Friday, January 29, 2010

In My Distress

In my distress, I cried out to the Lord and He answered me. – Psalm 120:1 (NET)

In this Psalm, we can see and hear Jesus. The Psalm begins plaintively. As we read these words in the searching light of our Lord and Savior, we hear Him saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! Look, your house is left to you desolate!” (Matthew 23:37-38) Surely, this was a cry of distress on Jesus’ part.

The Psalmist writes, “I said, ‘O Lord, rescue me from those who lie with their lips and those who deceive with their tongue’.” (120:2) Turning again to the Gospels, Jesus says “Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and they worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’.” (Matthew 15:7-9) Looking forward again to the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, we see Jesus repeatedly pronouncing “Woe to…experts in the law and you Pharisees,” doing so before reaching the words of that chapter that are quoted above.

Having uttered His cries of “woe” throughout chapter twenty-three of Matthew, the twenty-fourth chapter begins with Jesus’ declaration in regards to the Temple, that “not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!” (24:2b). With that, we revert back to the Psalm, where the question is posed, in regards to those who lie and deceive, as to “How will He severely punish you, you deceptive talker?” (120:3) The answer given is “Here’s how! With the sharp arrows of warriors, with arrowheads forged over the hot coals” (120:4). The experts in the law and the Pharisees---the blind guides that continued to lead the people of Jerusalem and all of Israel astray as they ultimately stood against Jesus---would most certainly come to experience the arrows and the arrowheads of Rome’s re-subjugation of their land during the revolt of 66-70 A.D. In that time, Jesus’ words of “All will be torn down” were brought to pass.

As Jesus looked forward to these things, the Psalmist’s simple declaration of “How miserable I am” (120:5) certainly rings true. Jesus mourned over Jerusalem. He wept over His people. He wanted His people to understand His message and the privileges of their covenant, but they did not. Perhaps they still do not truly understand?

The Psalmist continues, writing “For I have lived temporarily in Meshech; I have resided among the tents of Kedar” (120:5b). In John’s Gospel, we read that “the Word became flesh and took up residence among us” (1:14a). A literal translation could read that the Word, Jesus, “tabernacled among us.” The tabernacle, of course, was the temporary tent in which the God of Israel took up His residence among His people. When God took up temporary residence in a tent of flesh, “by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature” (Philippians 2:7b), He would become that which He had created in His own image. He temporarily took upon Himself the form of that which was precious in His sight. This is reflected in the use of the Hebrew word “Meshech,” which has the meaning of “precious.” Unfortunately, He also took flesh upon Himself and “resided among the tents of Kedar.” “Kedar” means “dark” or “darkness.”

With all of this said, we can now look to the Psalm and hear our Lord Jesus speaking directly, as we read, “For too long I have had to reside with those who hate peace” (120:6). The history of Israel leading up to, during, and following the time of Christ, was littered with those that attempted to accomplish God’s will through force of arms. They did not want to love their enemies, pray for those who persecuted them, or go the second mile when the Roman soldier legally requisitioned them to carry his pack for one mile. For too many of the people, Jesus was another chance at revolution and overthrow. He was indeed that chance, but not in the way that the people desired. He was there to overthrow death and to deliver God’s people from the exile of failing to bear Him image and to be lights for His glory. One can only imagine how many times the people, having heard the words and experienced the miracles of Jesus, attempted to make Him king by force. To that, we can hear Him say, with great frustration and wrenching of heart, “I am committed to peace, but when I speak, they want to make war” (120:7).

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