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Psalms 21:1-12 open_in_new
Psalms 21:1-2. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.
God gave to Jesus the strength needed to accomplish the work which he came to do, and he is daily giving him to see of the travail of his soul that he may be satisfied.
Psalms 21:3. For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness:
They go before him, like scouts or forerunners. Wherever Jesus comes, the blessings of goodness fly before him to the sons of men.
Psalms 21:3. Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
Let us crown him afresh tonight with our poor garlands of praise, while God sets a crown of pure gold upon his head.
Psalms 21:4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
And because he lives, we shall live also; the Father hath given to him to have life in himself, and hence he communicates of that life to us who believe in him.
Psalms 21:5. His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.
Heaped it on him. There is no one so worthy of honour as our Lord Jesus is; none are so majestic as the Man of sorrows who once bowed his head to death on his people's behalf.
Psalms 21:6. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
The Father rewards him for all his service: «Thou hast made him most blessed for ever.» We cannot imagine how great is the joy of Christ as his Father smiles upon him: «Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.»
Psalms 21:7-8. For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies:
Oh, what a wonderful prophecy that is! Christ's hand shall find out all his enemies. If they hide themselves, he shall discover them. If they cover themselves with chain armor, yet still his hand will find out their vulnerable parts, and touch their very souls until they melt with fear: «Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies.» Are there any of these enemies of Christ here tonight? If so, not only will his eye find them out, but his hand will find them out, too.
Psalms 21:8-13. Thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shell swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children, of men. For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them. Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 20:1. and 21.
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Psalms 21:1-13 open_in_new
Psalms 21:1. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
See how greatly Christ rejoices, how full his heart is of gladness as he sees God's power put forth, and God's salvation accomplished among men.
Psalms 21:2-3. Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast, not with holden the request of his lips. Selah. For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness:
That is to say, «Thou goest before him,» as you have seen, in pictures, some great conqueror preceded by those who strewn his path with roses, so has God strewn the pathway of Christ with innumerable blessings.
Psalms 21:3. Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
Is he not of royal race? Has he not achieved a mighty conquest? Is he not King of kings and Lord of lords?
Psalms 21:4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
«Thou gavest him a resurrection from the dead as our Mediator, and as such he lives.»
Psalms 21:5. His glory is great in thy salvation:
It is the distinguishing mark of God's salvation that Christ's glory is great in it. In the beginning, and the middle, and the end of it, everywhere you see the name of Jesus written large in letters of light. In his salvation, the Father has glorified his Son.
Psalms 21:5-8. Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies:
That very hand that was nailed to the tree shall find out all the adversaries of the cross.
Psalms 21:8. Thy right hand shall fall out those that hate thee.
«Hide wherever they may, thou wilt find them out. They may stand in the high places, and defy thee; but thou wilt hurl them down.»
Psalms 21:9. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger:
«Not only shall they be cast into the fire, but they shall themselves be as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. They shall torment themselves, and shall be their own destruction.»
Psalms 21:9-11. The LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
But that did not diminish their sin. When a man has devised an evil tiring,
even if he cannot carry it out, he is guilty of it.
Psalms 21:12. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.
As if God would single out the enemies of Christ to be targets for his arrows, and fill them with the darts of his displeasure; who would wish to be in such a plight as this?
Psalms 21:13. Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 20:1. and 21.