Continuing through these verses of the twenty-first Psalm, we read in the third verse: “For You bring him rich blessings; You place a golden crown on his head” (Psalm 21:3). Whenever we find this mention of “blessings,” we would do well to keep the word in a context that would have been comprehensible and applicable to those that would have been reading these writings, namely, Israel. Rather than just thinking of “blessings” in vague generalities of God’s goodness and generosity towards His people, we should think of blessings in terms of the Abrahamic covenant, in which God promised to make Abraham exemplify divine blessing, to bless those who blessed Abraham, and to bless all the peoples of the world through Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:2-3).
Now, because the use of “blessings” in the Abrahamic covenant could be considered to be vague, to find a more specific statement of the “blessings” of the Hebrew/Jewish mindset of the author of the Psalm, we would need to take into consideration the potential blessings of God that are directed to Israel in the first fourteen verses of the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. These include elevation above all the nations of the earth (28:1), blessings in the city and the field (28:3), blessings for children (28:4), blessings on the produce of the soil, livestock, herds, and flocks (28:4), blessings on basket and mixing bowl (28:5), the blessing of enemies being struck down (28:7), blessings of the respect of the people of the earth (28:10), blessings of rain (28:12), and blessings of being able to lend to all while being free from debt (28:12). We must make this consideration, connecting the use of “blessings” in the Psalms with the specific ideas that were held concerning God’s blessings, because of the continuous, narrative structure of the Scriptures. Failing to do so reduces our ability to understand the message of God’s Word and the role of Jesus.
So as Jesus explores these Psalms for the strengthening of His resolve and trust in His God, as He continually considers what it is that He has been called to do and to be for Israel, He can see Himself as being the One that God will use, and is specifically using, to bring about the blessings that are promised to God’s covenant people. Also, as we consider the nature of the covenant and the requirements that were put in place to be a part of God’s covenant people (circumcision, reverencing the sanctuary, keeping the Sabbath, and avoiding idolatry), we must remember that Jesus re-focuses the covenant requirements upon Himself, declaring that it is belief upon Him as God’s Messiah that will be the basis for being included under God’s covenant, and therefore able to experience the blessings to be had therein.
Because the Psalmist connects God’s blessings with kingship (a golden crown for the head), Jesus, declaring Himself to be Israel’s Messiah, is also able to make the connection of the blessings available for the people of the covenant through His own Kingship. Jesus is able to bring about the blessings that appear in Deuteronomy, because as the faithful Israelite, as well as being the King of Israel, He is the representative of the people as He fulfills the conditions of the covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai following the Exodus. Because Israel’s messiah is clearly presented in the Scriptures as a king for all peoples, Jesus’ re-positioning of the covenant requirements around Himself and belief in His Gospel, allows Him, because of the supreme faithfulness of God that He relies on and ultimately experiences in His Resurrection, to extend God’s covenant blessings to all peoples, thus fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant as well. At the same time, the connection to the Deuteronomic blessings points to the exodus of the people of the renewed covenant, as God redeems a people for Himself, through union with Jesus, from the exile into which they had been sent upon Adam’s rebellion and the fall of man.
Maintaining the theme of kingship, the Psalmist writes, “He asked You to sustain his life, and You have granted him long life and an enduring dynasty” (21:4). The fact that one of the titles of the messiah was “Son of David” demonstrates the continuity of God’s promises. Jesus, of course, is referred to on more than one occasion as the “Son of David,” thereby reinforcing that “enduring dynasty” that was rooted in a reliance on God’s faithfulness. The Apostle Paul makes this connection explicit, reminding his readers that Jesus was “a descendant of David with reference to the flesh” (Romans 1:3b), and the whole of the New Testament resounds with declarations of Jesus’ majesty and the eternal nature of His rule. Additionally, we can rest assured that part of Jesus’ prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, before He was made to embark upon the ordeal of the cross, was that His life be sustained; and that when He went down into death, taking God’s cursing and going into exile on behalf of all God’s people---because He did understand Himself to be Israel’s Messiah, with all of the implications of unending rule and kingship associated with that position---that He be granted the redemption of physical resurrection to new life---the deliverance from exile---that was the great hope and expectation of Israel. In union with Him, that hope belongs to us as well.
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