The Psalmist insists,
however, that “a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.” It
may have appeared that Jesus had been successfully oppressed and humiliated by
death, but this was not the case. There was a Resurrection. Those
that commented on it saw it as a vindication. They saw it as a
glorification. They perceived it as an exaltation. By His
Resurrection, it came to be understood that Jesus was made to defeat
death. Now, with that defeat, the oppressor has become the oppressed,
with Jesus having gained victory for Himself and for the kingdom of God that
was now to extend itself forth upon the earth. Jesus has been shown forth
to the appointed Son-of-God-in-power by the Resurrection. With this, He
comes to be recognized as the unquestioned King and Lord of all.
Though it will still be
unfortunately at work in the world, because there is a hope for a general resurrection
because of Jesus’ Resurrection, the once powerful oppressor that had ruled the
thoughts and minds and emotions of mankind, has been stripped of its power and
holds sway over the lives of the Creator God’s people no more. Indeed, because
of the Resurrection, the New Testament authors insist that the Holy Spirit,
through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus (He is Lord) that is and tells
of the Creator God’s power and faithfulness, somehow gifts a faith that shows
forth as a public and trusting allegiance to Jesus as Lord of all. The attendant renewal and transformation of
the mind, so that the place once occupied by death and all that death brings in
its train, is now occupied by Jesus.
Accordingly, it is thoughts of Him and being in His service, along with
a contemplation of the Creator God’s mission for the world, that now rules the
thoughts, the minds, and the emotions of men and women that are now understood
to stand free.
With the Resurrection
and the hope for resurrection that it sparks, together with no real fear of
death as exhibited by countless willing martyrs down through the centuries, it
can be said that death has lost its sting and the violent oppressor is
de-toothed and de-clawed. The enemy that sought to humiliate, is now
itself humiliated, as the covenant God speaks through the Psalmist and says “I
will crush his enemies before him; I will strike down those who hate him”
(89:23).
Though the Psalmist presents
the reader with these words in association with David, the ultimate view that
is provided, as the Psalms are viewed through the apex of the Scriptural
narrative that is the Christ-event, is most definitely that of Jesus, as one is
able to find a portion of the Gospel message when the Psalmist goes on to report
the Creator God, following the defeat of this once vicious and all-conquering
enemy, as saying “I will appoint him to be My firstborn son, the most exalted
of the earth’s kings” (89:27). Is Jesus not referred to as the King of
kings? In regards to the statement concerning the firstborn son (a royal
title), of that son the covenant God of Israel says, “I will always extend My
loyal love to him, and My covenant with him is secure” (89:28).
Jesus is to be
understood as the culmination of the covenant that began with Abraham, and the
restoration of the covenant that God made with Adam. In Him, that
covenant remains secure, and all those that call Him Lord, and who order their
lives according to that approbation, can stand secure in the knowledge of their
redemption and the hope of their joining Him in the restored creation at the
final consummation of the kingdom of God, in which the Creator God’s people are
allowed to humbly participate in this day. God’s promise, to “give him an
eternal dynasty, and make his throne as enduring as the skies above” (89:29)
was sealed by the Resurrection, and made manifest by His people, in believing union
with Him as He works through them to be the people of His kingdom, so that the will
of the Creator might be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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