Seeing Jesus in the Psalms

Psalm 87 Citizenship is sometimes a confusing part of our identity. I have many foreign-born friends and acquaintances. And interestingly, some of my friends of foreign identity were born in Belgium but adamantly identify as Italian. Lyssa and I are Belgian. Don’t you believe me? My identity card says I am. But my passports from England and America both say I am a citizen of those countries respectively.  “When the LORD registers the nations, he will say, ‘ They have all become citizens of Jerusalem. ’” Interlude Psalms 87:6 It looks like I will (or already) have at least one more citizenship. Another close friend, when asked her country of origin, prefers to reply, “I am a European.”  Paul says that you can even be broader and more inclusive if you have faith in Christ. “In the new life there is no difference between Greeks and Jews, those who are circumcised and those who are not circumcised, or people who are foreigners, or Scythians. There is no difference between slaves...

But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. Psalm 37:11 NASB   Psalm 37 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. Hebrews 11:19 Long before David wrote Psalm 37, the godly who had received the promise of God thought outside the box. They trusted that God could work miracles to keep His promise. And in fact this Psalm 37 leans heavily on the promise of a land given to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3,7, 15:18–20). David mentions the land 6 times. v.3 “Dwell in the land” v.9 “they will inherit the land.” v.11 “will inherit the land” v.22 “inherit the land” v.29 “inherit the land” v.34 “inherit the land” David writes Psalm 37:11 But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. As I read Psalm 37 I kept hearing snippets from the sermon on the mount spoken by Jesus and recorded for us in the gospel of Matthew...