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December, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
The Messianic Psalms* By W ILL IAM L J?ETTINGILL Wilmington, Öelaware
inducted into office by having the holy oil poured upon them; and thus they were called the Lord’s anointed ones. Our Lord is the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ, par excellence, for He is Prophet, Priest, and King. In His first -advent nineteen centuries ago He was the Prophet, speaking for God to men; in His present session in heaven He is functioning as the Priest, appearing before God for men; and when He comes to earth again He will take up His office as King, reigning for God over men. “ Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (v. 3 ). Here we have pictured a League of Nations in solemn conclave asserting their independence of God and His Christ and declaring their purpose to throw overboard their authority and dominion. That this spirit of rebellion had already begun at the time of our Lord’s, crucifixion is shown by Peter’s quotation from the Second Psalm in Acts 4 : 23-28; but the picture revealed in the Psalm must find its full realization in the end-time. When we reflect upon what has already been done along this line in the single nation of Russia, and of similar mani festations in Germany and elsewhere, it is not difficult to visualize the scene depicted in the Psalm when the nations of the world w ill unite in an effort to drive God and His Christ out of the world. T he V oice of the F ather ( vs . 4-6) “H e that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh” (v. 4 ). Setting aside for the moment the tragedy of it, there is real comedy here. H ow ridiculous it is for these creatures of God, who owe to Him their very lives, to assert inde pendence of God and seek to overthrow His dominion! “ The Lord shall have them in derision” (v. 4 ). Here the name is not Jehovah but Adonai, which really means “ Lord.” He is the Ruler over all; and He has them in derision. In all their rebellion He looks upon them and laughs. But all the time He goes on feeding them and clothing them. Behold the patience of G o d ! “ Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath” (v. 5 ). N ot since the flood of Noah has the Lord spoken in wrath to the human race, but one day He will speak in judgment. “ And vex them in his sore displeasure” (v. 5 ). Here is an intimation of the Great Tribulation. It is “ the wrath to come” from which we believers are to be delivered, “ For God hath not appointed us to wrath” (1 Thess. 1 :9, 10; 5 :9 ). “ Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion” (v. 6 ). Here is G od ’s reply to the rebellious nations. \Continued on page 499]
I ntroduction C H R IS T is the theme of the Bible. Both He and the Book are the W ord of God, He being the W ord in carnate, and the Book being the W ord written. He is the theme of the whole Bible. In the O ld Testa ment as well as in the New Testament He is the central figure. Throughout the Scriptures, “ the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” The purpose of thé series of studies now beginning is to look for Him in the Psalms. That He is there is abun dantly proved by the many quotations from the Psalms found in the New Testament, in which the Psalms re ferred to are applied to Him. Such Psalms are called Messianic, though it is not doubted that the Messiah is in many other Psalms not thus quoted and applied. The Son o f God to be Enthroned as King P salm 2 The Second Psalm is quoted and cited in the New Tes tament at least seven times, and it is clearly applied to Christ. This will be seen as we proceed. The Psalm naturally falls into four parts of three verses each; and in each part a different voice is heard. T he V oice of the N ations (vs, 1-3) "W hy do the nations rage’’ (v. 1, R .V .). The word “ heathen” is a worn-out word, and the Revisers have done well to change the translation to “ nations.” “ And the people imagine a vain thing” (v . 1 ). “ Peoples” is better than “ people” ; it is a collective plural noun. "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah” (v. 2, R .V .). Whenever in the O ld Testament the word L O R D or G O D is found printed altogether in capital letters, you may know that in either case it stands for the name Je hovah. It is one of the tragedies of the commonly used Authorized Version that this name of Deity, occurring more than seven thousand times in the Hebrew Scriptures, is preserved to the English reader in only three instances. “ And against his Anointed” (v. 2 ). “ Anointed” in the Hebrew is “ Messiah,” and its Greek equivalent is “ Christ.” In O ld Testament times, prophets, priests, and kings were * Studies in this important subject are being prepared especially for T he K ing ’ s B usiness i y William L. Pettingill, author, pub lisher, and Bible teacher. It is expected that other articles in the series will appear in 1937. All rights reserved.
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