Seeing Jesus in the Psalms

Psalm 83 “Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord, that you alone are the Most High, supreme over all the earth.” Psalm 83:18 If I don’t see that God alone is the Master of the universe, then I am His enemy. Asaph sees it that way, and he wants God to respond to all enemies of God in such a way that they too will see it. I don’t know about you, but when I read once again a Psalm where the author is asking God to take action, I am uncomfortable. And I hear it as sort of accusing God for being too slow to act. I worry that Asaph is too aggressive in his desire for retribution and vengeance by asking God to utterly disgrace them. And some people might wrongly conclude that this is an Old Testament phenomenon. ‘Jesus isn’t like that,’ you might hear from someone. But Asaph isn’t out of step with God and God’s plans, desires or ways of thinking. So once again it is old William’s heart that needs to be adjusted. I wonder if it is repeated so often in the Bible because I am so...

  Psalm 82 “God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:” Psalm 82:1 MAIN POINT: Jesus sits above everyone and He determines the priorities of the universe. And His priorities are the care of the poor, the widow, the foreigner, the orphan and the oppressed. We know this is Jesus in Psalm 82 sitting in judgement over all things because Jesus has position but He also has the priorities of God’s heavenly court. How do I know I have the heart of God? How do I know if I am singing off the same song sheet as Jesus? Imagine for a moment I have been called into the office to have a conversation with Jesus. There we are saying hi, getting comfortable and Jesus asks if I want a coffee and I say, yes please. And then after a little bit of small talk. Jesus askes, well how do you like your position in my kingdom? And I say, “Oh Jesus it’s great, thanks, I love it.” And then He says, then I am just wondering, William, do you know what my kingdom priorities ...

  Psalm 81 MAIN POINT: Jesus is the God who speaks in Psalm 81, and He offers to save you and to take your burden, or you will face His justice and judgement. “...I heard an unknown voice say,  “Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.” Psalms 81:5-6 “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 The burden of work is a result of the fall. We were made for work but we also need rest and we need to work together. Jesus offers to put His shoulder to the burden of work with us. It is as if Jesus sees us struggling with the never-ending burden of work, the discouragement of thorns and thistles, the lack of progress, the lack of fulfilment and the ‘one step forward and three steps back’ scenario of life. We struggle to get the work/rest balance right. And Jesus says, come on, strap in. I’m going to do this with you. In fact, leave your unprod...

  Psalm 50 The real God, the only real God doesn’t need anything from us. He does not need us to feed Him. He does not need us to sacrifice to Him. It is not because He lacks something that we offer a sacrifice. God owns everything. Everything is already all His possession. And as the owner of all things, He is calling all things to account. He is evaluating all His possessions. All people have been summoned and all things will be judged v.4. And while God is assessing all that is His, He will bring out His prized possession, and before all creation He calls all creation, everything in heaven and earth to be present as witnesses for His judgement of His people.  Judgement is not always a negative word. If a young person who has raised a calf brings it to the county fair, they are hoping that the judge will notice all the fine qualities they have nurtured and developed in the fine animal they bring to be evaluated by the judge. A young person who knows their stuff will notice i...