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The King's Hope- Psalm 21

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man. Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed. For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows. Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.
(Psa 21:1-13)


This psalm’s main theme is God’s goodness to King David. The saving strength of our God should make us rejoice and exult or boast before him. We do not have a God whose arm is to short to save or whose strength does not bridge the gap from heaven to earth, but we have a God whose sent his Son to die on the cross in our place. Psalm 37:4 says if we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our heart, so David must be delighting himself in the Lord. Unlike many kings of Israel in the Bible, David is grateful to God for such blessings and gives us a picture of what a man after God’s own heart should be about. Although Christ became the ultimate fulfillment, in this psalm it is clear that King David is the fulfillment of the godly king the book of Judges was pointing to who would lead the people. Just as psalm 16:11 declares that there is fullness of joy in God’s presence, so also in this psalm David declares that the joy of God’s presence brings gladness. David does not declare, “…through my great fighting abilities, I shall not be moved”, but instead declares that it is solely God’s steadfast love that preserves him. Our boasting and confidence in this life should not be in anything other than God’s grace in our lives. When David goes on to further explain how God will protect him, he declares the coming judgment God will render on all people. David’s description of judgment on all people is very similar to that described in 2 Thessalonians 1 where believers are given hope to persevere as they are reminded that Jesus’ second coming will put an end to such great persecutions. There is still time for unbelievers to repent before God sets things right, but the knowledge of God’s righteousness should bring hope to suffering saints here on earth.

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