many who saw the final conflict of Israel as an international siege of Jerusalem, leading to the brink of annihilation , until the Lord himself returns to save the remnant of His people,

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem…For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle…Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.(Zechariah 12:2,14:2-3)

It is as a result of “Thy Presence” that Israel’s final enemies “turn back, fall and perish…“.The New Testament refers to the return of the King Messiah as “the Parousia” of our Lord, the actual physical return of Jesus.

The nations of the world are angry, for they have contrived grievances with Israel. But the U.N. isn’t the final court in the worldwide conflict. The last word is not given to the USA, the U.N., or the IMF.

There is a righteous judge of all the earth, the God of the Bible. He is the one that the “kings of the earth and their princes” have taken their counsel together against in the second Psalm,

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed…(Psalm 2:2)

The ninth Psalm praises God that it is He, the judge of all of the earth that has decided the final conflict, “maintain(ing) my right and my cause”.

Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever(Psalm 9:5)

As in the day when God rebuked the sea, saying “You can come this far and no further, thus shall your proud waves be stopped.”(Job 38:11), God shall rebuke all of the nations (Heathen) who had amassed themselves against Israel, and they will find that His rebuke is withering, destructive and final.

The imagery of the Tower of Babel is invoked, for the nations of the world will once again unite, on a project to “make a name for themselves“. But once again the ambitious, humanistic project comes crashing down around them.

The prophet speaks in the past tense, “Thou hast destroyed the wicked…”. The Kings of the earth and their rulers thought that by their unity they could prevail over Him, but the Proverbs warned them long before,

Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. (Proverbs 11:21)

look for part 2

[caddie]

And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice,

"Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It is the only saying that appears in more than one Gospel, and is a quote from Psalm 22:2

The Psalm prophesy is fulfilled by Jesus on the cross just before He died.