...Psalm 72:1-19 Solomon Celebrates His Blessings

To the Coming Reign of the Righteous King - Christ the Messiah

A Psalm of Prophesy

Psalm 72 is the second psalm of Solomon.  In it, he prays that he and his royal descendants would rule over Israel with righteousness and compassion. These traits please God, and all the people of Israel are wanting to imitate such a king. It is a prophesy of the coming King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.  

If Israel practiced such righteousness, God promised to bless her with prosperity and global fame. This would make kings and citizens of other countries aware of Israel’s God and Israel’s ways.  It is through Christ and future kings that the Lord God plans to bless His people.

Thoughts for today-

There will be “Refreshment— and Living Waters.”   While the river that will flow out of Jerusalem is literal, it has a spiritual significance. In that hot, desert climate, the picture of an abundant river, flowing all year, meant refreshment. Imagine hiking in Phoenix in the summer. You’re parched and about to faint when you come to a clear, cold stream of pure water. Holiness or righteousness is like that. Sin not only defiles us, it is like a disease that slowly destroys us. God’s Word cleanses us and renews us. Jesus’ righteous reign will be refreshing!

Do you long for His coming? God’s aim in history is that Jesus Christ will reign as King over all of heaven and earth. “Let the one who is thirsty come—let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost, come.  He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’  

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:17, 20) !

PSALM 72  A Psalm of Solomon.

    1     Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s son.

    2     May he judge Your people with righteousness and your afflicted with justice.

    3     Let the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness.

    4     May he vindicate the afflicted of the people,  save the children of the needy

            and crush the oppressor.

.

     5     Let them fear You while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout

           all generations.

     6     May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.

     7     In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon is no more.

     8     May he also rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

     9     Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.

     10    Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; the kings of Sheba--

     11    And let all kings bow down before him, all nations serve him.

 .

     12     For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him

             who has no helper.

     13     He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save.

     14     He will rescue their life from oppression and violence, and their blood will be

             precious in his sight;

     15     So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him; and let them pray for

             him continually--let  them bless him all day long.

     16     May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains--

              Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon, and may those from the city flourish

             like vegetation of the earth.

 .

     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.

     18     Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders.

     19     And blessed be His glorious name forever.  And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.

              Amen and Amen.

Psalm 33: Man’s Wickedness — God’s Perfection (part 2)

A Place for Sacrifice and Atonement

2 Samuel 24:18-25

18 So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the LORD had commanded. 20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him; and Araunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. 21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be held back from the people.” 22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23 “Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24 However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the LORD was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.

God came to David with another solution – sacrifice. David was to erect an altar to the LORD there on the threshing floor of Araunah.   David began to make his way up to the place where the angel of the LORD had been halted. (verse 16)   Araunah and his four sons were there at the threshing floor threshing wheat.  David was making his way to where they were.  (1 Chronicles 21:20-21). It must have been a terrifying moment for them.

Araunah having land near to David and the city of Jerusalem, offered to give David the land–but David refused…   If David accepted this offer, his sacrifice would cost him nothing. He could not offer a “sacrifice” without first making a sacrifice.  David purchased the land.  He offered his sacrifices to the Lord, and when this sacrifice had been made, the Lord heard and stopped the plague.  This place would become  the property on which Solomon’s temple would be built.

PSALM 33  The Sovereignty of the Lord In Creation and History

1     Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.

2     Praise the Lord with the harp, make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.

3     Sing to Him a new song!  Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

4     For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth.

.

5     He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

6     By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them

      by the breath of His mouth.

7    He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap, He lays up the deep in storehouses.

8     Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

.

9     For He spoke, and it was done;  He commanded, and it stood fast.

10   The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing, 

      He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.

11     The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.

12     Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

.

13    The Lord looks from heaven, He sees all the sons of men.

14     From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth;

15     He fashions their hearts individually, He considers all their works.

16    No king is saved by the multitude of an army, a mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

17     A horse is a vain hope for safety, neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

.

18     Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy,

19     To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

20     Our soul waits for the Lord;  He is our help and our shield.

21     For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.

22     Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.

 

Psalm 36: Man’s Wickedness — God’s Perfection (part 1)

First, we are reminded of the faithfulness of God as the Savior of His people.
Second, we see that while God is a faithful Savior, He will use men of courage and faith.
Third, we see that while man is sinful, our sin never hinders God from accomplishing His saving work.
Fourth, we see from this epilogue that no human king will ever be able to fulfill God’s promise of salvation.

The Census

Exodus 30:12:  “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them.”

The principle of Exodus 30:12 speaks of God’s ownership of His people.  No man had a right to count or number what belonged to God.  The people of Israel belonged to God. If David counted he should only do it at God’s command and receiving ransom money to “atone” for the counting.  [Bible.org]

2 Samuel 24:1-17

Census  [verses 1-7]

 1 Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”    2 So the king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Now go throughout all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know the number of the people.”  3 And Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times more than there are, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king desire this thing?” 4 Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the captains of the army. Therefore Joab and the captains of the army went out from the presence of the king to count the people of Israel.

Judgement on David’s Sin  [verse 10-17]

 10 And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”  11 Now when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” 13 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”  14 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

15 So he Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died. 16 And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”

 Altar on the Threshing Floor   [verses 18-25]

 18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David, according to the word of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded. 20 Now Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people.”

         22 Now Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.”  24 Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

Here we have an example of Calamity and Compassion.  God has poured out His wrath on His people, but now He took compassion on them. He order the angel, who was standing by the threshing floor, to cease from killing any more people. David could not have known God’s purposes yet, and so he petitioned God in an attempt to halt the plague. He asked that God’s anger be satisfied by pouring out His wrath on him [on his father’s house].  But God had a better plan.

• Moses and Aaron, and throughout the period of the judges, God saved His people when they cried out to Him (1 Samuel 12:6-11). Then God saved Israel through Saul and David.  They led the nation in battle against their enemies.  God served as David’s Savior over and over again in his lifetime. God is faithful  as the Savior of His people, even when His people fail. David continually worshiped God as His fortress and his salvation.
• David was prepared for his reign as Israel’s king by shepherding a small flock of his father’s sheep. He learned to trust God and to act courageously to save the flock from the attacks of bears and lions. His military career began with his confrontation of Goliath on the battlefield.  Saul did not inspire courage in his men, but David’s courage inspired many others to fight with faith and boldness against unbelievable odds. These men made it possible for David to cease fighting when his strength began to fail.
•  If David is the best that history has to offer, we can only see the faithfulness of God as He used David in bringing about great blessings through his failures. Two of Israel’s greatest blessings came about as a result of two of David’s greatest sins. David’s sin with Bathsheba resulted in the messianic line passing down through Bathsheba, and eventually this marriage produced the next king — Solomon.  David’s sin in numbering the Israelite warriors resulted in the purchase of the threshing floor of Araunah, which was the building site for the temple that was to be constructed under King Solomon.   The salvation of the Gentiles was due, to the rejection of Jesus Christ as Messiah by the Jews (see Romans 11).  Our sin, while it offends the righteousness of God, can be used to accomplish His purposes and promises. He will also employ Satan to achieve His purposes (1 Chronicles 21:1.).
• There must be one coming who is greater than David. Israel had rejected God as their king in 1 Samuel 8, when they demanded a king to “save” them from their enemies. God never really abdicated His place as Israel’s King, as Israel’s Savior. Through the line of David, God would someday provide a King for His people who would save them from their sins. He would be more than David, more than a man, and one who was without sin. He would be the Lord Jesus Christ, who came as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He would be “delivered from death” as God the Father raised Him from the dead. He would return as the King of Israel, triumphing over his enemies.

PSALM 36  Man’s Wickedness and God’s Perfections

1     An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:

     There is no fear of God before his eyes.

2     For he flatters himself in his own eyes,

     When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.

3     The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit, He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

4     He devises wickedness on his bed, He sets himself din a way that is not good–

     He does not abhor evil.

5     Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

6     Your righteousness is like the great mountains, Your judgments are a great deep–

     O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

7     How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

     Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

8    They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,

     And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.

9     For with You is the fountain of life, in Your light we see light.

10     Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness

      to the upright in heart.

11     Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12     There the workers of iniquity have fallen, they have been cast down and are not able to rise.

Share this:

Psalm 18: King David's Reflections

As for God, His way is perfect.

The word of the Lord is proven, He is a shield to all who trust in Him

This reflection at the end of King David’s reign are some of his most treasured words as he speaks of the hand of God in his life. Some follow in the tradition of earlier psalms andabout Israel’s history. These words are written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were to be taken very seriously then, and by us as well.

Some content includes: The Song of Israel by the Sea (Exodus 15:1-18),

The Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1-43)

The Song of Deborah (Judges 5)

The Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10)

The Song of David (2 Samuel 22) (Psalm 18)

The Song of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:1-19).

 

Samuel 22:1-51 is almost identical with Psalm 18:

   David’s Deliverer (verses 1-3)

   David’s Danger, His Cry for Help, and His Deliverance (4-20)

   The Basis for David’s Deliverance (21-28)

   Divine Strengthening to Defeat Enemies (29-46)

   Praise to God! (47-50)

   God Save the King! (51).
 

The Lord is David’s deliverer and David’s refuge. He is also the refuge and deliverer of all who trust in Him, including all the Gentiles. All those who set themselves against God’s king (David, or the Messiah), are the enemies of God, and will be crushed. Is David safe and secure because God is his refuge? Yes! David reveals this confidence and security is much more long-lasting than just during his own lifetime. He knows that as God has shown loving-kindness to him, He will show it to his descendants, and thus these blessings of which he has spoken are eternal. God has not only kept His promise to David by protecting him from those who would try to destroy him, and take his throne, God will also install the One who fulfills the Davidic Covenant, God’s anointed One, Christ the Messiah. 

 

.

David, Servant of the Lord, spoke to the Lord the words of this song praising God for how He delivered him from the hand of all his enemies.
 

PSALM 18

¹ I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God, my strength,

in whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised–

so shall I be saved from my enemies..

⁴ The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

.

⁵ The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God–

He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

⁷ Then the earth shook and trembled–

The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry.

⁸ Smoke went up from His nostrils, an devouring fire from His mouth–

Coals were kindled by it.

.

⁹ He bowed the heavens also, and came down with darkness under His feet..

¹⁰ And He rode upon a cherub, and flew, He flew upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹ He made darkness His secret place, His canopy around Him was dark waters

And thick clouds of the skies.

¹² From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³ The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴ He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

.

¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered

At Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me,

for they were too strong for me.

¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support..

¹⁹ He also brought me out into a broad place. He delivered me because He delighted in me.

.

²⁰ The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness–

According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me..

²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²² For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me.

²³ I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity.

²⁴ Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

.

²⁵ With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful–

with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless.

²⁶ With the pure You will show Yourself pure, and with the devious

You will show Yourself shrewd.

²⁷ For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.

²⁸ For You will light my lamp, the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness..

²⁹ For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall.

.

³⁰ As for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is proven, He is a shield

to all who trust in Him.

³¹ For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?

³² It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.

³³ He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.

³⁴ He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵ You have also given me the shield of Your salvation. Your right hand has held me up,

Your gentleness has made me great.

.

³⁶ You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip.

³⁷ I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them–

Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

³⁸ I have wounded them, so that they could not rise, they have fallen under my feet.

³⁹ For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under

me those who rose up against me.

⁴⁰ You have also given me the necks of my enemies, so that I destroyed those who

hated me.

.

⁴¹ They cried out, but there was none to save, even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

.⁴² Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind; I cast them out like dirt

in the streets.

⁴³ You have delivered me from the strivings of the people–

You have made me the head of the nations, a people I have not known shall serve me.

⁴⁴ As soon as they hear of me they obey me, the foreigners submit to me.

⁴⁵ The foreigners fade away, and come frightened from their hideouts..

⁴⁶ The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted..

.

⁴⁷ It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me–

⁴⁸ He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me.

You have delivered me from the violent man.

⁴⁹ Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,

and sing praises to Your name.

.⁵⁰ Great deliverance He gives to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed,

To David and his descendants forevermore..