Main Point: Jesus is the suffering servant of God who knows our weaknesses and yet He is also the saviour King who rescues all who call out to Him.
This morning I don’t have the answers and I wonder if I even have the right questions. I am looking for Jesus in the Psalms and I see two Jesuses in this Psalm. Or do I? You can be the judge.
Firstly I see Jesus the suffering man in the garden of Gethsemane who was required to die so young. And I wonder if I hear His voice through the whole of the first section of this Psalm.
“He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days.”
Secondly, could it also be Jesus/God/or the Father being described in verse 12 and the other divine sections of Psalm 102?
Jesus said He was one overwhelmed with trouble or sorrow, and no one in all human history poured himself out before the Lord more intensely than Jesus did.
“He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
And I have always taken this statement in Matthew 26:41 to refer to the sleeping disciples but could it have been Jesus and a parallel to verses like 5 in Psalm 102.
“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!"
It takes no imagination to hear Jesus saying His enemies taunt Him day after day like the psalmist in verse 8. Jesus had enemies and He mentioned them often, and the gospel writers make sure we see the plotting angry killers that hated Jesus from beginning to end of his life. That would wear anyone out.
But is it Jesus facing the wrath of His Father in verse 10 and 11?
There is never a question in my mind that Jesus is the God who sits on the throne in verse 12.
This flip-flop between human and divine is not a new idea. I have mentioned the many aspects of who Jesus is and how He represents or even is the perfect human, and the exact representation of God the Father according to His own words. And Jesus and the biblical authors use many metaphors and similes to describe Jesus to us. The 100% God and 100% human aspect of who Jesus is is called in theological terms the hypostatic union.
Paul attempts to describe it in Philippians 2 this way:
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And I am suggesting that is what we are seeing in Psalm 102. Jesus the man suffering for the sin of the world. And Jesus the exalted God of the universe saving the people who call upon Him.
Conclusion:
Jesus understands your pain and He can do something about it.
 |
| Handwritten Psalm 102 |
Comments
Post a Comment