I have discovered David My servant. – Psalm 89:20a (NET)
As we attempt to fathom the depths of the Hebrew Scriptures for information and for instruction, it is eminently necessary to view these writings not through the lens of what this means for me today, but rather through that of the cross of Christ. When we do so, the words of the page are brought splendidly to life and provided with a depth of meaning and value far beyond anything that we might have ever expected, as they become imbued with the living and salvific power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ---the crucified and resurrected Lord of all. This is quite true of the words of this Psalm. Here in the eighty-ninth Psalm, we are said to be hearing the very words of God as we read, “I have energized a warrior; I have raised up a young man from the people. I have discovered David, My servant. With My holy oil I have anointed Him as king” (89:19b-20).
As we look at these words through the light of the cross, we quickly find Jesus, with the use of words such as “king,” “anointed,” and “servant.” We also find “raised up” used here, which also causes us to think of Jesus’ Resurrection, though we should not consider that to be an implicit reference. However, we also find the word “warrior,” which does not seem to fit what we know about Jesus from the Gospels. As we go on to the next verse however, we read “My hand will support him, and My arm will strengthen him” (89:21), which can serve as a reminder that it is God Himself that will fight battles on behalf of His anointed servant King Jesus. It is on the other side of the cross and the grave that we can speak of Jesus as a great warrior King, having flung Himself headlong into the most significant and terrible battle ever waged, which was the battle with death and the powers of evil, and emerging victorious. With this said, we can almost think of the Resurrection as God having “energized a warrior,” though it makes the analogy a bit messy and we do not want to carry this too far.
God goes on to say, “No enemy will be able to exact tribute from him” (89:22a). Throughout the Scriptures, we can read about kings and countries “paying tribute money.” Whether it was being paid to the kings of Israel, or whether Israel was paying it to an oppressing enemy, the purpose of paying tribute, ultimately, was to show subservience. It was a bowing of the knee, by the king, through an economic transaction, that represented the bowing of an entire people. Whether it was the time of temptation at the hands of Satan, or His time subjected to the over-powering sway of death itself, Jesus, the representative of Israel (God’s covenant people then, now, and forever) did not bow the knee to His enemy. He would not become subservient. He would offer no tribute and barter no deals, hoping for kind treatment. This is part of the reason that we have the hope of a bodily Resurrection within God’s creation in the same way as that which was experienced by Jesus. We have that hope because Jesus does not allow His enemy to exact tribute.
How can we frame this issue of Jesus offering tribute to His enemy? Jesus does not say “You take the bodies, I only want the souls.” Jesus did not experience merely a spiritual, soul-ish Resurrection, nor will those that stand in the union of trusting allegiance to Him, calling Him Lord. Jesus did not say to His enemy, “You take this world (the creation), we’re just going to heaven.” No, with man’s fall came the fall of all of God’s good creation and the flood of death and corruption into the world. God’s promise is to redeem all of His creation, defeating death in its entirety and ending corruption. Indeed, the creation groans for this to occur, as it was subjected to futility through no fault of its own and hopes for a resurrection like that which will come upon God’s children (Romans 8:20-21). The Resurrection is the sign and the promise that the enemy exacts no tribute whatsoever from Jesus. If there was to be no physical resurrection and no restoration of the creation---if we are just waiting to be whisked away into heaven so that we can watch the world be destroyed---then we can know that a tribute (sign of subservience to His enemy) was exacted from Jesus, that death was not truly defeated, and that we have no true reason to hope in Him.
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