Dwell in the Word: Psalm 21
Consider these questions as you dwell in Psalm 21:
1. How does Psalm 21 serve as a companion to Psalm 20, and what is the significance of the opening statement of praise in Psalm 21?
2. In what ways does Psalm 21 highlight the covenant faithfulness of God, and how does this relate to the promises made to David and the protection of Israel?
3. How does the theme of God's steadfast love, or "hesed," influence the psalmist's trust in the Lord, and how can this theme be applied to our understanding of God's salvation and victory over our greatest enemies?
Transcript:
We land in Psalm 21 today and we see an opening statement of praise. And it's important that we stop for a moment and we remember back to Psalm 20. That Psalm was a call for salvation. It started with, may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble and then ends with the prayer for Yahweh to save the King. And the final words are, may he answer us when we call. Psalm 21 then is a companion to that previous chapter of the Psalter. And the idea is that this is a song of praise in Thanksgiving that God has provided victory for the King. And the statement that we see in verse 1 shows us this, Oh Lord, in your strength the King rejoices and in your salvation how greatly he exalts. It's God who saves and this psalm rejoices in the work that God has done. And we can see that this is a call back to the previous psalm with what is said in verse 2, You have given him his heart's desire. This was a statement in the previous psalm, and if you'll recall, I mentioned that this prayer is not that we would have our selfish wants filled, but that David here desires the protection of the people of God and therefore the protection of the promises that God made to them. As we read the Psalms, we need to remember that the music playing in the background is the expectation of the promised Messiah and the belief that God is going to keep his covenant promises.
For the king to be protected, for the king to be given his heart's desire is for Israel to be blessed. This is not just a temporal blessing, but it's an understanding of the covenant faithfulness of God and that he is going to redeem his people. And we see this theme displayed for us clearly as we look at verses 5 through 7. His glory is great through your salvation, splendor and majesty you bestow upon him, for you make him most blessed forever. You make him glad with the joy of your presence, for the King trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved." That makes it very clear about what this psalm is about. The glory of the King isn't about anything that the King has done, but the glory is in the salvation that has come from God and the splendor that God gives to the King. We also see that the King is blessed forever. This isn't something David can do for himself, is it? The glory of earthly kings is going to fail.
But God can give a blessedness that does not end. And this all comes down to the fact that the king trusts in Yahweh, and it comes to the king, this blessedness comes to him, because of God's steadfast love. That phrase is 1 that we see all throughout the Psalms. And while we express this idea with 2 words, it's actually 1 word in the original Hebrew, and that word is hesed. And this is an all-encompassing love, and it carries with it the idea of covenantal love and covenantal faithfulness that cannot be broken. And this is what the psalmist trusts in. You and I would most likely put our hope in chariots and horses, armies and weaponry. But David trusts that the Lord fights for him because he believes in the covenant faithfulness of God and believes the promises that have been given to him. Again, This isn't a God promised me earthly prosperity type of expectation that David has here. This is about the promises of God to save his people. And that promise goes all the way back to the first promise of the gospel in the garden right there after the fall. And then that promise runs through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and is coming to David as his offspring are promised to be in that line to the Messiah. And because this is about that great promise, the harsh words about the Lord swallowing up the enemies of the king in wrath make sense. Because this isn't just David's battle. This isn't just about his reign and his success as a king. This is God's battle and a battle to have victory over the forces that oppose the gospel. These are not just opponents that want to keep David off the throne or take his position or his money or something like this. They are opponents of the whole story of salvation.
And this is why we can sing and we can pray this psalm ourselves and truly feel that final verse. Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength. We will sing and praise your power. We are not singing praise to God because we had a good day or because our investments had a good month. It's not about us. It's about His saving work and His victory over our greatest enemies, sin, death, hell, and the devil. And this is how Jesus unlocks this psalm for us. We can sing and pray these words, even the harsh ones, because we aren't singing them about the people who did us wrong last week or something like that. We are lifting up the name of God because he has shown his strength in redeeming a people for himself.
So may you and I read and sing and pray this psalm with Jesus at the center of it and may it cause us to praise His name because we know that the Lord has put our greatest enemies to flight. That is some thoughts on Psalm 21. Let's close up with prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you with hearts full of praise, echoing the words of Psalm 21. We rejoice in your strength and in your salvation, recognizing that this all comes from you. You are the 1 who grants victory and fulfills the desires of your people. Just as you protected and blessed King David, we trust in your covenant faithfulness. Your steadfast love endures forever, giving us a blessedness that never ends. We praise you, O Lord, for defeating our greatest enemies, sin, death, hell, and the devil. And we know that this comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ. And so may your strength be exalted and may we sing and praise your mighty power to save at all times. It's in the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. All right, see you in the next episode when we look at Psalm 22.
