May 12
26
Psalm 110
A magnificent display of the exaltation and sovereignty of Christ as High Priest of the Church is exhibited. It is delightful to study this glorious office. The contemplation tends to sanctify. May it mold us into heavenly likeness!
1. “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
Let us give thanks for every revelation of Christ. We can only see Him as the Father if the Spirit shall withdraw the veil. But here we are invited to contemplate His glorious session at the right hand of all preeminence. There He wields the scepter of universal supremacy. In mad rebellion many foes defy; but they must lie prostrate at His feet. The word is everlasting truth. Those My enemies that do not want Me to reign over them, bring here and slay them before Me. When His chariot-wheels of triumph shall crush the enemies, may we shout loyally, Lo! this is our God; we have waited for Him; He will save us!
2. “The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion; rule You in the midst of Your enemies.”
The all-conquering instrument of this triumph is the proclamation of His truth from Zion, the type of His Church. This word when applied by the Spirit rides gloriously. No sophistry of man can gainsay. The rock is softened, and the heart of enmity melts into love. Thus in the midst of enemies the omnipotence of His kingdom rules. May this weapon beat down every hostile feeling of rebellious nature. Let our constant desire be, ‘Come in, You to whom we vow allegiance. Take to Yourself Your great power, and reign within us as ruler of every thought.
3. “Your people shall be willing in the day of Your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning; You have the dew of Your youth.”
The Lord well knows His own. “They were Yours, and You gave them to Me.” When He utters His attractive call they flock to Him on delighted wings. They swiftly fly as doves to their windows. Shining in the beauties of holiness, He attracts and captivates. His converts are innumerable, as the morning dewdrops on the lawn. They shall be multiplied as the sparkling gems which descend at dawn from heaven.
4. “The Lord has sworn, and will not repent, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Endless glories adorn our blessed Lord. As He is our King, so, also, He is our Priest. The Father’s oath invests Him as successor of Melchizedek. As our Priest He brings Himself the all-atoning victim to the altar of the cross. As our Priest He enters the Holy of Holies, and sprinkles the expiating blood. As our Priest He bears our names upon His heart. As our Priest He blesses us with all the blessings which heaven can bestow. Jesus, we adore You as our High Priest forever.
5-7. “The Lord at Your right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the places with the dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall He lift up the head.”
All the powers of heaven encircle His banner. Throughout the world His triumphs shall be known. Those who have raised the rebel-arm shall be ground to powder. In His all-glorious work sustaining refreshment shall cheer Him. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God. What brook can more invigorate the thirsty traveler? Streams of reviving joy are flowing by our side. The invitation has gone forth, Drink, yes drink abundantly, O beloved!-Henry Law
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O LORD, Pardon
Chris Cunningham
For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)
The fact that David’s sin was great might seem a strange argument to set forth to God as a reason for forgiving it. It might seem more properly a reason not to forgive it. Certainly the natural religious man argues counter to this, thinking surely God will forgive my sin since though I’ve done bad things, I am not as other men (Luke 18:10-14). Those who by God’s grace have been shown their true condition before Him and the freeness of His grace find David’s prayer to be perfectly fitting.
This is the appropriate way to pray since the only sin God forgives is great sin. If your sin is pretty bad in your estimation but certainly not as bad as that of some, your sin will never be forgiven. If your sin is very bad, but nothing a good decision and a “sinner’s prayer” won’t fix, you will perish in your sin.
This is a prayer of absolute resignation. David acknowledged his utter inability to do anything about the kind of sin he saw himself to be. His only hope is PARDON. Pardon implies guilt. Pardon knows nothing of extenuating circumstances or loopholes. I must either be pardoned or damned. The magnitude of his own wretchedness overwhelmed him and caused this desperate cry. If God has done all He can do, and now it is up to you to deal with your sin, then this prayer is not suitable for your situation. If you are a great sinner in need of a mighty Savior, I can think of no better prayer.
Notice iniquity is singular showing that it was his sinfulness, not just his sinful deeds that he despaired of. It is not just our sins that need forgiving, but our sin. Not only what we do, but what we are. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We cannot change what we do because we cannot change what we are. So we must cry for mercy.
For Thy Name’s sake do it. Not because I am a worthy candidate or even worth saving at all. Not because I have distinguished myself from other sinners in any way that would attract Thy grace, indeed, as Thou hast pronounced, I am “even as others” in every way. But because saving sinners magnifies Thy great Name. Because saving sinners is Thy glory and shall be the theme of the everlasting praise of Thyself, because your very Name is “the God of all grace (1Peter 5:10),” yes, do it for that reason.
This prayer honors God, acknowledging the awesome power of His grace. It is only by that very grace, that a sinner can pray this way. Only a great Savior can help a great sinner like me, therefore I call upon Thee. There is efficacy in Christ’s blood to wash away even my massive load of iniquity. There is infinite value in His atonement sufficient to pay even my colossal debt, therefore I fly to Thy throne for mercy.
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“I am the Root and the Offspring of David.”—Rev. 22:16
Let attention be now fixed on the announcement of Jesus: “I am the Root and the Offspring of David.” Incredulity is startled, and exclaims: It cannot be! How can one person be alike the parent and the progeny of another! How can He originate and also receive existence! The Root may bear the branch; the branch may germinate from the Root; but they are essentially diverse. The Root and the topmost boughs cannot intertwine. The glacier, which is the cradle of the stream, cannot also be its final bed. Jesus uses this seeming impossibility to silence the cavils of the Pharisees, “If David then call Him Lord, how is He his Son?” (Matt. 22:45) The union of God and man alone can give reply.
View Jesus. As God, He is the Root of David; as man, He is his offspring. We here see the wonders of the Gospel-scheme, the pivot on which salvation turns, the unfathomable ocean whose breadth and length no power of man can scan. Let us sit humbly at the shore, and mark some ripples breaking at our feet.
I. The Offspring of David. When sin upset the world, and man became the bond-slave of the devil, the victim of eternal wrath, an alien from God’s family, and the prey of every form of misery; mercy flies on rapid wing to bring a healing balm. A staff is given to support the wretched outcast. A prospect is exhibited on which hope might repose. Recovery is announced. The promise sweetly sounds, that one in human form should repair the breach, and crush the serpent’s head. The seed of the woman should restore the fallen culprit to all, and more than all, that had been lost through sin. Thus the first-born prophecy declares that in fullness of time a deliverer should arise, offspring of the family of man.
At first the prophecy is general, and specifies only human birth. As time rolls on, predictions assume a more especial garb. Their features become more exact. Intimations speak in graphic terms, and precise pictures are displayed. Heralds of His advent sound distinct preludes. Suffice it to remind that the period of His assuming human garb is clearly told, the very place in which He shall draw the first breath of life is added; the tribe, also, is named, which shall be made preeminent by His birth. But the present subject calls chief notice to the fact that the family is specified which shall boast this grand distinction. The seed of the woman shall be born the Offspring of David.
The prophet, from whose lips Gospel-predictions flowed in clear stream, sung unmistakably: “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Isa. 11:1) A mark is thus fixed on the parentage of Jesus. The truth too is annexed, that in this family, when it shall be low in obscurity, and the scepter should seemingly have departed, He shall arise out of the ashes of the smoldering house a bright flame, and shall enlighten the Gentiles, and become the glory of His people Israel. Similarly the same prophet sings, “To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever.” (Isa. 9:6, 7) The seed of the woman shall be born in the house of David.
David, also, himself received the glorious tidings. The great honor of his house was stated to him. The inspired Nathan thus comforted the king, “When your days are over, and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish His kingdom.” (2 Sam. 7:12) The memory of this promise lived from age to age, and Paul avowed its fulfillment: “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.” (Acts 13:23)
Other Scriptures specify David as the progenitor of the woman’s seed. The riches of redemption are displayed as “the sure mercies of David.” A blessed prospect brightens, “They will serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.” (Jer. 30:9) The cheering word goes forth, after years of humiliation shall have been their doom, “The children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their King, and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.” (Hos. 3:5) Thus when the Desire of all nations shall appear, His cradle shall be in David’s house.
It is a soul-assuring task to contemplate the exact fulfillment. If any word of prophecy should fail, the fabric of salvation falls. But as surely as the word was spoken, so surely in the set time, the angel Gabriel seeks the highly favored Mary, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. She hears that she is to become the mother of the promised Savior. It is added, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give to Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1:32, 33) In accordance, the angel encourages the wondering shepherds: “Fear not! for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10, 11) Thus expectations are fulfilled, and Jesus breathes the breath of life as David’s Offspring.
What floods of peace and consolation flow from this fact! Jesus verily assumes our nature, as truly man as any mother’s son can be, one of our kindred and our race. Thus what man should bear He can bear, what man should do He can do. Is blood required to wash out sin? He has blood to shed. Must death be suffered? He can die. Must the law be rigidly obeyed? As man He can supply obedience. Must each transgression meet inexorable curse? On Him, as man, the curse can fall. Can none enter heaven but in robes of perfect purity? Such garment is wrought out by Christ. Thus David’s Offspring is complete salvation to all who, by the Father’s decree, are given to Him. By His atoning merits He so cleanses those who no shadow of a charge against them can be found. He so adorns them with the beauties of unsullied righteousness, that heaven’s portals open widely to admit them.
-Henry Law. (extract from offspring of David)