God’s Prayer Book –All things unto the Messiah; suffering and victorious, part 2.Sunday November 6,2022The Psalms contain the Messiah: pre-incarnate, birth, death, resurrection, session, return.
Jesus told His disciples that Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms all spoke of Him. The Lord Jesus is the center and fulfillment of all of history, promises, and covenants. He is the reason for all things.
Col 1:15-20 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
We, male and female, were made in God’s image. Fallen mankind has a fallen image.
Gen 9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
We ceased to be a perfect vehicle for the representation of God, however it is not a completely effaced image. We still have qualities such as love of goodness and beauty, which animals lack, but these qualities are flawed and misshapen, and often lead us into trouble more so than they do us any good.
“However absurd the statement may appear to one who has not yet discovered the fact for himself, the cause of every man’s discomfort is evil, moral evil.” [George MacDonald, The Hope of the Gospel]
We are in Adam, but we can’t blame Adam, not that it would do any good if we did. The problem is us. But note the first line of this ancient Christian hymn –
“He is the image (eikon) of the invisible God.” God’s grace in Christ will yet accomplish more than what Adam lost.
Christ is the visible image of what God is, who is invisible. And He restores us to our image, but not our original image of Adam unfallen in the Garden of Eden, but now in the image of Christ. Every believer is predestined to it, and what God predetermines He has already done (though for us the complete transformation will not occur until the eternal state).
Rom 8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Col 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.
During the Tribulation, an image of the Beast is made and all are told to worship it and told that they must be given the mark of that image. Satan seeks to counterfeit, and he does a poor job of it, so poor that he can only force people to swallow it. He is doing this in a much more subtle way now, but we believers are the image of our perfect Lord because He has made us each a new self, and we can see this image, not in the mirror in the bathroom, but in the word of God. The word of God shows the image of Christ, and we must never think that image which we see is separate or different from our own.
His image is our image.
Col 3:4 Christ, who is our life
In this way, when you see Christ’s way, truth, and life in the Scriptures, you will know that you have to adopt them fully into your heart, and you will desire this more than anything.
With this truth of the New Covenant in mind, for that is what it is, we are ready to see our precious Lord in the Psalms.
Everything in life takes on the challenge of living in oneness with the Lord. Everything is done unto Him and every part of our lives are to find its origin in Him. When I read of Him, I am to know that His life is my own. When I see Him love and relate to others and work and teach and pray and have joy and even sorrow, I am to have the same kind of life.
He became us so that we could become Him.
There is a counterpoint in our relationship to God as we look to Christ Jesus’ broken body, shed blood, and most painful death and in the same Person, we see His resurrection glory. All history surrounds Him and leads to Him, as does all creation, as does all Scripture; and they are all found in the Psalms. In them, therefore, we may experience fully everything about our Lord Jesus, and ask of the Father no gift more urgently than His presence, the gift of Himself, joyous to the highest degree, and unmistakably real.
There is joy in the believer who knows that he or she has Christ as a gift more valuable by billions of times over all the riches and banquets and lovely people in the world.
So these psalms show us our Lord in His amazing and unknowable, unfathomable suffering, to which His victory must be just as astonishing and amazing in the opposite direction. Praise the Lord for His indescribable gift!
Last time we looked at Psa 22, Psa 69 is another passion psalm.
Psa 69:1-4 Save me, O God, For the waters have threatened my life. 2 I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me. 3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies, What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
In vs. 5 David writes about his own guilt, which would not apply to Christ, but would draw our minds to the wonderful truth that Christ has taken all of our guilt upon Himself.
Psa 69:5 O God, it is You who knows my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from You.
So, as we saw in Psa 106, confess them and deal with them in God’s gracious and perfectly righteous life.
These lines apply directly to the incarnate Christ.
Psa 69:9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
Subsequent lines give us some insight into the incredible suffering that Christ had to endure. These should cause us to have inner reflection and deep gratitude.
Psa 69:15 May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.
Psa 69:20-21 Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. 21 They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Psa 2, 110 witness of Christ’s victory over His enemies and the establishment of His kingdom and His worship by His people.
We’ve looked at Psa 2 …
Psa 110 A Psalm of David.
The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." 2 The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." 5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. 7 He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.
Within its seven short verses, Psa 110 includes all four periods of the Messianic program: the first coming, the interval, the second coming, and the messianic kingdom.
Here there is direct contact with David, and the conundrum of the hypostatic union.
Mat 22:45 "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?"
Psa 72 asks for justice and help for the poor, for peace, and a stable kingdom filled with eternal honor by providence of the King. It speaks of the Lord Jesus’ victory over the world.
Psa 72:17 May his name endure forever; May his name increase as long as the sun shines; And let men bless themselves by him; Let all nations call him blessed.
Psa 45 pictures Christ as the beautiful warrior poet who has made His bride ready for marriage.
Psa 45:1-9 For the choir director; according to the Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 2 You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. 3 Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty! 4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things. 5 Your arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies. 6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows. 8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad. 9 Kings' daughters are among Your noble ladies; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
Communion: Communion based on the principle of our oneness with Christ. We are not to think of ourselves as separate from Christ … the rituals in Israel were not to be thought of as separate from God and our given ritual of the Lord’s Supper is not to be thought of as separate from the Lord. When we are gathered in His name (believers who are in obedience to Him, i.e., we didn’t stray in here by accident) He is here in our midst.
Mat 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
If the Corinthians had seen Christ in their midst, would they have behaved as they did?
1Co 11:17-22 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
Paul draws a glaring contrast between “the Lord’s Supper,” and “his own supper first.” If you want to eat your own supper, fine, but do so in your own house. The church of God, which is the gathering of members and not the building, is for the Lord, for He is there as the Head of the Supper and you and all with you are His guests.
So, Paul warns them: 1Co 11:27-34 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment.
1Co 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the The Psalms contain the Messiah: pre-incarnate, birth, death, resurrection, session, return.
Jesus told His disciples that Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms all spoke of Him. The Lord Jesus is the center and fulfillment of all of history, promises, and covenants. He is the reason for all things.
Col 1:15-20 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
We, male and female, were made in God’s image. Fallen mankind has a fallen image.
Gen 9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
We ceased to be a perfect vehicle for the representation of God, however it is not a completely effaced image. We still have qualities such as love of goodness and beauty, which animals lack, but these qualities are flawed and misshapen, and often lead us into trouble more so than they do us any good.
“However absurd the statement may appear to one who has not yet discovered the fact for himself, the cause of every man’s discomfort is evil, moral evil.” [George MacDonald, The Hope of the Gospel]
We are in Adam, but we can’t blame Adam, not that it would do any good if we did. The problem is us. But note the first line of this ancient Christian hymn –
“He is the image (eikon) of the invisible God.” God’s grace in Christ will yet accomplish more than what Adam lost.
Christ is the visible image of what God is, who is invisible. And He restores us to our image, but not our original image of Adam unfallen in the Garden of Eden, but now in the image of Christ. Every believer is predestined to it, and what God predetermines He has already done (though for us the complete transformation will not occur until the eternal state).
Rom 8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Col 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.
During the Tribulation, an image of the Beast is made and all are told to worship it and told that they must be given the mark of that image. Satan seeks to counterfeit, and he does a poor job of it, so poor that he can only force people to swallow it. He is doing this in a much more subtle way now, but we believers are the image of our perfect Lord because He has made us each a new self, and we can see this image, not in the mirror in the bathroom, but in the word of God. The word of God shows the image of Christ, and we must never think that image which we see is separate or different from our own.
His image is our image.
Col 3:4 Christ, who is our life
In this way, when you see Christ’s way, truth, and life in the Scriptures, you will know that you have to adopt them fully into your heart, and you will desire this more than anything.
With this truth of the New Covenant in mind, for that is what it is, we are ready to see our precious Lord in the Psalms.
Everything in life takes on the challenge of living in oneness with the Lord. Everything is done unto Him and every part of our lives are to find its origin in Him. When I read of Him, I am to know that His life is my own. When I see Him love and relate to others and work and teach and pray and have joy and even sorrow, I am to have the same kind of life.
He became us so that we could become Him.
There is a counterpoint in our relationship to God as we look to Christ Jesus’ broken body, shed blood, and most painful death and in the same Person, we see His resurrection glory. All history surrounds Him and leads to Him, as does all creation, as does all Scripture; and they are all found in the Psalms. In them, therefore, we may experience fully everything about our Lord Jesus, and ask of the Father no gift more urgently than His presence, the gift of Himself, joyous to the highest degree, and unmistakably real.
There is joy in the believer who knows that he or she has Christ as a gift more valuable by billions of times over all the riches and banquets and lovely people in the world.
So these psalms show us our Lord in His amazing and unknowable, unfathomable suffering, to which His victory must be just as astonishing and amazing in the opposite direction. Praise the Lord for His indescribable gift!
Last time we looked at Psa 22, Psa 69 is another passion psalm.
Psa 69:1-4 Save me, O God, For the waters have threatened my life. 2 I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me. 3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies, What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
In vs. 5 David writes about his own guilt, which would not apply to Christ, but would draw our minds to the wonderful truth that Christ has taken all of our guilt upon Himself.
Psa 69:5 O God, it is You who knows my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from You.
So, as we saw in Psa 106, confess them and deal with them in God’s gracious and perfectly righteous life.
These lines apply directly to the incarnate Christ.
Psa 69:9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
Subsequent lines give us some insight into the incredible suffering that Christ had to endure. These should cause us to have inner reflection and deep gratitude.
Psa 69:15 May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.
Psa 69:20-21 Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. 21 They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Psa 2, 110 witness of Christ’s victory over His enemies and the establishment of His kingdom and His worship by His people.
We’ve looked at Psa 2 …
Psa 110 A Psalm of David.
The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." 2 The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." 5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. 7 He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.
Within its seven short verses, Psa 110 includes all four periods of the Messianic program: the first coming, the interval, the second coming, and the messianic kingdom.
Here there is direct contact with David, and the conundrum of the hypostatic union.
Mat 22:45 "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?"
Psa 72 asks for justice and help for the poor, for peace, and a stable kingdom filled with eternal honor by providence of the King. It speaks of the Lord Jesus’ victory over the world.
Psa 72:17 May his name endure forever; May his name increase as long as the sun shines; And let men bless themselves by him; Let all nations call him blessed.
Psa 45 pictures Christ as the beautiful warrior poet who has made His bride ready for marriage.
Psa 45:1-9 For the choir director; according to the Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 2 You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. 3 Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty! 4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things. 5 Your arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies. 6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows. 8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad. 9 Kings' daughters are among Your noble ladies; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
Communion: Communion based on the principle of our oneness with Christ. We are not to think of ourselves as separate from Christ … the rituals in Israel were not to be thought of as separate from God and our given ritual of the Lord’s Supper is not to be thought of as separate from the Lord. When we are gathered in His name (believers who are in obedience to Him, i.e., we didn’t stray in here by accident) He is here in our midst.
Mat 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
If the Corinthians had seen Christ in their midst, would they have behaved as they did?
1Co 11:17-22 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. 19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
Paul draws a glaring contrast between “the Lord’s Supper,” and “his own supper first.” If you want to eat your own supper, fine, but do so in your own house. The church of God, which is the gathering of members and not the building, is for the Lord, for He is there as the Head of the Supper and you and all with you are His guests.
So, Paul warns them: 1Co 11:27-34 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
33 So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment.
1Co 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Lord's death until He comes. |