Meditations On The Messiah - Messiah The Son In Might
by Ray Hawkins
- MESSIAH THE SON IN MIGHT
"Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw off their fetters.'
"The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the LORD scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 'I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.'
"Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way ..." (Psalm 2:1-6,10,11).
The Psalms provide the music of the soul wrung out by the varied experiences of the writers. From the ecstasy of hope and praise to the agony of rejection and failure has come the rhythm of life to which we can relate.
There is a splendid fascination about the Psalms. As we read many of them we become aware of a woven figure presenting itself through the agony and ecstasy of the writers. The Spirit of God is weaving wonderful patterns of the Messiah. It seems as though God is expressing to us the fact that the Messiah would encounter life as faced by ordinary folk like you and me.
We see threads of the Messiah story in the Shepherd Psalm 23 and it offers us comfort. Our souls shudder as we read Psalms 22 and 118 -- the thread seems to be broken; the picture marred, for the Messiah is cut off, is rejected, is disowned.
What is more, we are left gasping as we read, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (118:22-24) This is the Lord's doing!
The Psalm that must excite all those who long for the appearing of the Messiah is Psalm 2. It is the picture of the Strong One, the Lord who conquers. For it meets our expectations of the One who will come to fracture the head of the Serpent and to crush the rebellion of mankind.
Those who down through the course of history have had a heart for God, have cried that He would fulfil His word, that he would avenge His people. So many times it would appear that anti-God forces have prevailed over the ones committed to the cause of the Eternal.
In this Psalm is the promise that at the chosen moment in history the Lord of Hosts will step into the arena to defend His name, His people and His purposes. The Suffering Servant of Isaiah becomes the conqueror of the Psalmist. The Serpent has done his worst; the nations have made their choice; now it is time to draw the drama to the promised end.
The contest between faith in the promised Messiah and the sensuous appeal and slavery of the Serpent is now finalized. The writer graphically describes the rage of rejection and the universal upsurge against holiness and truth. It is as if a spirit of delusion had conquered the minds of the people of the world by which they imagined they could overthrow the Anointed One.
How the Psalmist shows the impotency of the world! How he endeavours to penetrate the delusion so that some at least might change sides before it is too late.
We notice the decisive words he uses to express God's might: the Lord LAUGHS; the Lord REBUKES; the Lord INSTALLS HIS KING; the Lord GIVES HIM THE NATIONS.
Then as if in a pause between the proclamation of the event and the issuing of judgement the Almighty proposes a last-minute plea for reconciliation: "SERVE THE LORD; KISS THE SON."
Let us not raise our fist in unbelief. Let faith prevail in devotion in spite of the distressing circumstances. Let us look beyond the confusion of the 'now' to the clarity of God's intention in the 'then'.
Let this Psalm become the music of the Messiah's majestic might. Let Him take away the rage of the heart and make peace. Let Him rule NOW by faith so that IN THE FUTURE we will not hear His rebuke.
My desire, Lord is that you would remove my boxing gloves; remove the weapons of war from my heart. I would have you conquer me by love, not by laughter or rebuke. I bow in the surrender of my life and territory to you.