Kingship Belongs to the Lord

I am reading in Psalms 22, which is a very lengthy Psalm, part of which appears to predict the coming of Jesus Christ and of his life and death on the cross to take away our sins. For it begins with, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalms 22:1), which is what Jesus spoke to the Father when he was dying on the cross for our sins (Matthew 27:46). And this is because God made Jesus who had no sin to be sin for us on that cross, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

And here we will see even more parallels between the words in this Psalm and the biblical account of Jesus’ suffering and death on that cross:

“But I am a worm and not a man,

    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me;

    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

‘He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!’” (Psalms 22:6-8 ESV)

So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matthew 27:41-43 ESV)

**

“For dogs encompass me;

    a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

they divide my garments among them,

    and for my clothing they cast lots.” (Psalms 22:16-18 ESV)

“And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.” (Matthew 27:35 ESV)

And when Jesus Christ was crucified to death on that cross they nailed his hands and his feet to that cross and let him hang there to die. 

“But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken.’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They will look on him whom they have pierced.’” (John 19:33-37 ESV)

**

“All the ends of the earth shall remember

    and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

    shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord,

    and he rules over the nations.” (Psalms 22:27-28)

And here we have a foretelling of the Gentiles of many nations coming to faith in Jesus Christ after Jesus had been crucified on that cross, and had been raised from the dead, and for forty days had appeared in his resurrected body to his disciples and to many others, and after he ascended back to his Father in heaven and sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers. Then he sent his apostles, well in particularly Paul and Peter, to the Gentiles to share with them the good news of the gospel of our salvation.

**

But then notice with me these words about the Lord and the nations. Kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations, not the other way around. We are not to look to kings and kingdoms and rulers and armies of men to be our saviors and to deliver us from evil. Our hope and our future is not in human flesh to save us, but it is only in the Lord our God. And you can argue and fight and squabble all you want over who will be the next best leader of any nation, but it is all ultimately in the hands of God, for it is God who puts kings in their place, not us.

“…Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

    to whom belong wisdom and might.

He changes times and seasons;

    he removes kings and sets up kings…” (Daniel 2:20-21 ESV)

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1 ESV)

But there are biblical exceptions to that last Scripture, for God is our King, and he is the one to be worshipped and obeyed over all human authority. And we are never to obey what is contrary to God’s divine will and purpose for our lives, and we are never to obey sin. So Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, the NT apostles, and Jesus Christ and the prophets before him all give us biblical examples of when we are to refuse human authority in favor of obedience to our Lord (especially read Revelation 13).

Thus, just because God is the one who puts kings in their places of authority, it is not a sign that they are all approved by God or that they are all worshippers of God. But God has his purposes for why he does what he does, for sometimes he uses evil kings as instruments of his judgments against his rebellious and idolatrous and adulterous people. So, we still need to be discerning about what and who to obey and what and who to not obey, and when and where. 

But we are not ever to look to any human being or government or military or preacher or whoever is of the flesh to be our saviors and our deliverers from evil. For all flesh is flesh. None of us are God. Some of us are of God, and we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, and he is using us to reach others with the truth of his gospel and the truth of his word, but we are not God. We are not the saviors of the world no matter who we are or how closely we may be walking in fellowship with Jesus Christ. So, please be careful that you don’t make human beings your gods and saviors.

For all humans beings have the propensity to sin against God and to do evil, and so our trust can’t be in the flesh, for the flesh is bound to fail us. So, as the world is becoming increasingly more evil, and we are headed more and more towards utter disaster, please keep your focus on Jesus Christ, and please place your trust in him alone to save you from the ills of this sinful world and to bring you safely into his eternal kingdom. But please know that it is only those who are dying to sin, by the Spirit, and who are following the Lord in obedience who have the hope of eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE 

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