‘Truth for Truckers’*February 21, 2014* Psalm 21 “The
King’s Powerful Testimony ”
This Psalm of stark simplicity is divided
neatly into two sections with the first section dedicated to giving a Glorious
Testimony of God’s Past Working (v.1-6) and the second a Guarantee of God’s
Future Victory (v.7-13). David, the king, in his introductory statement
promises the LORD: ‘The king shall joy in
Thy strength, O LORD; and in Thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice.’ (v.1)
This declaration of great joy illustrates the heart condition of a blessed
believer due to the past and present working of the LORD on his behalf.
Then, his testimony of the LORD’s
answering his prayer: ‘Thou hast given
him his heart’s desire, and hast not witheld the request of his lips.
Selah.’(v.2) This agrees with Psalm 37:4
‘Delight thyself also in the LORD and He shall give thee the desires of thy
heart’ as David’s clear testimony affirms. The answer to David’s heart’s
desire is unfolded in (v.3, 4) ‘For Thou
prevented him with the blessings of goodness: Thou sat a crown of pure gold on
his head. He asked life of Thee, and Thou gave it him, even length of days for
ever and ever.’
The actual crowning of David as king of
God’s people is focused on here and in addition David received the assurance of
life, referring to eternal life as indicated in the last phrase of (v.4) which
is one of the few declarations in the Old Testament concerning the eternal
nature of the soul. ‘His glory is great
in Thy salvation; honor and majesty hast Thou laid upon him (v.5). David
focuses upon the ‘Salvation’ of the
LORD which in most cases refers to physical deliverance, but here coupled with
the previous mention of ‘For ever and
ever’ it indicates the salvation of the soul. This provides the king with ‘Great glory...honor and majesty’
blessings which only the LORD can give!
The summary statement of this section is
found in (v.6) ‘For Thou hast made him
most blessed for ever: Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy countenance.’
The recognition of David as to the source and length of his greatness is only
surpassed by the presence of the LORD making him ‘exceeding glad’ which brings
to a strong conclusion these verses of praise and thanksgiving of David’s
powerful testimony. (v.7) is the transition verse underlining the core reason
for David’s testimony and blessing: ‘For
the king trusts in the LORD and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not
be moved.’ His great faith in His God and the unchanging love-filled mercy
of the King of heaven Who rules in the affairs of heaven and earth provide the
confidence of a king who recognizes ‘he shall not be moved’ or shaken
regardless of diverse circumstances of life!
And, in the remainder of the Psalm David
ascribes credit to the LORD’s ability to deal with the multitude of enemies
that are in the world knowing that they are in fact God’s enemies: ‘Thine hand shall find out all Thine
enemies: Thy right hand shall find out those that hate Thee.’ (v.8) which
summarizes the details of the LORD’s
dealing with His enemies described in detail in (v.9-12) The final verse
has inspired multitudes to sing praises to the LORD including the late
songwriter Al Smith in his hymn ‘Be Thou Exalted:
’Be Thou exalted in Thine own strength, so will we sing and praise Thy
power’ (v.13)
This magnificent close to another Psalm of
David shows the right response of the Believer when confronted with this
Glorious Testimony and the Guarantee of Future Victory over the enemies of God.
The pledge to exalt and ‘Sing and praise’
to the power of our God who alone is able to bless us and deliver us from the
assault of the enemy should be the natural testimony of all who believe!
Chaplain L.E.Wolfe www.btmi.org
I-85 Exit 35 SC McPilot Stop in, and please pray for our ministry!
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