CHRIST IN THE

P SA L M S

Gerald L. Finneman

1
 Preface
The background leading to the writing of this
book came from the requests of students and others
who were helped by presentations about the mental
anguish experienced by Christ as portrayed in the
Psalms. Before there was a thought of putting this
into a book the material was presented first in
Bible studies and later in sermons. It might have
stayed in those formats except for the requests and
encouragement from those who wanted to see the
information in written format, but not in academic
obscurity.

Academic theses are usually able to focus

intensely on a single topic or passage. They are the
result of delving into issues that have not been
explored in the past. A good thesis is able to
present an extended argument systematically that
thoroughly deals with all the issues relating to the
topic. A thesis is written with the knowledge that it
must be defended before academic scrutiny.
Although this is not the scope of this book the
intention is to examine carefully and in detail the
2
Son of Man as He is presented in the Psalms.

This book will appeal especially to those who

have suffered intense mental anguish, even mental
breakdown. Those who have experienced
emotional brokenness can understand more fully
the mental torment that Jesus went through as He
was “made to be sin for us” than those who have
not experienced such trauma.

Not with claims of writing ability or skill is this

book set forth, but it comes from a heart touched
through the study and meditations of the Passion of
Christ in the Psalms. It comes from a mind that
went through two years of depression and
despondency from which some acquaintances
thought I would never recover. However, God had
other plans.

Some persons who have experienced deep

discouragement, despondency and despair brought
on by situations beyond their control have found
hope in the Passion of Christ exhibited in the
Psalms.
3
 Others by their own wrong behaviors, resulting
in depression, also have found comfort from the
sympathetic Savior who forgives, cleanses and
restores one personally to favor with God.

There are still others who, fearful by what the

Bible calls a future “time of trouble” that is certain
to come upon all the inhabitants of earth, have
found comfort in the fact that Christ experienced a
time of trouble that no human will ever have to
endure.

The Psalms point to Jesus as the only One who

is able to meet the needs of the soul. The path of
peace is opened to those whose feet are halting and
whose minds are doubting the love of God and His
personal interest in them.

There are passages in the Psalms about Jesus

in which hearts have been touched most deeply,
and have brought tears to the eyes of the readers
because of the great love of Christ demonstrated in
His sufferings for them. Healing of mind and spirit
4
have followed.

The Passion of Christ—the sufferings of

Jesus—in the period following the Last Supper and
including His Crucifixion is what saves us. The
physical punishment He received was terrible.
However, this was not what atoned for our sins. It
was the mental torture endured by Jesus, because
of sin, that made atonement.

Some people are moved to sympathy for Jesus

and even experience a powerful emotional
upheaval when they hear a recital or see a film
portraying Christ’s physical sufferings. Many
mistake this sympathy and emotional trauma as a
conversion experience. Bible conversion effects the
emotions, but it effects much more than these
feelings. It brings with it a decided change in the
life. Conversions comes when one responds to the
working of the Holy Spirit. The unregenerate
person is brought to a realization of his
wretchedness and responds to the grace of God
through heart-felt repentance for sin accompanied
with faith in Christ.
5
 Knowledge of the mental sufferings of Christ
for us, accepted and believed, produces
reformation in the life and practices. The weaker
the knowledge of Christ crucified, the less clear
and powerful will be our gospel witness even
though the emotions have been stirred and
disturbed.

It cannot but be of great importance in the

interests of a thorough, sure, and comprehensive
knowledge of Christ crucified that the results in
progressive effort in the preaching of the
everlasting gospel and in research of the study of
the plan of redemption which should be mutually
exchanged and spread from people to people. To
this end it is my hope that this book will contribute
in some small way to the present riches of the
knowledge of our Savior and Lord and to the
spreading of the good news of Christ as predicted
in the Psalms.

— Gerald L. Finneman

6
 Chapter 1

Christ in the Psalms

The Book of Psalms is the diary of Jesus
Christ, written in advance of His becoming a man.
Here we find the gospel of Christ presented as
definitely as in any other book of the Bible. It is all
of Christ.

The various writers of the psalms recorded the

common experiences of humanity. Of the
experiences of mankind written in the Psalms,
Christ’s are paramount. The psalms mean Christ.
Christ as God. Christ as man. Christ in His
sufferings, His death, resurrection and ascension.
The psalms deal with the truth about Jesus—the
truth about Christ for us, with us, and as us. This
truth is presented more clearly in the psalms than
anywhere else in the Bible. Christ is the theme of
the psalms.

In the psalms we see a picture of the mind and

emotions of Jesus. They describe the inner
7
workings of His thinking; what went on in His
mind while He was tested and tried in various
situations, especially while He was on the cross.
Christ and the cross comprised the battlefield
where the great controversy between right and
wrong raged; where agape (God’s unconditional
love) and selfishness stood face-to-face in mortal
combat.

The cross demonstrates that agape is greater

than selfishness, that justification is greater than
condemnation. That what Adam did to us was
frightful, but Christ reversed both the
condemnation and the direction in which the race
was headed because of Adam’s sin. Adam and
consequently the human race within himself was
headed straight for hell; but in Himself, Christ
turned the entire race around and headed it toward
heaven. Because of Christ, one must get off the
pathway in order to not arrive in heaven.

The term “the cross” refers to Christ’s entire

life—it epitomizes the giving of Himself for the
benefit of others. He demonstrated that
8
righteousness is greater than transgression and that
the Spirit is mightier than the flesh.

Paul took up this theme in the book of

Galatians, and in Romans he wrote that grace is
greater than sin. Wherever sin resides or
“abounds,” grace does “much more” abound in that
very place (Romans 5:20). Grace and sin met at the
cross, and grace was victor. Even though Christ
was made to be sin, and died the equivalent of the
second death, grace is still greater than sin. And
faith—the faith of Jesus—is greater than unbelief.

The psalms present the battle as it was

hammered out, and there we are shown several
truths about the cross and what it means to us:

• The cross was considered the curse of God,

but out of that curse came blessing—blessing to the
human race.

• In the cross Christ was made to be sin, that we

might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

9
 • The cross was nothing but condemnation to
the human race. But Christ took that condemnation
so that we might be justified.

• In the cross we find eternal life—the opposite

of the second death. Out of that death came life for
the human race, especially for those who believe.
Whatever Satan did to us through sin, God did
something much more, as demonstrated by the
cross of Christ.

When Jesus met with His disciples after the

resurrection, He explained the Old Testament
Scriptures to them. He studied specifically the
psalms concerning His sufferings, death and
resurrection (Luke 24:44-46). Earlier in His
ministry He stated that the Old Testament testified
of Him (John 5:39). The Old Testament is to be
studied in the light of the life of Christ. If one
refuses to believe that the Old Testament testifies
of Christ, then he cannot believe the New
Testament (John 5:46, 47).

When Christ was on the cross, He spoke what

10
are known as the seven last words. The first three
concern Christ’s relationship with others, the last
four are about His union with His heavenly Father.
These are listed here for consideration:

• “Father, forgive them, for they do not know

what they do” (Luke 23:34).

• “Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be

with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

• “Woman, behold you son!” and to John:

“Behold you mother!” (John 19:26, 27).

• “My God, My God, why have You forsaken

Me!” (Matthew 27:46).

• “I thirst” (John 19:28).

• “It is finished” (John 19:30).

• “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit”

(Luke 23:46).

11
 Christ’s first word from the cross was a prayer
for forgiveness: “Father forgive them, for they
know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This was in
behalf of those who placed Him on the cross
driving the nails through His hands and feet. That
prayer was not merely for Roman soldiers. We too
were there. Unknowingly, corporate humanity
crucified Jesus. Our sins shot the sharper pain into
His heart. His prayer includes us.

This prayer must have affected the thief on the

cross, for in the attitude of Christ he saw the love
of God. He may have heard of Christ earlier in life,
but he turned away through the influence of
associates. Now, on his cross, he had nothing left
and finally cried out, “Lord remember me when
You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus replied: “I
say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise”
(Luke 23:40-43).

The first part of the day, Christ’s mother Mary

was taken away. She was weakened to see her Son
suffer that way. We don’t know if she realized that
this was a fulfillment of what the prophet Simeon
12
had said, that a sword would pierce through her
own soul (Luke 2:34, 35).

John was always in the background. He

recognized the telltale signs of death. Death was
coming more rapidly than usual. (Crucifixions
were designed to cause excruciating pain for
several days before the crucified one finally gave
up and died.) John recognized that Jesus was
dying, so he brought Mary back to the cross. When
Jesus saw her standing with John at the foot of the
cross, He first spoke to Mary, “Woman, behold
your son!” And then to John, “Behold your
mother!” [“This is your mother now, take care of
her.”] (John 19:26, 27). This was a sacred blessing
that came to John in those closing hours of the life
of the Savior of the world, to be able to have Mary
spend the rest of her life under his care.

The last four sayings of Christ came directly

from the Psalms. Unlike the first three, these four
are not concerned about others. Christ was now
entering into His time of extreme agony, as He
began to feel the separation between Himself and
13
His Father. We read in Psalm 22:1, “My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me?” The New
Testament presents it as, “Eloi, eloi, lama
sabachthani?” (Mark 15:34).

Later Christ said, “I thirst” (John 19:28). This

is based on Psalm 69:21, which states that He
would be given gall for food and vinegar to drink.

The next statement of Jesus is recorded in John

19:30 where He says, “It is finished!” This is from
Psalm 22:31, meaning that He has done or
accomplished the work He was sent to do.

In Psalm 22 we observe the agony of separation

that occurred between Christ and His heavenly
Father. Then He died with these words on His lips,
“Father, ‘into Your hands I commend My spirit’”
(Luke 23:46), a quotation from Psalm 31:5. During
the entire closing hours on the cross, Christ quoted
from the Psalms. He must have lived by the
Psalms, and then died by them.

Psalm 22 shows Christ living by faith from His

14
birth.

“You are He who took Me out of the womb;

You made Me trust when I was on My mother’s
breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My
mother’s womb You have been My God” (verses 9,
10). From the time of His birth until He died,
Christ lived by faith in the power of God’s keeping
care. Just as we learn by faith (Hebrews 11:3), so
did Christ learn by faith.

He was sanctified by faith through the truth as

we must be sanctified by it. John 17:19 records this
concerning Jesus, “I sanctify Myself, that they [the
disciples] also may be sanctified by the truth.”
Sanctification is always connected with faith (Acts
26:18). There is only one thing Jesus did not do by
faith, and that was to die. He did however die in
faith, just as it is recorded of others in the book of
Hebrews (11:13) who are said to have died in faith.

The Father made promises to the Son that He

would keep Him from falling. These are from the
everlasting covenant and are recorded in Isaiah and
15
in the Psalms (Isaiah 49:8, 9; 50:4-7; Psalm 22:9,
10). The testimony of Jesus is that He, the Son,
could do nothing of Himself: “The Father who
dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10). In the
Psalms, in Luke, and in Hebrews, we learn that
needed grace was given to Christ (Psalm 45:2;
Luke 2:40, 52). According to Hebrews 2:9, it was
by grace that He tasted death for everyone.

Our guiding principle in the study of the psalms

It must be this: to see that they are the

revelation of Jesus Christ. David who wrote most
of the psalms was not only the father–ancestor of
Christ’s humanity, but he was also a type of Christ.
The psalms were given for the supreme purpose of
revealing Christ and His salvation. The Spirit of
God, in the New Testament, applied many of the
psalms to Christ so there can be no question that
they refer to Him. When we read these we know
we are reading of Christ. He was made to be sin for
us. All the sins and guilt and condemnation of
mankind were laid upon Him. Of this the psalms
speak.
16
 Psalm 2 is the first that specifically speaks
about Jesus. It is prophetic of Him. Here we learn
about the opposition of the ungodly against Christ.
A battle for freedom that is opposed to God is
recorded here. Warnings and entreaties are given.
A triumphant Christ is here predicted. It is also a
song in which people deride God and His Messiah.
Here also we observe a literary device in which
David reveals God mocking the people, even as
they mock Him.

The psalm begins, “Why do the nations rage,

and the people plot a vain thing?” This is quoted in
Acts 4:25 by the Apostles concerning Christ’s
crucifixion. The psalm continues:

“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the

rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and
against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us break Their
bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from
us.’ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the
Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall
speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in
17
His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on
My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the
Lord has said to Me, “You are My Son, Today I
have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You
the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of
the earth for Your possession. You shall break
them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in
pieces like a potter’s vessel.”’ Now therefore, be
wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with
trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry …”

The term “kiss the Son” refers to an act of

homage, respect, and worship. Psalm 2 also points
to Christ’s connection with David in rulership.
When David was anointed king, he did not assume
the kingship immediately. He always believed that
Saul was “the anointed of the Lord.” David had at
least two opportunities to end Saul’s life, but he
refused to do so. Even when David cut off a piece
of Saul’s garment on one occasion, he was
conscience-smitten and apologized for what he had
done.

18
 When Saul died, David even then did not fully
take over the rulership of Judah—not until the
people asked him to rule over them. That is the
way it is with the Lord Jesus Christ. He waits for
us to ask Him to rule over us individually and as a
corporate body of believers. Christ’s rulership will
be because His people want Him, not because He
forces Himself upon them. He then will rule with
His “shepherd’s rod.” Most of the time the
shepherd’s rod was used for protection, but it was
also used for discipline when needed. The rulership
of Jesus will be very much like that of His ancestor
David; there will be discipline, but also protection.

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to

Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for
Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for
Your possession’” (verses 7, 8).

Paul quoting verse 7 applies this begetting of

Christ to the good news of His resurrection from
the dead: “And we declare to you the glad
tidings—that promise which was made to the
19
fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children,
in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written
in the second psalm: ‘You are My son, today I have
begotten You’” (Acts 13:32, 33).

Paul here also quotes Psalm 16:10: “You will

not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”
Because Christ underwent no decay in the grave,
but rather was raised from the dead, Paul
concluded: “Therefore let it be known to you,
brethren, that through this Man is preached to you
the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who
believes is justified from all things” (Acts 13:38,
39). Earlier Peter had quoted Psalm 16 in his
sermon at Pentecost, which is a promise from God
to Christ concerning His resurrection (Acts 2:25-
31). We will consider further this psalm later.

Let’s now turn to a trilogy of psalms, three

literary works, related in subject and theme of
tragedy and triumph.

20
 Chapter 2

The Death, Burial and

Resurrection, and Ascension
Psalms
Psalms 22, 23, and 24

Psalm 22 is known as the Calvary or Golgotha

psalm. Psalm 23 is the burial and resurrection
psalm, followed by the ascension psalm in chapter
24. Psalms 23 and 24 also reflect the second
Advent.

Psalm 22 begins with the piercing cry that

Christ in agony screamed as His heart broke from
the burden of sin: “My God, My God, why have
You forsaken Me?” It ends with “It is finished.”
Here we are shown the sufferings and death of
Christ.

Psalm 22 is the Crucifixion Psalm. In it are

recorded the thoughts of Christ’s mind during the
21
time He hung on the cross, particularly from the
time when He felt forsaken of God until He
exclaimed, “It is finished.” This psalm ends in
triumph. The last few words come from one word
in the original: “finished.” This word is one of the
last spoken by the crucified Christ on Calvary: “It
is finished!”

In Psalm 23, probably the best known psalm in

the world, we think of Jesus as the Shepherd. But
He was also the Lamb—the Lamb who takes away
the sin of the world. The twenty-third psalm is a
picture of Christ the Lamb of God depending on
His Shepherd. Every lamb needs a shepherd. Jesus
was no exception. Read the psalm with this in
mind: Christ, the Lamb; His Father, the Shepherd:

1. “The Lord is My Shepherd; I shall not want.

2. “He makes Me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads Me beside the still waters.

3. “He restores My soul; He leads Me in the

paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
22
 4. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are
with me [the reason we can walk this path is
because Jesus walked it before us]; Your rod and
Your staff, they comfort Me [He was comforted by
God’s rod and staff—both discipline and
guidance].

5. “You prepare a table before Me in the

presence of My enemies; You anoint My head with
oil; My cup runs over.

6. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow Me

all the days of My life; and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever.”

This psalm must have been a very precious

promise to the Lord Jesus Christ when He walked
this earth as a mortal man. In verse 4 we see the
faith of Jesus. His feelings were that God had
separated from Him, but He says, “I know that You
are with Me,” I know that You are going through
this with Me. Then in verse 6, we are shown the
23
idea of the resurrection when He says that He
knows He will “dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.” His faith was based on the Word of
God—that God would bring Him through both
death and the grave.

We have evidence that a dead Christ was more

powerful than a living devil.

It was impossible for the devil to keep Christ in

his prison house, the tomb. We read in Revelation
1:18 that Christ now “has the keys of Hades and of
Death.” He took away the keys from the devil and
unlocked the grave in behalf of the human race.
The grave was the devil’s prison, but Christ burst
the tomb. The devil could not keep Him there.
Christ demonstrated that even in that place of death
He was stronger than the devil. How much more
now the power of the living Christ is an
encouragement to us!

Christ demonstrated that He had power over

death and the grave by defying death. He did so by
entering into its realm. He took death upon Himself
24
by laying down His life, then taking it up again by
His Father’s authority (Acts 2:23, 24; John 10:17,
18). This was because of His sinless life. Sin spent
its entire force upon Him, and it did not mar Him
in the least. It did not make a single blot on His
character. His life was sinless, and because of this,
the grave and death could have no power over
Him.

That same life is given to us when we believe

on the Son of God. There is victory in this belief—
victory over the grave, and victory now in this
present life. We give our sins to the Lord our
Savior, and we take His sinless life in their place.

“I shall not want.”

All of Christ’s needs were met. There is a

difference between needs and desires. His desire,
however strong, was never allowed to dominate
His submission to the Father’s ways. He always
submitted His desire to the will of the Father. “Not
My will, but Thine be done” was the practice of
His life. His needs were always taken care of, but
25
all of His desires were not.

A pastoral scene of green pastures and still

waters follows in this psalm. Christ was provided
for with both temporal and spiritual needs in daily
rest, nourishment and grace. His life was one of
peace and contentment in the midst of extreme
temptation and suffering. In taking upon Himself
the sin of the world He knows how hard it is for the
transgressor, yet He also knew that the paths of
righteousness were and are the ways of peace.

“Thy rod and Thy staff.”

In these symbols we have the assurance of

protection, guidance, comfort, and discipline. The
rod was used to protect the sheep from predators
such as the bear and the lion. It was also used to
discipline and to correct the sheep. The staff or
crook was used to guide and to instruct as well as
to correct. When a sheep needed to be pulled into
line from going the wrong way or from going
astray, the shepherd placed the staff around the
neck of that sheep and gently pulled it back into the
26
path. It was used to reach out to guide the sheep
and urge it forward in the right direction.

With both the rod and the staff the sheep were
protected and disciplined to obey, so that in times
of danger and stress they would be safe under the
guidance of the shepherd. The sheep were so
disciplined that they would obey the voice of the
shepherd in any time of trouble. So it was with
Jesus. He was disciplined for Calvary from birth. It
took discipline and obedience for Him to die. Jesus
“learned obedience” from the things He suffered
(Hebrews 5:8). He was obedient to death, “even the
death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Christ could not keep Himself alive; the devil

could not keep Him dead. A dead Christ is stronger
than a living devil! The devil could not keep Him
in the grave. Christ died the equivalent of the death
of the eternally damned. He died for us, with us, as
us. And because Jesus went through that valley of
death you may have assurance that He will never
leave you nor forsake you in life or in death.
Therefore you shall “fear no evil.”
27
 “Thou preparest a table for Me in the presence
of Mine enemies: thou anointest My head with oil;
My cup runneth over” (verse 5).

Here the shepherd-sheep imagery gives way to

a banquet scene. Again provision and safety are
pictured. More than survival after the walk through
the valley of death is here. Triumph is revealed. He
is the resurrection and the life.

Next come the oil and the overflowing cup.

These awaited Christ’s return to heaven after His
ascension. In the Old Testament, eating and
drinking at someone’s table was a special time. It
signified acceptance, respect and honor. At times it
was a culminating symbol of a covenant. This was
experienced by Moses, the priests and the seventy
elders when they went up into the mount with God
during the time Moses was given God’s law which
he taught the people (see Exodus 24:8-12; compare
1 Corinthians 11:25). So it was with Jesus when He
went to heaven. Not only was He accepted,
respected, and honored, He was worshipped by the
28
angels.

The overflowing cup and the oil are symbols of

an inauguration ceremony. After Christ was raised
from the dead He remained on earth forty more
days. Then ten days after Jesus went to heaven the
Holy Spirit was sent, symbolized by fire, to the
waiting disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem on
the day of Pentecost. This was celebrated fifty days
following the Passover (see Acts 1:3-2:1).
Pentecost was the feast day that celebrated the
giving of the law to Israel at Mt. Sinai.

But more than that, this particular Pentecost

was heaven’s announcement that Jesus had been
inaugurated in heaven as man’s High Priest and
only Mediator. The ceremony was symbolized by
anointing the high priest in the Jewish economy.
Psalm 133:1, 2 presents to us the anointing of
Aaron and what it signified: “Behold, how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head,
running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron,
running down on the edge of his garments.”
29
 The condition of unity that that psalm depicts
was seen on the day of Pentecost as recorded in
Acts 2:1-3: “They were all with one accord in one
place … Then there appeared to them divided
tongues of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Both
oil and fire symbolizes the activity of the Holy
Spirit. Oil makes for smooth associations and
relationships of working parts while fire indicates
an all consuming desire to further God’s gospel
and work. Both oil and fire are needed in God’s
work on earth.

The ceremonies in heaven completed, the Holy

Spirit was sent to Christ’s waiting disciples. Their
attention was directed to heaven and to Christ and
His work in behalf of mankind. Their testimony
ever after was of Christ raised from the grave, of
Christ ascended to heaven, and of Christ crucified
(see Acts 2:22-36).

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow Me

all the days of My life: and I will dwell in the
30
house of the Lord for ever” (Psalm 23:6).

The word translated “follow” means to pursue.

What was true of Christ is true of those who follow
Him. God led Him, followed Him, and pursued
Him while He was a man on the earth. His mercy
surrounds Him today at the mercy seat in Heaven.

And God’s mercy surrounds you and me. It

goes before you and follows you. Enemies from
within and from without may (and do) pursue, but
God and His mercy and grace are much greater. He
pursues you even more than all your enemies put
together.

Psalm 24 depicts Christ’s ascension

to the New Jerusalem in heaven

He is accompanied by a choir of angels.

Beginning with verse 7 you may listen to the
heavenly choir singing antiphonally. Part of the
choir sings, followed by a brief silence, then
another part of the choir answers. This was the
manner in which the Jews approached Old
31
Jerusalem feast days as they traveled, singing the
songs of Zion. As they neared Jerusalem they sang
this particular psalm, evidently the song angels
would sing as they escorted Christ back to heaven
when they came to the gates of the New Jerusalem.

Verse 7. “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And

be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King
of glory shall come in,” sang the entourage of
angels as they approached the gates of heaven.

Verse 8. “Who is this King of glory?” [Sang

the awaiting angels at the gates of heaven]. The
escorting angels replied, “The Lord strong and
mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.”

Verse 9. “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And

lift them up, you everlasting doors! And the King
of glory shall come in.”

Verse 10. Again the question is asked, “Who is

this King of glory?” And the reply, “The Lord of
hosts, He is the King of glory.”

32
 These verses provide the background of
Christ’s ascension to heaven where He began His
ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. This was
preparation for the great enthronement and
celebration that would be held after Christ entered
the gates of the City. What rejoicing must have
taken place at that time!

This may very well be a description of events

that will occur again after the second Advent, when
all the representatives of the universe travel to
heaven to meet Christ and His glorified saints
rescued from earth. Again the angels will break
into rapturous singing. We will hear music we’ve
never before heard, and our hearts will thrill
through and through as we take part in the singing
and as we listen to the thanksgiving and the glory
and the praise given to the Father and to the Son.

33
 Chapter 3

The Golgotha Psalm

Psalm 22

Psalm 22 is one of, if not the best known, of the

psalms about Jesus. Some students of Scripture
have attempted to find a time and place where this
psalm might be identified with David’s
experiences, but to no avail. What is described in
this Psalm no one but Christ experienced. From
beginning to end it is “Christ and Him crucified”
only.

It begins with the cry of anguish, “My God, My

God, why have You forsaken Me?”

This was the fourth “saying” of Christ on the

cross, the first of His strong cries of agony as He
was crushed to death by the torture of sin and guilt.

Even though He knew beforehand that this

experience was going to take place, Jesus was
34
surprised by the strangeness of it. Never before had
He experienced anything like this. John Flavel in
the seventeenth century observed that when Christ
spoke these words, He did so in two languages.
“Here is an observable variation of the language in
which this astonishing complaint was uttered; for
he speaks both Hebrew and Syriac in one breath.
Eli, Eli, lama, are all Hebrew, Sabachthani is a
Syriac word, used here for emphasis sake” (The
Works of John Flavel, Vol. 1, p. 407).

Have you ever listened to a person who,

knowing more than one language, when under
extreme mental stress reverts back to the mother
language? So it was with Jesus.

No doubt He knew several languages and

dialects. Languages He would have been familiar
with are Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and of course,
Hebrew. Greek was the international language of
that day, just as English is today. Jesus in mental
anguish cried out both in Hebrew and Syriac (an
ancient Aramaic language).

35
 In this state of mind, Christ’s memories
recalled the sacred history of His people. “Our
fathers trusted in You; they trusted and You
delivered them. They cried to You, and were
delivered; they trusted in You and were not
ashamed” (Psalm 22;4, 5). He recalled the way that
God had led them in the past. He next contrasted
that history to His present circumstance.

“But I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of

men, and despised of the people. All those who see
Me laugh Me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they
shake the head, saying He trusted in the Lord, let
Him rescue him; Let Him deliver Him, since He
delights in Him!” (verses 6-8).

Resentment for the faith of Jesus is revealed in

the words of those who crucified Him. Those
words are the very ones uttered, perhaps
unknowingly, the day of the crucifixion. The
fulfillment of this part of the psalm is recorded in
Matthew 27:39-43.

In the psalm under consideration, beginning

36
with verse 9, we read of Christ’s personal history
as He was protected by the Father from the time of
His birth into the human family. “But You are He
who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust
when I was on My mother’s breasts.” The margin
of the King James Version puts it this way: You
“kept Me in safety.”

There were many attempts on the life of Jesus.

This began shortly after His birth by the puppet
king, Herod. But God kept Him in safety until the
fullness of the time came for Him to endure the full
weight of the sins of the world. That time now
came. “I was cast upon You from birth. From My
mother’s womb, You have been My God. Be not
far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to
help” (verses 10, 11).

Humans and devils are next portrayed as wild

raging, ravenous beasts who lusted to tear Him
limb from limb as seen in their inhuman treatment
of the Innocent One (verses 12, 13, 16, 20, 21).

Next comes a word picture of His physical and

37
emotional sufferings as He hung upon the cross. He
went limp from the tortuous condition He was in.
His bones at the joints began to separate. His mind
melted like wax in fire. His strength drained from
Him like liquid from a broken vessel. His tongue
swelled and stuck to His jaws. Inflammation of
wounds, high temperature, thirst and mental
anguish are all there in the prophecy of verses 14,
15.

Christ’s bones stuck out, hanging exposed in

His nakedness on the cross, as soldiers gambled
over His garments strewn on the ground before
Him (verse 18). His certain death was assumed by
those religious and non–religious wretches that day
on Mount Calvary.

But they were surprised that it came so soon.

They were going to help the death process, those
merchants of death. However, when they went to
break His legs to hasten the expiration, they found
He was dead already! And so the prophecy was
fulfilled in that although His hands and feet were
pierced by the spikes, His bones were not broken
38
(verse 17).

Just before Jesus died He prayed a prayer of

anguish and triumph. He asked for God’s presence,
for help, for deliverance. And He was heard. He
said, “You have answered Me” (verse 21). His
deliverance came in death.

The remainder of the chapter is a song of the

triumph of faith. These were the things passing
rapidly through His mind in the closing minutes of
His life. Victory is promised here for those who
will not turn away from so costly and so great a
salvation.

That sacrifice for our redemption was

accomplished in Christ. One of the last words of
Christ on the cross was, “It is finished” (John
19:30). And the last word in the original of Psalm
22 is, “finished.”

This word is rich in meaning.

The word “finished” is a primitive root word

39
that means “to do” or “to make” as in creation
(Genesis 1:7; 2:2-4), “to accomplish” (Isaiah
55:11), or “to finish.” It is used in connection with
the offerings in the ceremonial system: “sacrifice”
(Leviticus 23:19); “offering” (9:2, 7, 16, 22; 16:9);
the morning and evening sin offering (Exodus
29:38); and for making incense (30:34-38).

Both the offerings and the incense, ascending

with the prayers of Israel represent the merits of
Christ’s righteousness and intercession. During His
life and in death He earned the right to represent
mankind in the courts of heaven. His merits,
through faith, are imputed to His believing people,
and these merits make the worship of sinful beings
acceptable to God (Ephesians 5:1. 2; 1:6). Christ
finished the work on earth He had been sent to do.
In Psalm 22:31 the word “finished” implies the
carrying through of the work of redemption by God
in Christ, on the cross. It is echoed by those who
proclaim His righteousness. And in Isaiah 44:23
we find a call to inanimate nature to rejoice in what
God accomplished—our redemption.

40
 And now in the sanctuary in heaven Christ
works as the only Mediator between God and man.
He is there finishing the work of redemption that
He began while on earth.

41
 Chapter 4

The State of His Mind

Psalm 22:1, 14

Our topic for this chapter is again from Psalm

22. We will consider two verses 1 and 14, as one.
Christ on the cross cried out in forsakenness. In
that terrible state of mind, He quoted Psalm 22:1:
“My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the
words of My groaning?”—or as the King James
Version puts it, “from my roaring?”

The word roaring comes from a root word that

means to howl in pain like a beast. Christ, in
mental anguish screamed in pain, sounding more
like the agonizing cry of a wild beast in pain than a
human being. The cacophonous screams of His
voice echoed the state of His mind as He felt the
breakup of His union with His heavenly Father.
This was the only time from eternity that such a
separation took place within the Godhead.
42
 As much as we can understand of it, let’s
consider Christ’s mental anguish. But when we are
through here, there will be much more to it than we
can possibly understand.

Verse 14: “I’m poured out like water, and all

my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it
has melted within me.”

Strong muscles became like liquid through the

torturous ordeal He went through. The physical
coming apart at the joints was a faint reflection of
His mental state as He felt the full force and load of
the sin of us all as it was laid upon Him. His heart
became like wax under the heat of fire. The heart in
Hebrew thought means the intellect as well as the
emotions. His mind was going through the process
of a meltdown from the crushing pressure of grief,
just as wax changes to a liquid state by the
application of heat.

Sin burns like a fire in the mind (Isaiah 8:18). It

melts and consumes the nervous system. Anyone
43
unprotected from its raging fierceness is destroyed.

The word “melt” means to be dissolved by fear

or terror, or by the wasting of disease. It is applied
also to fainting that comes from fear, grief, or
sorrow. As used here it describes the disorientation
of Christ’s mind as He felt the guilt and shame of
our sins within His nervous system. The pent up
fires of hell burst upon Him at Calvary with all the
fury of atomic energy. Sin was consuming Jesus.
This was equivalent to the experience of the lake of
fire about which the Revelator writes (Revelation
20).

This experience was the previously anticipated

hour that caused Him to tremble. Recorded in John
12 when the Gentiles came to see Him in the
temple court, He knew their coming was a
fulfillment of prophecy. He knew that their coming
to Him would be one of the evidences that He was
on target with His mission to redeem mankind. He
cried out, “God, save Me from this hour.” There
was a fierce struggle within, between His emotions
and His determination to do God’s will. Then He
44
said in submission, “But for this came I into this
hour. Father glorify Me.” The cross was the
glorification of Christ.

What we observe in this psalm and others is the

meltdown of the mind of Christ.

It was melting like wax as He was made to be

sin for us. Sin worked its defeating and
disheartening effect upon His mind. Convulsions of
agony racked His mind as well as His frame.
Agony suggests mental or physical torment so
excruciating that body and/or mind are convulsed
from the force of it. The horrors of the curse were
upon Him. Feelings of guilt and condemnation
tortured Him. This is a horrible sight. But its
awfulness is our salvation.

Although He knew no sin, He was made to be

sin for us. He did not sin, but sin destroyed Him.
Our sin, guilt, and condemnation were imputed to
Him. This was just as certain and real to Him as it
is when His righteousness is imputed to us. He was
conscious of imputed sins to Himself. He felt the
45
weight of them. They devastated and demolished
Him. There were disturbances in His mind and in
His feelings. But even through this meltdown, the
faith of Jesus held. The beginning verse of Psalm
22 presents the faith and the feelings of Jesus. “My
God! My God!” Those words express the faith of
Jesus. Then His feelings spoke: “Why have You
forsaken Me?” Faith spoke first and it spoke twice.

There are two aspects of faith. Belief is one of

them. This is not necessarily saving faith. Devils
believe, they tremble. But it doesn’t save them.
Appreciation is another aspect of faith. There are
times when we feel good. We have joy. This comes
from appreciating what God has done for us and
for His goodness toward us when we know we
deserve it not. But even this is not saving faith.
Saving faith is the faith of Jesus. This is the faith
that not only believes in the absence of feelings,
but against them. In the last days of earth’s history,
God’s people will receive the full cup of Christ’s
faith (Revelation 14:12). It comes through the
message of Christ crucified and His righteousness.
Christ on Calvary came to the end of His rope. But
46
His faith held.

There were disturbances in the thoughts and in

the feelings of Jesus, but not in His attitude or in
His faith. Never before had He undergone anything
like this. He sinned not. He was sinless in His
choices and in His thinking, though powerfully
pulled to yield. The devil was trying to break Him
down so that He might sin. While it is true that He
experienced despair, despondency and
discouragement, He did not descend to the level of
personal sin in these feelings. There are some today
who believe these feelings are sins. But this is not
so in all cases. They can become sin. Despondency
and despair can come because of selfishness, but
not always. There are times when these negative
feelings come from a physical weakness.

Chemical or hormonal imbalances can likewise

upset our mental state

These are not to be classed as sin. Some

persons love to feel depressed or despondent. Some
love to feel sorry for themselves. This is sin. But
47
feelings of despondency and despair are not sins in
and of themselves. Jesus felt the full force of
despair and never sinned. He knows by experience
what we from time to time go through. He also
knows how much grace we need in those terrible
times, for He is touched with the feelings of our
infirmities and He knows how to bring to us help in
those times of temptation.

In Christ’s experience, it was human sin that

caused the intense burning suffering within His
emotional and mental faculties. Although He felt as
though God had forever forsaken Him, His faith
held fast to the throne of God’s grace. He refused
to be denied. His faith was His anchor during this
storm. It took thirty-three years of submission to
His Father’s will, thirty-three years of temptation
and trial, to prepare Christ for this time of supreme
testing.

He could not have withstood this trial as a

child. As a child He had the experiences of a child.
He grew as a child, He spoke as a child. He
developed as a child. He had the faith of a child.
48
When He grew to manhood He put away the ways
of His childhood. But the character developed by
faith that always obeyed in His childhood—that
was foundational to all the temptations of His life,
especially the last temptation. The faith of the little
child developed continually to the point of His
death. Christ’s entire life was one of faith. He
learned by faith; He was sanctified by faith, He
walked by faith; in short, He lived by faith. There
was only one thing He did not do by faith and that
was to die, but He died in faith that His Father
would resurrect Him from the grave.

Christ was tempted by the devil in the

wilderness shortly after He was baptized. The
words of the Heavenly Father , “This is My
Beloved Son in whom I am pleased,” were ringing
in the devil’s mind. Those words of affirmation
were the first audible words from the Father to
Christ, and thus to the human race since sin entered
the human race. In those words God spoke to the
human race, fallen as it was and yet is. The
pronouncement was that “He has made us accepted
in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). Christ became the
49
Public Man, the Representative Man, the last
Adam. Christ as the Head of the race met and
defeated the human foe in the wilderness
temptations. Faith in the word of God was the first
public test.

The devil first tempted the Representative Man,

Christ Jesus, on the point of appetite just as he did
the first Adam. He tried to get Christ to act as God
in creating food to save Himself. Jesus replied as
the Public Man: “It is written that man shall not
live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds
out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). This “it is
written” comes from Deuteronomy 8:3 that says
literally, in the original language, “adam shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word coming out
of the mouth of God.” This means living by faith.
Christ, by faith in God’s word, on behalf of the
human race, defeated the devil in the wilderness.
But this was not His supreme test.

In Gethsemane and on the cross, Jesus again

met this temptation in all the fullness of its force.
Bearing the full weight of the sins of the world, in
50
the weakness of human nature, and weakened to
the point of exhaustion, Christ was again tempted
to use creative energy to escape from the pit of
despair and despondency in Gethsemane, and from
destruction on Calvary.

Although Christ was tempted at every step of

His human life, beginning with Gethsemane was
the hour of “the power of darkness” which Jesus
dreaded to enter. But He knew He must. This was
the final testing hour, the last hour for the last
Adam, for the last time. And it was the last time for
the devil also. It was now all or nothing. The stakes
were high for both warriors.

These two who in another world at another

time were the closest of friends now were enemies.
Lucifer because of insubordination was dismissed
from his position and place in heaven. Now he had
the advantage. Christ, his commander in heaven,
who became part of His own creation to save that
part of His creation, was much weaker in physical
strength and in mental ability as a man. Could
Christ, the Son of Man, withstand the onslaught
51
that awaited His mind for the next 18 hours?

Their time had fully come. Christ would be

given completely into the hands of the devil, to
find if the devil could shake Christ from His faith.
That shaking time proved decisively the superiority
of the Word of God and the faith of Jesus, weak as
He was as a man. God demonstrated that with all
the weaknesses of the flesh, with all the committed
sins of the world heaped upon Christ, God’s grace
is stronger than all the power of the Devil.

But God, the Father,

must have trembled in that fearful hour

All heaven was risked at Calvary. Had Christ

failed (and that was a real possibility!) more than
the human race would have been involved. There
were cosmic proportions of which we know
nothing. We can only get hints of them from the
inspired word. These will have to wait until the
second coming of Christ when He shall explain all
things.

52
 Psalm 18 reveals David’s ordeal with his
enemies and his deliverance

This typifies Christ and His death. In verse 4

we learn of fear on the part of Christ because of the
onslaughts of the Devil. Waves of sin and death
engulfed Christ. This made Him experience fear as
no one else has. To repeat, there is a fear that is not
unto sin. The feelings of fear may seem to
overwhelm us. But as David wrote in another
place, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You”
(Psalm 56:3). Even in times of heartbreaking,
abject fear, the faith of Jesus will hold us fast in
God’s care.

This psalm is a promise— one that no doubt

blessed Christ. It is a promise for you and for me
today also. The Devil will at times terrify you. He
may awaken you from sleep in the night. There
may be a heaviness that can be felt in your room.
You may experience difficulty in breathing. You
may not be able to utter a sound from your lips.
But in your mind you can still pray, “Jesus save
me, Jesus help me.” He understands. He will
53
deliver. When afraid, you can trust God.

Psalm 18: 5. “Then the sorrows of Sheol (hell)

surrounded me; the snares of death confronted
me.” That place, that hell, that death, is not the
grave to which all our feet are directed. That is the
place of separation, equivalent to the second death
at the end of the thousand years recorded in
Revelation 20. Christ paid that penalty. The penalty
is not the first, but the second death, our wages for
our sin. The first death is called a sleep by Jesus
(John 11:11-14). The first death is a consequence
of sin and not a punishment in the most strict sense
of the meaning. In the superhuman agony into
which Christ was plunged, it is written, “In my
distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to My
God; He heard My voice from His temple, and My
cry came before Him, even to His ears” (Psalm
18:6).

In the following verses we see the reaction of

nature as the footsteps of God approach Calvary:

“Then the earth shook and trembled; the

54
foundations of the hills quaked and were shaken,
because He was angry. Smoke went up from His
nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; coals
were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and
came down with darkness under His feet. And He
rode upon the cherub, and flew; He flew upon the
wings of the wind. He made darkness His secret
place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and
thick clouds of the skies” (Psalm 18:7-11).

As sin worked its destructive way through the

nervous system of Christ, while the devil was
manifesting the malignity of his hatred against
Christ, God came from heaven to be by the side of
His beloved Son. Although there was a violent
severance between the Persons of the Godhead
because of sin, yet the Father came as close to
Jesus as He could. He could not remain in heaven.
He longed to bring Christ some assurance and hope
as He was being put to death, but He could not. He
could look on in horror, but He could not help the
Man who was His fellow Companion from eternal
ages.

55
 In your mind’s eye, picture the Father standing
next to His suffering Son, trembling and weeping,
longing to comfort Him. God put His own
Omnipotence under restraint as He refrained from
breaking through the darkness to deliver His
agonizing Son. The sufferings of the cross give a
glimpse into the agony that exists in the heart of
God because of sin. That agony did not end, neither
did it begin there.

As Christ died, the Father could not speak of

what was then transpiring. The heavenly angels
were silent, for they did not know all there was to
know about what was happening to the mind of
Christ. Christ’s disciples were in total darkness.
Their minds were as dark as the day turned night,
as the sun refused to shine. In the silence of any
spoken word, inanimate nature cried out and
preached the gospel. Nature spoke with a clear loud
voice.

The testimony of Jesus was revealed in the

hiding of the sun’s rays that day. As with the day,
His mind was covered with a pall of darkness,
56
darker than midnight pitch. No hope presented
itself to the mind of Jesus as the full weight of sin
settled down upon His mind and spirit. Christ
committed no sin, but He felt as though He
committed all the sins of the world. He was made
to be sin itself in order for us, in Him, to be made
the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The darkened heavens speak of a deeper gloom

that engulfed the mind of Jesus:

• Absence of light from His Father,

• Dismay,
• Dejection,
• Despair,
• Hopelessness,
• Depression,
• Despondency,
• Inexpressible sorrow and grief.

Finally, with nervous exhaustion came the loss

of hope and a sense of futility. He was gripped with
a paralyzing fear. Filled with emotions of anxiety
and dread, He experienced within Himself intense
57
and prolonged feelings of insecurity. Troubled by
alienation from God, guilt and excessive grief
racked His mind.

But there was more to come.

The end was not yet. Not by themselves did

those tenebrous hours reveal the state of Christ’s
mind as He died. The earth likewise preached the
gospel of Christ crucified. Just as the earthquake
tore boulders from the earth and flung them out, so
it was that sin ripped through the mind of Jesus
Christ and caused a greater earthquake within His
very being.

The condition of Christ’s mind at that very time

was preached by rent rocks. Those rocks torn from
the firm foundations within earth’s crust by the
upheaval of the underlying activities of intense heat
and shifting earth masses, revealed the state of
Christ’s mind melting from the fierce heat and
pressure of sin realized by Him when He screamed,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me!”
Here we get the picture of mental breakdown under
58
the hammering force of sin.

Christ’s body and mind went into convulsions

that He could not control. Jesus was in a greater
mental and emotional earthquake than the
convulsions that tore the rocks from the earth. The
rent rocks cried out at the violent disturbances
ripping through Christ’s mind as it was pulled apart
by sin on Calvary. Christ was taken to the edge of
insanity and total mental breakdown. But He did
not break. His faith held to the reality of God’s
word. Be amazed and wonder! He was made to be
sin itself. And all this for you.

During all of this, God stood by the cross next

to His Son. God stood there in the mantle of
darkness. That mantle was His “pavilion” by which
He drew near to His Son and consequently to the
entire human race. As Christ cried out in agony, the
Father unseen, trembling, unheard, wept and
whispered, Here I am, here I am. I have heard Your
cry, but this is the only way; this is the plan You
laid out in heaven.

59
 Deity suffered. Deity sank at Calvary. God
suffered with His Son. He suffered in silence as He
felt Their oneness breaking up. Then at the time of
the evening sacrifice, the Son yielded up His life
while addressing the Father, “It is finished.” “Into
Thy hands I commend My spirit” (John 19:30;
Luke 23:46, KJV). When Jesus was driven to the
edge of insanity, when He got to the end of His
rope of faith, it held! It maintained control over His
mind during His time of trouble that was more
severe in intensity than Jacob’s. The faith of Jesus
conquered. God, the Father, triumphed with Him.

And God caused light to shine out of the

darkness of the mind of His dear Son, on Calvary
to redeem us (2 Corinthians 4:6).

60
 Chapter 5

The Two Adams

Psalm 8

Psalm 8 is a prophecy which foretold that

Christ would bless the children and that He would
be proclaimed King by children. The psalm begins,
“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in
all the earth, You who set Your glory above the
heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and infants
You have ordained strength, because of Your
enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the
avenger.”

This passage was connected with the cleansing

of the temple by Jesus as recorded in Matthew
12:12-16. The temple courts had been made into a
center for trading commodities. The people were
terrified when Jesus came into the temple complex
and rattled the moneychangers. They fled, but the
children remained. The children were not afraid of
Jesus. Business as usual was interrupted and the
61
exchangers fled in fear, but the children sang
praises to the Lord.

The people who fled chagrined and angry

returned to the temple courts and heard the children
singing. They tried to get Jesus to silence them.
Christ quoted the psalm under consideration, “Out
of the mouths of babes You have perfected praise”
to show the people that this was a fulfillment of
prophecy (see Matthew 21:16). Christ asserted His
rightful place as the second Adam as the psalm
reveals.

The psalm continues. “What is man that You

are mindful of him, and the son of man that You
visit him? For You have made him a little lower
than the angels, and You have crowned him with
glory and honor. You have made him to have
dominion over the works of Your hands; You have
put all things under His feet …” (verses 4-6). This
was quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:27 when he
referred to the second coming of Christ. All things
will be turned over to Him at the second Advent, at
the resurrection of the body of believers.
62
 Verses 4 and 5 are quoted in Hebrews 2:6-8 to
apply to Christ. In the beginning this applied to
Adam, but because Christ is the second and last
Adam, it applies to Him also. Hebrews 2:9: “But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels, for the suffering of death crowned with
glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God
might taste death for everyone.” Paul quotes Psalm
8, then applies it to Christ. The first Adam was
made a little lower than the angels, and the second
Adam likewise was made a little lower than the
angels.

But it was “for the suffering of death” that

Christ was made to be mortal. As God He could
not die. Even if He had come like Adam was in his
pre-fall nature, Christ could not have died. But He
was made to die, He was born to die. He was made
to taste death for everyone, by the grace of God.
That He was made mortal was imperative.

While man is described in this psalm as

powerless and frail, he is not forgotten by God.
63
God looks after and cares for him.

Psalm 8 ends as it begins with identical words,

praising the Lord. This is called an envelope
construction. Contained within these praises we
learn of God’s purpose in man’s creation. This
psalm is a lyric echo of Moses’ account of creation.
God’s glory is observed in the realm of nature and
in the realm of Providence, and through these to its
contemplation in the kingdom of grace.

The chapter outlined as an envelope chiasm

appears like this:

A. God’s sovereignty—vs . 1
B. God’s dominion—vss. 2, 3
C. Man’s insignificance––vs. 4
C. Man’s exaltation—vs. 5
B. Man’s dominion—vss. 6–8
A. God’s sovereignty—vs. 9.

To Adam, who was made “a little lower than

the angels” was given dominion over God’s
creation (verses 5 and 6). The first Adam
64
surrendered himself and his dominion to the enemy
of God. Because of that, this psalm can be fulfilled
only in Christ, and by Him as the second Adam.

As mentioned above, Jesus quoted verse two of

this psalm when His dominion over the temple was
questioned. Five days before He died, Christ
cleansed the temple again and restored it to its
proper use for a short period of time. Rather than
being used as a market place for the world’s trade
and rather than a den for the religious
establishment to hide their thievery, it was to be “a
house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:7). Christ
transformed it into a place of ministry for the
physically disabled and for sin-sick souls (Matthew
21:12-14).

After being driven from the temple courts, “the

chief priests and scribes” sneaked back in. They
saw the blind and the lame going to Jesus to be
healed. They heard praises to Christ from the
children, and they were enraged because of the
children’s hosannas. Their consciences seared from
resistance to the Holy Spirit, these pretenders could
65
not recognize the fulfillment in Christ as the
second Adam of Psalm 8. And so they demanded
of Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”
“Yes,” Jesus replied, then directed the attention of
those charlatans to Psalm 8:2, “Have you never
read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing
infants You have perfected praise’?” (Matthew
21:16).

God chooses the weak and foolish things to

confound the mighty men of earth. God works
most effectively through the things and the persons
despised by the wise of the earth. The mysteries of
God are revealed to children, but hidden from the
wise and intelligent of the world (1 Corinthians
1:27-29; Acts 4:13; 6:8, 10).

Those doubters could not see that God was

mindful of them, and that He cared for and visited
man in fulfillment of Psalm 8. What was hidden
from those earthly wise men because of their
unbelief was revealed to believing children. But the
experience of the children could not penetrate the
heart of those religious leaders. And so as Christ
66
left the temple that Sunday evening, their day of
grace ended.

In the light of the New Testament, Psalm 8 is a

prophecy of Christ the second Adam and of the
new humanity as redeemed by Him. The central
thought of the psalm is restated, then continued. It
reveals the loss of dominion by Adam, then its
restoration through Christ. Hebrews 2:6-8 reveals
the sovereign dominion of Christ by showing that
He is the Man God has crowned with glory and
honor and made to have dominion over all the
works of creation.

In typical Hebrew fashion, David used

synonymous parallelism to describe the last Adam
and God’s care for Him:

“What is man [enosh’] that You mindful of

him,

“And the son of man [ben adam] that You care

for him?” (Psalm 8:4, margin).

67
 Both Hebrew words enosh’ and adam are terms
describing a representative man who is the head of
the race. Both words are used rarely in the sense of
a single individual. They are usually used in a
collective or corporate sense such as the entire
human race. In this psalm they are used to describe
especially Christ in His representative function for
the race. The word enosh’ is never used of man
before the fall. It is used to describe man’s fallen
and thus mortal condition according to his nature
which is inherited. It is “used of the Messiah,
Psalm 8:4.” “This … passage applies to Christ
solely; see Heb. 2:6” (Gesenius’s Hebrew and
Chaldee Lexicon, p. 63, emphasis original. See also
Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies, p. 266).

The Aramaic cognate enash’ is used of Christ

in Daniel 7:13. Here we view Christ as the Elder
Brother of the race representing us before the
throne of God in scenes of the judgment. He
receives the dominion and the kingdom in behalf of
His people. Judgment is given in behalf of those
He represents (see verses 14, 18, 22).

68
 The use of the term enosh’ indicates Christ’s
real affinity with the fallen human race. He became
one of us in order to be “touched with the feelings
of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). This is not the
modern idea of the cosmological and pantheistic
“christ” worshipped by spiritual Babylon under the
New Age scheme of things.

The true Christ felt a real identity with man.

The Son of Man became the Savior of the world
(John 4:42; 1 Timothy 4:10). In order to become
man it was essential that He become part of the
race in the deepest and fullest sense. He took upon
Himself our fallen nature in order to redeem the
human race. At conception He took our nature and
entered into man’s alienation from God, even
though He was never guilty of actual sin. He never
allowed His inherited nature to rebel against the
will of God. He came not to do His will, but the
will of the Father (John 5:30).

The greatest honor bestowed upon the human

race is in the fact that the Son of God took upon
Himself our nature in the incarnation, and then
69
lived by faith according to God’s will in our behalf.
And being a man, God visited and cared for Him,
and thus visits and cares for you.

Hebrews 2 takes up Psalm 8 and, applying it to

Christ, lays the foundation for the presentation of
the humanity of Christ in the book of Hebrews.
After quoting Psalm 8:4-6, Paul writes: “For in that
He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing
that is not put under Him. But now we do not yet
see all things put under Him” (Hebrews 2:6-8).
Something happened to Adam’s dominion. He
sinned, and now because he lost control of himself,
he could not control his dominion. But “we see”
Someone else!

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower

than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned
with glory and honor …” (verse 9). He met Adam
at his lowest point—death. This was a lower state
than where Adam was when he was first created. It
was impossible for Adam to die before he sinned.
And so, we can see that Christ came not to the
place where Adam was before he fell, “but we see
70
Jesus for the suffering of death.” This was much
lower than where Adam began. In order for Christ
to die He had to become mortal. Mortality came
into existence because of sin. As soon as one is
conceived, he inherits the propensity to die. The
seeds of death are in fallen human nature. In order
for Christ to enter the “suffering of death” He had
to be “made of a woman” with a mortal nature.

As God, Christ was immortal

But He laid aside this attribute and took upon

Himself mortality in order to be “numbered with
the transgressors” and to die in our stead. He was
“made … for the suffering of death … that He by
the grace of God might taste death for everyone.”
Unfallen angels know nothing of grace personally.
They are not under grace, having never sinned.
Adam before he fell did not need grace. Grace
came in because of sin. Christ was made to be sin
for us. Christ needed grace. And it was by the
grace of God that He tasted eternal death for the
fallen race. It was by grace, God’s enabling grace,
that Christ tasted death for every human. This
71
grace is the same as that given to every human
since the fall of Adam. This grace is given only to
those born into this world, born in sinful fallen
human nature. Christ was not exempt from grace.
He needed it from Bethlehem to Calvary. He lived
and grew in grace. And by grace He tasted death
for us all (John 1:14; Luke 2:40; Hebrews 2:9).

Christ could not have died if He had taken the

unfallen nature of angels or the sinless nature of
pre-fall Adam. Can you imagine how the angels of
heaven became grief-stricken when they learned
that Christ would assume man’s mortal nature? He,
who as God, was superior to them, would become
inferior to them when He should assume human
nature. He who created them would be in need of
their wisdom and strength and comfort.

When Adam sinned against known light, the

entire race that was to come from him was doomed
to condemnation and everlasting destruction. But
God had a plan. He was not caught off-guard. He
made Himself responsible for man’s failure. He
became Surety for man. This is why “we see Jesus,
72
who was made a little lower than the angels, for the
suffering of death. …” He became “the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world” (Revelation
13:8). In the beginning, the altar of sacrifice and
the promise of redemption were placed side by
side, each casting light on the other (Genesis 4:3, 4;
3:15).

The first promise of redemption for man is

addressed to “that serpent of old, the Devil and
Satan”: “I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her Seed,” God
declared. “He will bruise your head, and you will
bruise His heel” (Revelation 12:9; Genesis 3:15).
Satan was made to realize that he was not to have
free reign over his usurped dominion taken from
mankind. God promised to enter more directly into
the battle for man. He promised nothing but enmity
between the Seed of the woman and the followers
of Satan.

When the full force of the promise dawned

upon the devil’s mind, he found cause for
rejoicing. In order for him to bruise the heel of the
73
promised Seed of the woman, her Seed would have
to be made vulnerable. He had to be made
touchable and bruisable. The devil could not do
this unless Christ should be “made a little lower
than the angels, for the suffering of death.” He
rejoiced that he could pull down the Son of God
from the throne of the universe to the level of
fallen man. With Christ in human nature the devil
was confident that He could cause Christ to sin.
From the time of the promise of Genesis 3:15
forward, the enemy planned and experimented on
fallen human nature. He wanted both to weaken
human nature, in order to place Christ at a great
disadvantage when He became human, and to
experiment to find the easiest access to the fallen
nature of man.

Christ was not only bruised by Satan

He was bruised also by mankind’s sins. “All we

like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every
one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.” “And by His stripes we are
healed” (Isaiah 53:6, 5). Christ was “made a little
74
lower than the angels for the suffering of death”
(Hebrews 2:9).

He was made for death! This death was not the

first death that everyone dies. The first death is a
consequence of Adam’s sin, not the punishment for
it. Jesus died the equivalent of the second death. He
tasted “death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9). Christ
is the only one who has tasted the second death. No
human being was intended, by God to die the
second death. That death is a prepared death, only
“prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew
25: 41). Humans who spurn and reject “the grace
of God that brings salvation” that “has appeared to
all men” will go with the devil into the lake of fire
(Titus 2:11; Matthew 25:41).

Christ by the grace of God

tasted that death for all mankind

The fire of envy and hatred consumed Him. He

tasted that death, beginning in Gethsemane. Had
not heaven intervened, Christ would have perished
there. There would have been no public execution
75
on Calvary. Because it was a public death, a
crucified Christ has been proclaimed in the world,
to the world, and for all the world.

In bruising Christ by temptation and finally in

death, the devil himself received a wound that
cannot heal. By partaking of our same flesh and
blood Christ was made to die, “that through death
He might destroy him who had the power of death,
that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

In another letter Paul in dealing with a

misunderstanding and denial of the resurrection in
the church of Corinth, quoted Psalm 8:6 in the
context of the two Adams. What the first Adam did
to us, Christ undid. “He has put all things under
His feet.” “For since by man came death, by Man
also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made
alive” (1 Corinthians 15:27, 21, 22).

In his second letter to the Corinthian church

Paul again took up the theme of the second Adam.
“For the love of Christ constrains us, because we
76
judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died” (2
Corinthians 5:14). In Christ, the Representative
Man, the Head of mankind, the whole fallen human
race died. Christ died not for Himself, but for you.
He exhausted the penalty which was yours, that
you might become the righteousness of God in
Him (verse 21).

Although Adam carved his initials deep in our

flesh, Christ carved His much deeper. What Adam
did against us, Christ reversed. Christ’s work for us
is far greater than what Adam did to us.

The greatest honor bestowed upon the human

race is in the fact that Christ took upon Himself our
nature in the incarnation. And being a man, God
visited Him, cared for Him and thus visits and
cares for us. And the fact that Christ in glorified
human nature sits at the side of the Father, God
blesses us in Him (Ephesians 1:3,6). And so it is
that Psalm 8, prophetic of Christ, was fulfilled in
and by Christ.

This psalm will meet its complete fulfillment in

77
the new earth. Verse 6: “You have put all things
under His feet” will then be accomplished as it is
written:

“For since by man came death, by Man also

came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits,
afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
Then comes the end, when He delivers the
kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end
to all authority and power. For He must reign till
He has put all enemies under His feet. The last
enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He has
put all things under His feet’” (1 Corinthians
15:21-27).

Psalm 8 ends as it began—singing praises to

God: “O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your
name in all the earth.”

78
 Chapter 6

Psalms About Jesus and

Judas
Psalms 41:9; 55:12-14

Jesus experienced feelings of pity and concern

for Judas when He first saw him. As ambitious
Judas pressed his way into the presence of Jesus,
instantly He knew this was the man who would one
day betray Him. Jesus read him like an open book.
To outward appearances this stately looking person
had all the qualifications for political success in the
coming kingdom. But Jesus in the book of Psalms
read about his true heart sentiments.

Judas became a leader and the treasurer of the

little band of Christ’s disciples. Contrary to
appearances, Judas was merciless. The poor were
not helped by him, except to further his own
interests. He despised the very people Christ
blessed—the broken in heart and the heavy laden.

79
 The canker of covetousness was detected by
Christ from the first. “Foxes have holes and birds
have nests,” Jesus said, “but the Son of man has
nowhere to lay His head.” From the psalms Jesus
learned the character of His betrayer. He knew he
would be a close ally, an associate.

Psalm 109, especially verses 6-20, outlines the

character and consequential destiny, not only of
Judas but also of his posterity. Verse 8 was quoted
by Peter to the believers when Matthias was chosen
to take Judas’ place among the eleven apostles.
“Let another take his office” (Acts 1:20). Three
times the psalms concerning Judas are referred to
in Acts 1. Along with Psalm 109:8, Psalm 69:25 is
also quoted: “Let his habitation be desolate, and let
no one live in it.”

Peter said earlier:

“Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be

fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the
mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a
80
guide to those who arrested Jesus: for he was
numbered with us and obtained a part in this
ministry” (Acts 1:16,17).

This was in reference to Psalm 41:9 that

prophesied of Judas’ treatment of Jesus. “Even My
own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate My
bread, has lifted his heal against Me.” Remember,
this betrayal was not by an enemy, not by a
stranger, but by a close friend. Hardest to bear is
the reproach and betrayal of a friend! The thought
is captured in Psalm 55:12-14:

“For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;

then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me
who has magnified himself against me; then I
could hide from him. But it was you, a man my
equal, my companion and my acquaintance. We
took sweet counsel together, and walked to the
house of God in the throng.”

When Judas led the multitude of rabble to the

place of prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, and
there betrayed Jesus to them by that infamous kiss,
81
Jesus asked “Friend, why have you come?”
(Matthew 26:50). That question was unanswered,
but you can be sure it never left Judas’ mind until
he died.

In return for Christ’s unconditional love, Judas

became His accuser. The destiny of Judas written
in advance is found in Psalm 109: 6-15, the
judgment of Judas and his descendants is there
depicted. He opposed the mercy and grace of God
as manifested in the life and actions of Jesus. The
children of Judas, following his example, likewise
opposed the grace of God that brings salvation to
every person (Titus 2:11). The Psalmist predicted
the misery and the destruction of Judas, the
ringleader motivated by malice and revenge. No
one, not even Jesus, escaped the malevolence of
this deceptive “son of perdition.”

It was Satan who influenced Judas against the

Savior. Satan stood “at his right hand,” suggesting
to that keen mind of Judas thoughts which the
fallen angel himself harbored ever since the days of
his rebellion in heaven. Satan worked out through
82
Judas his own feelings of revenge against Christ.

Like Judas, Lucifer at one time was drawn to

the Son of God. Like Judas, he nursed feelings
against Christ. Like Judas, he deceived some of
Christ’s closest friends. And like Judas on earth,
Lucifer accused and betrayed Christ when they
were friends together in heaven.

And in Christ’s treatment of Judas we can

understand how He dealt with Lucifer in heaven.
On the evening of the last supper (for Judas as well
as Christ) Jesus knelt before Judas to wash his feet.
The Spirit of God in union with Jesus impressed
powerfully the heart of Judas, drawing him to
repent and return to God. Jesus there revealed to
Judas and to the observing universe, the principle
of leadership He employed in heaven, which is
service. Christ, Master of all, is Servant of all.
Judas and Lucifer before him perceived and
understood the lesson. Both rejected this aspect of
the character of God. Both accused Christ of
rulership that was unacceptable to themselves. To
cover themselves they accused Christ of their own
83
selfishness. An accuser usually denounces another
of the very thing which he desires and of which he
is guilty.

By specific actions, Lucifer in heaven and

Judas on earth disqualified themselves for
companionship with Christ or with heaven. Each
case was one of apostasy rather than of hypocrisy.
Even so, Christ loved them. In the context of
Lucifer’s defection in heaven, Ezekiel wrote of
Christ’s lamentation for him in Ezekiel 28:12-19.

Read it from God’s point of reference—with a

broken heart. A lamentation is a deep grief,
mourning and sorrow, as one hurts when a loved
one dies. When Lucifer left Him, God wept. So it
was with Jesus and Judas. Judas, His friend, sent
arrows of agony into the heart of Christ as He
reached out to him with agape love that was
resisted and beaten back time after time. He would
not let Christ save him.

Jesus did not refuse to ordain Judas to the

gospel ministry, nor refuse him the power to work
84
miracles, to cast out demons, and to heal the sick.
Neither did He refuse the traitor’s kiss of betrayal.

Judas’ love of money and of the world

overbalanced his love for Jesus. From time to time
he responded partially to Christ’s constraining
love. But he would not fully surrender to its
sovereignty. Avarice finally became the ruling
motive in his life.

Judas opened his heart to unbelief. “The god of

this world” blinded his mind “lest the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ … should shine on”
him (2 Corinthians 4:4, 5). Blindness came, not
because he had no chance to believe, but rather
because he closed his eyes to believing. Then he
went blind, spiritually.

The turning point for Judas came about one

year before he betrayed Jesus. At that time he
probably did not know to what extent he would go.
Jesus declared to His disciples then that one of
them was governed by the devil. He said “one of
you is a devil,” referring to the spiritually- blind
85
Judas (John 6:70,71). This was a day or two after
Jesus fed the multitude by the miracle of the fishes
and the loaves.

In the synagogue at Capernaum Jesus preached

His discourse about the “bread from heaven,” a
message of righteousness by faith. That message
caused a terrible shaking among those who
followed Him. Those who followed from fear or
because of the hope of reward were shaken out, or
at least they positioned themselves in such a
manner that they could leave at a moment’s notice,
as Judas did.

Multitudes left Jesus. As He looked around He

saw only His twelve bewildered and shaken
ministers. He asked them, “Do you also want to go
away?” to which Peter replied, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”
(John 6:66-68). Eleven of his ministers came
through the terrible ordeal. One did not. Judas
rejected the spiritual food Christ gave. He refused
Christ’s gift of righteousness. He spurned and
rejected it. Like Esau centuries earlier, he sold his
86
spiritual birthright for a mess of temporal pottage.

From that time until he betrayed Christ, Judas

brought confusion into the ranks of Christ’s
ministers. Jesus never openly rebuked Judas until
the night when Judas got angry as Mary washed
Christ’s feet with precious and very costly
ointment. Judas criticized Mary for wasting money
(that he coveted). But Jesus told him straight, “Let
her alone.” Immediately after this, Judas, smarting
from Christ’s only rebuke to him, went to the
priests to negotiate for money in return for his
betrayal of Christ (John 12:3-8; Mark 14:6-11).

But later when Jesus was on trial, the

conscience smitten Judas confessed his sin and
asked for the release of Jesus. But it was too late.
The priests who caballed with him in private now
spurned him in public (see Matthew 27:3-5). But
his friend, Jesus, whom he betrayed, pitied him and
did not reproach him.

If Judas had searched the psalms to learn about

Jesus and His mission, he would have learned of
87
his own weaknesses, and he could have been
strengthened and healed. Instead of centuries of
abhorrence that have followed him, he might be
remembered along with the other eleven leaders as
a teacher of righteousness. Even so, and in spite of
what he did to Him, Jesus loved him to the end.
Amazing love! Amazing grace!

88
 Chapter 7

A Prayer of Faith and

Investigation
Psalm 17 is a prayer of invitation for
investigation. Study it in the light of the innocent
Christ, numbered with the transgressors. He was
tested by the closest scrutiny of God (“examined,”
verse 3, margin), God could find nothing in Christ.
He was innocent. He knew no sin. Even His
enemies could find no sin in Him through which
they could convict Him (John 8:46).

Another tested Christ. Lucifer examined Him,

to see if he could find a flaw in His character.
Since God’s searching eye “found nothing” in
Christ, the devil’s investigation was an exercise in
futility. Jesus testified that “he has nothing in Me”
(John 14:30). This has to do with sins. The devil
could find “not even one” sin in Him. Nothing in
Christ responded to the devil’s temptations.

89
 The reason for Christ’s flawless character is
found in the fact that He would do “not even one”
thing of Himself (John 5:19,30). Christ’s words
and works were done by the Father’s power (John
14:10). This is living by faith, righteousness by
faith.

Christ was a servant of the grace of God, and it

was thereby impossible for Him to be forced into
sin so long as He remained under God’s power.
Grace is always greater than sin! The Spirit that
dwelt within Christ was stronger than the inherited
tendencies of sinful flesh (Romans 5:20, 21; 6:16;
Galatians 5:16, 17). Thus it was God, in Christ,
who condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3).

This should greatly encourage your heart,

especially as you face the judgment. To the
condition of Christ when He was on earth, in
human flesh, God will bring His people in the faith
of Jesus. The devil will find “not even one” sin in
them by which he might gain the advantage. The
reason he will find nothing in God’s people is
because first God Himself will examine them.
90
Because of the power of His grace dwelling in
them and the righteousness of Christ given to them,
He will find nothing in them! Judgment will be
pronounced in their favor. The everlasting gospel
message will accomplish God’s work in the
believer (Revelation 14:12; 18:1; Daniel 7:9, 10,
22; 1 Thessalonians 5:8, 9).

After God’s examination, then and only then,

will Satan have opportunity to investigate God’s
elect. No doubt the devil will try them to the
uttermost. But he will meet with the same result
that he did with Christ, for Christ is formed within
them as the hope of glory. The same righteousness
of God that was in Christ and given to them, Satan
will test. He will find “not one thing” that will
respond to his sophistry. This is so because God’s
grace will have such control over God’s people that
sin in them will be conquered and condemned in
their sinful flesh by the power of His word and the
indwelling of His Holy Spirit based upon the work
of Christ on the cross.

While on the one hand the law of God points

91
out sin in the lives of everyone, it also testifies in
behalf of the believer (Romans 3:20, 21). Only
Christ’s righteousness will be found in God’s
people (Jeremiah 23:6). God’s law of righteousness
will testify to the genuineness of that
righteousness. God has already investigated that
flawless righteousness in Christ. As Christ could
do nothing of Himself, so His followers “can do
not one thing” of themselves (John 5:19, 30; 15:5).
Christ only will be seen in the believer. Christ and
His mind, His thoughts, His words, His works, His
righteousness.

Christ purposed in His mind not to transgress

with His lips (Psalm 17:3; 1 Peter. 2:22). So it is
with His people (Revelation 14:5; 1 Peter 3:10;
James 2:26; 3:1-12). By God’s word, Christ was
kept from sin (Psalm 17:4; Matthew 4:4). So it
must be with His people (Psalm 119:19).

In Psalm 17:5-15 we read the prayer of faith.

Since Christ lived “by every word that proceeded
out of the mouth of God” we can be assured that
He made this psalm His own. He endured the cross,
92
despising its shame (Hebrews 12:2-4). The psalm
ends in faith: “As for me, I will see Your face in
righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in
Your likeness.” From this, let’s turn our attention
to Psalm 16.

It was written by David. No doubt some of this

psalm is about his own experience. But it is another
of the psalms about Christ. It concludes with the
hope of His resurrection. His prayer of faith here is
that He would not experience corruption in the
grave. This can only apply to Christ and not to
David because it is evident from Peter’s sermon on
the day of Pentecost, and later from Paul’s sermon
in the synagogue in Pisidia that this refers to Jesus
(Acts 2:25-35; 13:33-37).

Psalm 16:8-11 is a recorded prayer of the faith

of Jesus concerning His resurrection. Peter in his
sermon on the day of Pentecost quoted this passage
in reference to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on
that day. He told the “men of Israel” that although
they had put Christ to death, God raised Him up in
fulfillment of this psalm (Acts 2:24-32). Verse 10
93
is quoted directly in Acts 2:27 (KJV): “Thou wilt
not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer
Thine Holy One to see corruption.” Peter argued
that this referred to Christ, and not to David,
because David did see corruption and he was still
on earth in his tomb in Jerusalem at the time Peter
preached to the people on the day of Pentecost.

Christ went to hell for us (Psalm 16:10). Sheol

in the Old Testament and Hades in the New meant
the grave. Christ died. Both soul and body died.
Isaiah wrote that His “soul” would be made “an
offering for sin,” and that “He poured out His soul
unto death, and was numbered with the
transgressors” (Isaiah 53:10, 12).

Christ’s death was more than physical

Had His death been only physical, it would

have been no more than a pagan sacrifice. But no!
He really died. His total mortal person perished.
When He died, His thoughts perished, just as they
do with all who die (Psalm 146:4). He died the
equivalent of what the Bible calls the “second
94
death” (Revelation 20:6). This death is punishment
for sin. This is what mankind earns. This death is
“good-bye” forever to life. It means eternal
separation from God. But our “wages” were paid
by Jesus. “The wages of sin is death” even the
death of Jesus. Because Jesus lived fully by faith,
and in faith of God’s promise to bring Him back
from the dead, He was resurrected from the grave
and now ever lives to make intercession for us.
Because He died, you live. Because He died you
may live forever, conditioned of course on your
non-resistance to His grace.

Christ in his human nature is the only human

who was destined to go to hell. No other human
being has to go there. That fire was prepared for
devils, not mankind. Those only who persistently
refuse the grace of God that surrounds them just as
certainly as the atmosphere encircles the earth, will
join the devil and his angels there (Matthew 25:41).

95
 Chapter 8

The Conflict Between the

Senses and Faith Psalm 42
Here we have a mirror into the psyche of
mankind in the battle with depression that comes
upon all from time to time. In this psalm we
witness the deep depression that came to David as
it comes to many sons and daughters of Adam.

Later in the chapter we observe the triumph of

faith. It ends as it begins. This song begins with
faith and its holy desires toward God and
communion with Him (verses 1, 2). But between
the beginning and the ending there is despair and
sorrow of heart. This is a window into the kind of
sorrow through which Jesus, the Man of Sorrows,
passed.

In verse 3 we observe the depression affecting

David’s appestat, the area of the brain that
regulates appetite and food intake. Verses 3

96
through 6 reveal the fierce struggle between
depression and faith.

“My tears have been my food day and night,

while they continually say to me, ‘Where is your
God?’ When I remember these things, I pour out
my soul within me. For I used to go with the
multitude; I went with them to the house of God,
with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude
that kept a pilgrim feast. Why are you cast down, O
my soul? And why are you disquieted within in?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help
of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast
down within me.”

A true psychological statement is declared in

verse 3. Loss of appetite is often brought on by
depression. Because his emotions became
depressed, food became repulsive to David. He
wrote that he lived on his tears—they were his food
24 hours a day. David the king tended to swing to
extremes emotionally. He experienced great highs
from time to time, but when he was down, he was
really down. Those tendencies were passed on to
97
his offspring.

A deep state of depression is again depicted in

verses 10 and 11:

“I will say to my Rock, ‘Why have You

forgotten me?’ As with a breaking of my bones,
my enemies reproach me, while they say to me all
day long, ‘Where is your God?’ Why are you cast
down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted
within me?”

From the inspired record we learn that

depression overtook several of God’s chosen
leaders. Three examples will be given here: Jonah,
Elijah, and Moses.

Jonah’s depression came upon him because of

his resistance to the Holy Spirit. In his anger and
despondency he asked God to end his life:
“Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from
me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
(Jonah 4:3; see also verses 8 and 9).

98
 Jonah, the reluctant prophet, got himself into
this state of mind because he did not want to go to
Nineveh to warn the inhabitants of their evil ways
and to call them to repentance and faith. He was
angry with God because He was so merciful to the
Ninevite “heathens.” Jonah wanted God to belie
His character and destroy the Ninevites from sheer
vindictiveness. He did not care for those people.
He found no comfort in their salvation. But in
Nineveh there were 60,000 persons more in tune
with God than His sulking prophet!

Elijah on the other hand had just completed a

great work for God on Mount Carmel. There he
overthrew the worship of Baal and deposed the
false prophets. God’s people, including the king,
were deeply impressed with the preaching of Elijah
that day. Elijah, although exhausted from the
activity of the day, was jubilant. He was sure that
the people had turned back to God. Perhaps he
hoped that even Jezebel would be convinced. But
alas, she became furious and threatened to execute
him within 24 hours. Seized with terror that led to
deep depression, Elijah lost his bearings, bolted
99
and fled for his life.

After traveling a day’s journey he sat down

utterly depressed and prayed to die.

“It is enough!” he said. “Now, Lord, take my

life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings
19:4). Self-worth at an all-time low, he longed for
the grave.

But notice how God cared for him when he

could not think rationally.

He let Elijah rest while an angel prepared food

for him, awakened him, then told him to eat and
drink, which he did. Then again he lay down, and
slept some more. Again later, the angel came to
him, touched him, told him a second time to eat,
and to be on his way.

Elijah traveled for forty more days, arriving at

Mount Sinai. There he hid himself in the dark
recesses of a cave. God then came to Elijah, asking
questions of him. He reminded God of his zeal and
100
good works for Him. He felt he was all alone.
Everyone was against him (verses 10, 13). He
thought all of Israel was against him. But in reality
only one was—the apostate queen. In this
condition of despondency Elijah pled “with God
against Israel” (Romans 11:2, 3), the very people
God sent him to save!

In love and tenderness God dealt with His

despondent prophet. He spoke to him in “a still
small voice” (verse 12). The literal meaning of that
phrase is, “a delicate whispering voice.” This is
what Elijah needed. Today persons in despondency
and depression need to hear that “delicate
whispering voice.”

Moses also suffered from severe depression

that led to despair. This came upon him because of
the pressure of administrative duties. This pressure
came from the people because of several events. In
Numbers 11 the problem was murmuring over
food. The people grew tired of the diet God gave
them. They “lusted for the flesh pots of Egypt.”
They murmured and complained to Moses. In
101
desperation he also complained to God, not about
the food, but because he felt that God had laid
burdens of government upon him too heavy to be
carried: “Why have You afflicted Your servant?
And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that
You have laid the burden of all these people on
me?” (Numbers 11:11).

In his despondency and depression, Moses

continued, “I am not able to bear all these people
alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If
You treat me like this, please kill me here and now!
…” God then instructed Moses to delegate his
responsibilities. God assured him that He would be
with the seventy officers chosen to take over some
of his administrative duties.

Some people feel that depression is a sin. It can

be, but in and of itself it is not.

Sinning can lead to depression, but all

depression does not come from sinning. Depression
may be related to several factors such as one’s
physical makeup and body chemistry, or glandular
102
functions. Emotional patterns and personality
structure may enter into the problem. Or learned-
feeling concepts can produce depression.
Circumstances that bring on anxiety and stress can
produce depression. The guilt of sin from known
disobedience definitely drags one down into this
mental state. I am not talking about a general sense
of guilt. Usually a general sense of guilt is a
pseudo-guilt, a false guilt. When God deals with
sin in the life of an individual, He is very specific.
He points out the sin that needs to be confessed
that the guilt may be removed so the person may be
comforted (see John 16:7-9). A general sense of
guilt without known sin comes from another
source—either from the enemy or from a falsely
educated conscience.

There are things that can be done by an

individual in meeting depression. Avoid being
alone. Seek help from others (who are helpful and
joyful). Sing. Singing lifts the spirits. So does
praising God and giving thanks. Read the psalms
out loud. Learn to lean on God’s promises. Rest
confidently in the presence of God’s comforting
103
Spirit (Psalm 42:5).

Problems need to be faced squarely.

Accept whatever responsibility you have in the

matter. By Christ’s grace, forgive everyone
involved in your problem, including yourself. As
Christ asked for forgiveness for those who
crucified Him (Luke 23:24), He gives grace and
faith to us today to enable us to pray that prayer.
His prayer of forgiveness included you also.

A question you need to ask yourself is this: Do

you really want to be healed? Some persons do not
want to be. They like to feel depressed and low.
They want to depend on the chemical reactions and
stimuli in their nervous system caused by anger
and/or depression. Those feelings are familiar to
them through habitual indulgence in self-pity.
Others like to feel angry. And yet others like to feel
sorry for themselves. So ask yourself the question,
“Do I really want to be healed?” Then ask the Holy
Spirit to show you what the real problem is, and
how you need to pray about it. He will help. He
104
will direct. He will comfort (Romans 8:26; John
16:7).

We want to return to Elijah’s and Moses’

experiences of depression.

Elijah had been so mentally low that he prayed

to die. From that deep depression he recovered.
God’s goodness led him to exercise faith, and he
came out of his mental state of despondency and
despair. Not only did God bring him out of his
depression, He translated him. Elijah did not die.
He was taken to heaven.

It is of special interest to note that Elijah along

with Moses (the first one to be raised from the
grave) were sent from heaven to give
encouragement to Jesus shortly before He went
through His mental agony in Gethsemane and on
Calvary. They “spoke of His death which He was
about to accomplish at Jerusalem “ (Luke 9:30,
31).

Moses was the first to be resurrected from the

105
dead. “Death reigned from Adam to Moses.” Satan,
the self-appointed warden over the grave, claimed
it as his prison house. His claim had the appearance
of truth. For millennia no one was set free. He
fought fiercely to keep Moses incarcerated in the
tomb. But Michael the Archangel simply rebuked
Satan and called Moses back to life (Romans 5:14;
Jude 9).

Moses encouraged Jesus by his testimony and

his presence. To see and hear the resurrected
Moses must have given Jesus reassurance, hope,
and confidence. Jesus knew He must “taste death
for everyone.” He must die the death of the
damned, “the wages” of our sin. He must die the
equivalent of the “second death” (Hebrews 2:9;
Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:6).

Before and during the dying process, Christ

was to experience to the fullest degree the depths
of the feelings of depression, despondency, and
despair as the full weight of sin rested upon His
nervous system. His heart ruptured from the
experience. His mind nearly shattered as sin rent
106
and tore it with a force greater than the earthquake
that ripped rocks from their foundations as He died.

So Elijah and Moses were sent to bring

reassurance, to let Jesus know that by God’s grace
and by faith in God He would come through the
most excruciating experience just ahead. Elijah,
formerly troubled mentally and later translated,
encouraged Jesus in the closing hours of His life on
earth.As Jesus entered the garden of Gethsemane,
the weight of sin began to crush Him.

In Mark 14:33 we have recorded for us the state

of mind experienced by Christ. “He began to be
troubled and deeply distressed.” He was in terrible
turbulence. The word “troubled” is not found in
Matthew’s account of Gethsemane, but is very
significant. It indicates something of the horror of
the great darkness that fell upon Abraham (Genesis
15:12), but worse and much more frightful.

Never had man experienced such terrifying

sorrow as that which came upon Christ. Never
before had Christ experienced anything like this.
107
Depression and despair coming suddenly upon
Him at this time terrified Him. He trembled. The
terror was grounded internally as He was “made to
be sin” for you and me. He was made to serve with
our sins, and was thus wearied with our iniquities.
He was made “a curse” for us (Galatians 3:13). The
curse of mankind was transferred to Him as our
Bondsman, our Surety, our Representative.

Writing of Christ’s distress, Mark chose a word

meaning deep depression. Jesus felt the heaviness
that comes in depression. As Christ gave Himself
in exchange for our sins, those sins became His.
Never did He commit sin. Never! But He felt as
though He had.

David captured the depression of Christ

brought on by sin in these words: “For innumerable
evils have surrounded Me; My iniquities have
overtaken Me, so that I am not able to look up;
they are more than the hairs of My head; therefore
My heart fails Me” (Psalm 40:12). Full of anxiety,
anguish and sorrow, Christ was depressed and
dejected.
108
 Staggering like a drunken man and nearly
falling, Jesus exclaimed, “My soul is exceedingly
sorrowful, even to death” (Mark 14:34). That
sorrow of mind nigh unto death forced Him into a
fetal position as He lay trembling on the ground
(verse 45). Tormented with our sin and guilt, He
tasted death for all mankind and abolished the
curse. The tasting of the death is not to be
construed to mean that He merely put it to His lips
and sampled it. He drank the cup of death to its last
dregs in Gethsemane and on Calvary.

Christ was in perilous mental agony as our sins

rested so heavy upon His soul. In this state of
mind, bloody sweat was forced from the pores of
His body and moistened the ground where He lay
in tormenting agony. Christ is the Alpha and
Omega of depression and sorrow. Because Christ
went through this excruciating experience, you can
know that He understands you when you go
through unexplainable mental pain. You may draw
comfort from this.

109
 During those times you can simply rest in His
care and keeping. You may not be able to pray
because of despair. Your mind may be clouded
because of depression. Then don’t try to think.
Jesus loves you. Your infirmities are understood by
Him. Simply rest in His care and keeping. He will
bring you through your terrible ordeal. He has
never lost a battle, and He never will.

Our Savior’s invitation, “Come unto Me, …

and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:29) is a
prescription for the healing of depression,
despondency and despair. In Him you may find
help because He is the Wonderful Counselor. He
has been touched with the “feelings of your
infirmities.” He knows what kind of and how much
help you need. He has been there. He is with you
(Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 4:15; 2:18).

110
 Chapter 9

In Confession and
Repentance for Sin
Psalms 31, 38, 40

“Into Thine hand I commit My spirit” (Psalm

31:5, KJV).

In this Golgotha psalm is found the last words

of Jesus. These are the words of faith, Jesus’ prayer
of faith. Christ gave Himself up in a special
manner to God, the Father. Christ resigned Himself
entirely to His keeping. Rather than come down
from the cross to save Himself, as He was tempted
to do, He was obedient unto death (Matthew 27:39-
43; Philippians 2:8). In total submission to and
through faith in the Father, Christ died. He
voluntarily made Himself an offering for our sins.
He died that we might live. He was “made to be sin
for us” so “that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

111
 Not only do we have Christ’s dying words, we
also hear His words in confession in the process of
dying:

“Have mercy on Me, O Lord, for I am in

trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, My
soul and My body! For My life is spent with grief,
and My years with sighing; My strength fails
because of My iniquity, and My bones waste away.
I am a reproach among all My enemies, but
especially among My neighbors, and am repulsive
to My acquaintances; those who see outside flee
from Me” (verses 9-11).

In previous verses Christ appealed to God’s

righteousness, and pleaded His relation to Him
along with dependence upon Him. Here He appeals
to God’s mercy. The remembrance Christ makes of
His condition is like that of every human being.
His troubles were deeply embedded in His mind
and nervous system, and made Him a Man of
sorrows (Isaiah 53:3-6). So great was Christ’s
grief, that His very soul was consumed in it, His
112
life was spent by it, and He continually sighed
because of it. Christ was intimately acquainted
with grief. He was often in tears.

His body was affected with the sorrows of His

mind (Psalm 31:10). He confesses sin as though it
was His own. This was your sin and my sin in
which He had no share, but which He took upon
Himself as His own. He confesses this sin as
though He deserved the affliction that came upon
Him. He freely confesses this iniquity as having
been the cause of all His trouble. The sense of sin
touched Him to the very core of His being, and
wasted Him more than all His calamities. Christ’s
appearance became repulsive to those who looked
at Him.

Psalm 38, the third of seven penitential prayers,

is typical of the deep sorrow one experiences in
heart-felt repentance for sin. Here is witnessed the
pouring forth of depressed feelings. Here is seen
and felt the distress of mind and body because of
sin. Both mental and physical disorientation are
described. David, author of this psalm, wrote of his
113
agony because of personal sin. His experience is
representative of mankind when convicted of sin.

But more than this, David’s experience of

repentance foreshadowed Christ’s experience when
He would be “made to be sin for us.” David not
only was the father of Christ’s humanity, he was
also a figure or a type of Christ. Jesus experienced
soul anguish to a degree that none other can
experience, for He took upon Himself all the sins
of mankind. This psalm must be studied in the light
of Christ’s repentance.

In the psalms the Holy Spirit speaks in the

person of Christ. In several He testifies in clear
words that Christ “has” sin, but it’s not His own.
These are the words of a suffering Christ as He was
made guilty for the sins of the world. These are not
the words of an innocent person. To study Christ in
the psalms is to study Christ the Public Man, the
Representative Man, the Corporate Man. He is the
second Adam. He became the Head of a race that
willed to sin. Christ was “made to be sin for us.”

114
 In the first two verses of Psalm 38, arrows as
instruments of death symbolize judgment and
condemnation. Beginning with verse 3 we read of
the condition of human nature: “There is no
soundness in my flesh.” There is a weakness or a
tendency to sin in human nature that comes to
everyone through the law of heredity.

The reality of the awfulness of sin is also

described.

There is “no health in my bones because of my

sin” (no shalom, no “peace” or cessation from
suffering). “Christ suffered for us in the flesh.” “He
learned obedience from the things which He
suffered” (1 Peter 4:1; Hebrews 5:8). Depression
affects the bone marrow where most of the white
and all the red blood cells are produced. Thus
depression affects the body’s disease fighting
mechanism. “A broken spirit, “writes the wise
man, “dries the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).

From where did Christ get sin? The Father

“made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.” “All
115
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned,
every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid
on Him the iniquity of us all” (2 Corinthians 5:21;
Isaiah 53:6). Christ took our sins as His own.
Psalm 38:4, “My iniquities have gone over My
head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for
Me.” This verse emphasizes the meaning of verse
3. In Psalm 40:12 we read the prophetic utterance,
“They are more than the hairs of My head.”

Sin is compared to waters that threaten to

drown a person. The unbearable burden of sin is
like the pounding waves of the sea. The sin of the
world overwhelmed Christ and flooded over His
head. This may suggest confusion of thought and
dullness of mind from the pain and weight of the
guilt of sin. His heart gave out because of this
enormous weight of guilt and condemnation caused
by sin.

Not all the psalms about Jesus are pleasant

pictures concerning Him. Many present Him
“touched with the feelings of our infirmities.” Our
sins became His. They were considered as
116
festering, foul smelling wounds. A more literal
reading of Psalm 38:5 is: “My sores have come to
stink or smell badly and have decomposed.” They
are likened to wounds or bruises or as marks from
a blow that send forth an offensive putrid odor
(compare Isaiah 1:6; 53:5). To “stink” means to
give off a strong unpleasant odor. Sin is abhorrent
and offensive to Christ who must bear it.

The cross stank. It was a scandal. It represented

sin so offensive that it offended or shocked the
moral feelings of a community. Christ, made to be
sin itself, was an offensive odor to those around
Him and loathsome to God. But out of that foul
odor comes to us sweet smelling incense, even the
righteousness of God.

Christ recognized He was in trouble. Entering

into Gethsemane, He staggered like a drunken man.
His countenance changed. His thoughts troubled
Him. His knees knocked against each other more
than did Belshazzar’s when he saw the handwriting
on the wall. “I am troubled [literally ‘bent down’],
I am bowed down greatly” (verse 6). He was bent
117
down from depression and heart sickness. There
was a convulsive drawing together of His body. He
was bent down and sank with sorrow. Especially
was this so in His Gethsemane experience. Bent in
a fetal position Christ shook with a nameless terror
as waves of nausea and panic swept over Him. In
that position His internal muscles and organs
seemed on fire. An intense burning, like a fever,
spread throughout the body (verse 7).

There came over Him an almost total

lifelessness, like the rigidity of a corpse. See Him
being brought into the condition of a crushing
violent dissolution. His groans were more like the
roaring of a wild beast than of a man, expressing
the raging pain in His mind and soul (verses 8 and
9; compare Psalm 22:1, 2).

Forsaken by family and friend, not one wanted

to be associated with Him, while His enemies
desired His death (verses 11 and 12; compare Luke
23:21; Deuteronomy 21:23; John 19:7).

In verses 13-16 we read of His response to the

118
charges against Him. He pays no attention to the
plots of His enemies. The consciousness of guilt
and resignation closes His lips, so that He is not
able nor does He wish to refute the false charges of
His enemies. He has no counter-evidence by which
to vindicate Himself. In the consciousness of
imputed sin He is obliged to be silent, and
renouncing all self-help, He abandons His cause to
God. Here we observe “the faith of Jesus.”

Next we read of His repentance

Mental pain and alarm, anxiety, fear and terror,

all are depicted in the following passage: “I am
ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before
me” (Psalm 38:17). “Surely He has borne our
iniquities and carried our sorrows. … He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for
our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was
upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed”
(Isaiah 53:4, 5).

In the six months preceding the baptism of

Jesus, the preaching of John the Baptizer stirred
119
Judah. Many came to be baptized by him. They
came in repentance, “confessing their sins”
(Matthew 3:6). Others went through the motions of
repentance and confession in order to become part
of that growing movement of believers who
anticipated the soon coming of the expected
Messiah. With keen spiritual eyesight, John called
on those so-called professors to bring forth fruits of
repentance.

Jesus also at the call of God made His way to

where John was baptizing. As Jesus took the steps
in conversion preceding baptism—repentance and
faith, John held back from baptizing Him. John
sensed the purity of this Man. He felt he should be
baptized by Jesus. Christ then spoke to John of the
importance of doing this. “Permit it to be so now,
for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

True repentance has faith within itself. While

the convicted but believing mind despairs of itself,
it does not do so of God. So it was with Christ.

120
 Psalm 38:18 records, “I confess my iniquity; I
am sorry for my sin” (NRSV). Christ was fully
conscious of the guilt and punishment of sin unto
death. He reaped man’s sowing. Strength of life,
prosperity, good health comes to the wicked, but
weakness and death to Christ. This is what Christ
chose when He decided to become a human being.

But was not Christ innocent?

Personally, yes. But when He became flesh, He

became guilty, condemned, and subject to the curse
as He took the place of mankind. “And the Lord
hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah
53:6). All the committed sins of the world were
placed upon Him. And through the law of heredity,
sin in its tendency was also laid upon Him.

Because He took upon Himself our fallen

nature, His righteous character had to be by faith.
The righteousness of Jesus was not by human
nature, but by faith alone. Christ always followed
that which is good (Psalm 38:20). This was the
reason for the intense hatred against Him. Man
121
could only stand three and a half years of His faith-
righteousness. They rendered evil for His sinless
life.

Christ’s life of righteousness by faith was a

stumbling block during and after His personal
mission on earth. It was a stumbling block for His
family and for His people. Family members
attempted to break His faith in God. But Christ
refused to follow them in evil.

In Psalm 38:21,22 we read His last appeal. He

closed His petitions with sighs of agony for help.
But none came. Christ died as He lived—with
faith. Christ’s life was one of faith. He was born by
faith. He was sanctified by faith. In short, He lived
by faith. And Christ writhing in the agonies of
death, died in faith.

Psalm 40 predicts the coming of Christ into the

world to do God’s will: “Burnt offerings and sin
offering You did not require. Then I said, ‘Behold,
I come; in the scroll of the Book it is written of Me.
I delight to do Your will, O My God’” (Psalm
122
40:6-8). Hebrews 10:5-9 verifies Christ in this
psalm:

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but

a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no
pleasure. Then I said ‘Behold, I have come—in the
volume of the book it is written of Me—to do Your
will, O God.’ Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and
offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You
did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are
offered according to the law), then He said,
‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He
takes away the first that He may establish the
second.”

Psalm 40 predicted Christ’s voluntary

submission to the Father’s will in the words:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears
You have opened” (verse 6). Exodus 21:1-6
records the relationship between a voluntary slave
and his master. After serving a certain number of
years, the slave was to go free during the year of
release. But if he chose to stay, the master bore a
123
hole through his ear. This signified that the
servant’s ears would always remain open to the
command of the master. The servant would always
obey. In coming to this earth Christ took the form
of a servant. In our human nature His ears were
always open to obey the word of God. And through
His obedience we are made righteous (Romans
5:19). Christ delighted to do the Father’s will
because His law was written on His heart.

And when we are born from above we are

brought into harmony with God’s law. Never are
we justified by obedience to the law; neither are we
justified from keeping it; but we are justified in
order to obey it. Justification by faith carries the
law of God on the face of it. This justification is
the law incarnate in Christ and then placed in us by
grace when we accept Christ. To be made righteous
means to be brought into harmony with God’s law
of righteousness.

We see clearly that the Holy Spirit applied

Psalm 40 to Christ. Christ is pictured as taking our
sins as His own. This is what broke His heart.
124
 “I delight to do Your will, O My God, and
Your law is within My heart. I have proclaimed the
good news of righteousness in the great
congregation; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O
Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your
righteousness within My heart; I have declared
Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not
concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
from the great congregation. Do not withhold Your
tender mercies from Me, O Lord; let Your
lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve
Me. For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken Me, so that I am not
able to look up; they are more than the hairs of My
head; therefore My heart fails Me” (verses 8-12).

Christ did not sin, but He took ours as His own.

Christ gave Himself for our sins (Galatians 1:4).
“The Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us
all” (Isaiah 53:6). Because of the pressure and
stress of the burden of the guilt and condemnation
from our sins that were laid upon Him, His heart
gave out. Our iniquities, which He took as His
125
own, were more than the number of the hairs on
His sacred head. And although He could not look
up because of the weight of those sins, yet the faith
of Jesus was triumphant. In the verses that follow
we read the praises that poured forth from the
mouth of Jesus:

“Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver Me; O Lord,

make haste to help Me! Let them be ashamed and
brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy
My life; let them be driven backward and brought
to dishonor who wish Me evil. Let them be
appalled because of their shame, who say to Me,
‘Aha, aha!’ Let all who seek You rejoice and be
glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say
continually, ‘The Lord be magnified!’ but I am
poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon Me. You
are My help and My deliverer; do not delay, O My
God” (Psalm 40:13-17).

From this we may learn that because Christ was

made to be sin for us, God will not turn from any
person whose iniquities are more than the hairs of
his head! To the one who is burdened down with
126
guilt and condemnation from personal sin, Christ
offers to take the weary load. He understands from
experience what it means to feel guilty and
condemned.

127
 Chapter 10

Another Psalm of Repentance

Psalm 69

After Psalm 22, Psalm 69 is referred to in the

New Testament more times than any of the others.
John 15:25 quotes Psalm 69:4 as the fulfillment of
Christ’s experience of being hated “without cause.”
The disciples remembered verse seven of this
passage as being fulfilled when Jesus cleansed the
temple: “Because zeal for Your house has eaten me
up” (see John 2:17). The reproach and shame of
Christ were predicted in Psalm 69:7 and 9
(compare Romans 15:3).

Christ as Surety for the human race is presented

in Psalm 69:4: “Though I have stolen nothing, I
still must restore it.” A surety is a bondsman, one
who places money or possessions in behalf of
another who has been legally charged with a crime,
but awaits his trial. The bondsman in placing his
money or possessions, makes himself responsible
128
for the failure of the person charged with a crime to
show up for trial. Christ as our Surety pledged His
life for the failure of mankind. He became
responsible for Adam’s failure. He pledged
Himself to restore that which He had not done.

Christ took the place of Adam as the Federal

Head of the human race. He took Adam’s sin in
which He had no share that Adam and we might
partake of His righteousness. Christ ran the fearful
risk of losing everything in undertaking the work
of redeeming man. He became us in all things that
we might be saved. Our sins became His because
He became our Surety.

Christ experienced what the sinner experiences

to the fullest extent, when weighted down with sin
and guilt. As He “was made to be sin” He felt what
we feel when we give in to sin. He knows true
sorrow for sin.

When Adam sinned against known light, the

entire race that was to come from him was doomed
to condemnation and everlasting destruction. Had
129
Adam died then as he should have, you and I
would never have seen the light of day. But God
had a plan for us. He made Himself responsible for
man’s failure. He became Surety for the whole
race. This is the reason why “we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels, for the
suffering of death …” He became “the Lamb slain
from he foundation of the world” (Revelation
13:8). The altar of sacrifice and the promise of
redemption were placed side by side in the
beginning (Genesis 3:15; 4:4). Each sheds light on
the other concerning Christ and Him crucified.

In the psalms the Holy Spirit speaks in the

person of Christ. In several He testifies in clear
words that Christ has sin—our sin. These are the
words of a suffering Christ as He was “made” to be
guilty for the sins of the world; as He was “made to
be sin” itself for us! He is the second and last
Adam. He became the Head of a race that willed to
sin.

Psalm 69 begins with a figure of calamity:

130
 “Save Me, O God! for the waters have come up
to My neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no
standing; I have come into deep waters, where the
floods overflow Me. I am weary with My crying;
My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for My
God” (verses 1-3).

Then verse 5: “O God, You know My

foolishness; and My sins are not hidden from
You.” What a picture of Christ here, repenting and
confessing sin! In this is our assurance. In Christ’s
repentance, in Christ’s confession our repentance,
our confession is complete. After confessing your
sins as thoroughly as you know how, have you
wondered if your confession was good enough?

After asking an audience that question I

observed the tear streaked faces of a man and his
wife and heard their answer: “Yes, every day!” I
pointed out that our confession of sin falls short in
and of itself. But thank God there is One that did
not. Your sincere heartfelt repentance and
confessions are made complete in Christ’s perfect
repentance and confession. He took our sins and
131
repented of them and confessed them as if He had
committed them. Never in any way did Christ sin.
If He would have sinned, there would be no hope
for us or for Himself. But our sins were laid upon
Him. He was numbered with the transgressors
(Isaiah 53:4-6, 12). Christ and Him crucified means
Christ crucified for us.

Another practical aspect is found in this psalm.

Were you ever rejected by close friends or

relatives? In verse 8 we read the prophetic word
concerning Christ’s non-acceptance by immediate
family members. “I have become a stranger to My
brothers, and an alien to My mother’s children.”
Family members became enemies of the cross of
Christ! These did not know what Christ was doing.
At one time they thought He had lost His mind. As
they learned of some of Christ’s activities of
ordaining His twelve disciples and of healing the
sick, Mark recorded their reaction: “But when His
own people heard about this, they went out to lay
hold on Him: for they said, He is out of His mind”
(Mark 3:2).
132
 About one year before Christ was crucified, His
brothers mocked him with unbelief. A “shaking”
occurred within the followers of Christ. Many left
Him. In Judea Jews sought to kill Him and He
departed from there and returned to Galilee. At the
time of the Feast of Tabernacles Christ’s brothers
in unbelief said “Depart from here and go into
Judea, that Your disciples also may see the work
that You are doing. For no one does anything in
secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.
If You do these things, show Yourself to the
world” (John 7:3, 4). John added, “For even His
brothers did not believe on Him” (verse 5). Christ’s
enemies included members of His own household.
But there is some good news.

Calvary made peace within that family. It

created friends out of enemies. As far as a person
in his carnal state is concerned, the cross is totally
foreign to him. The natural man hates the cross.
There are no friends of the cross. But the cross
creates faith. It makes friends out of enemies.
Jesus’ own brothers who hated Him became His
133
friends through the cross. We find them listed
among the disciples who gathered together in the
upper room in Jerusalem after Jesus ascended to
heaven (Acts 1:14). One of His brothers, James,
became the presiding leader of the early church
(Acts 15:13; Galatians 1:18, 19).

If there are problems of alienation and

animosity in your family, consider studying the
closing scenes of Christ’s life together and see if
the cross will unite the family again. The cross is
the great center of attraction for the world. It makes
friends out of enemies. It creates hope. The cross is
a revelation of God’s goodness and grace to us
while at the same time it caused infinite grief to
Him and to His Son Jesus Christ.

Because Christ was made to be sin, the mental

anguish from sin broke His heart. Psalm 69:20, 21
reveals to us that experience: “Reproach has
broken My heart, and I am full of heaviness; I
looked for someone to take pity, and there was
none; and for comforters, but I found none.” Christ
longed for comfort, but no one—no disciple, no
134
friend, no relative would or could comfort Him. A
pagan soldier in mercy offered Jesus a pain killer.

“They also gave Me gall for My food, and for

My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink” (Matthew
27:33-46). Christ was tempted to use a drug. This
was a fearful temptation. He needed something to
drink from the loss of body fluids that occurred
because of the activities of the previous grueling
hours of interrogation and physical abuse. He had
not slept for approximately thirty hours.

Without a doubt, Christ was fearfully tempted

to bite down on that sponge filled with vinegar to
ease the pain and to relieve a bit of His physical
need for liquid. But as soon as that sponge touched
His lips, He turned from it, refusing any temporary
“fix.” He could not afford to allow any possibility
of having His mind clouded in those crucial hours
of agony.

Satan’s dreaded hour arrived.

The battle raged between these two princes.

135
The stakes were enormous. All the pent-up fires of
hell burst upon Christ on the cross. But the enemy
could not induce Christ to sin, neither could he
force Him. Christ’s faith and mind held fast to God
during that fearful struggle. After describing the
judgments to come upon those who betrayed and
crucified Christ, this psalm then ends in the
triumph of faith and praise (verses 30-36).

136
 Chapter 11

And Yet Another Penitential

Psalm
Psalm 51

This psalm is David’s recorded confession and

prayer for forgiveness of his personal sin. This
experience came after Nathan the prophet went to
him because of David’s grievous sin of adultery
with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband,
Uriah the Hittite, the faithful military officer.

Verse 5 is a clear statement of the kind of

human nature inherited by David at conception. He
inherited tendencies through the ancestral line of
Judah and beyond, reaching back to Jacob and to
Abraham. Jacob was a deceiver. Judah was
deceitful, and a man of licentious conduct whose
children were born of a woman who had been his
daughter-in-law and who played the part of a harlot
to get him to fulfill a former promise to her after

137
her first husband died. From the beginning of
David’s ancestral line, the tendency to immorality
was cultivated and strengthened in succeeding
generations.

For several years, while under grace, David

was kept from giving in to ancestral hereditary
weaknesses. However, successes both politically
and militarily contributed to elevating himself in
his thinking. No worldly empire could stand before
him. His armies were always victorious in war. A
few battles were lost, but never a war. As he
departed from total dependence on God’s grace, he
felt he was strong enough to resist temptations that
came both from without and from within his fallen
human nature. This was the fatal flaw in his
thinking. His hereditary nature, like quicksand,
sucked him into the quagmire of sin.

David was no match for the infirmities of his

fallen flesh.

With greater force than the suction of a modern

jet engine, which is able to pull a person into its
138
chamber of death, David was pulled into sin by the
power of inherited tendencies to sin because he
turned from God’s grace.

Then, under the conviction of his sin and

consequently in the depths of despair and
despondency, David prayed for forgiveness, for
restoration and peace with God (Psalm 51:1-9). His
prayer for renewal is recorded in verses 10-13.
Here is David’s struggle to gain inward assurance
that his sin was forgiven as announced to him by
Nathan the prophet, and after repenting of his sin
of adultery with Bathsheba. His vow of spiritual
sacrifice is given in verses 14-17. He ends with
intercessory prayer for Jerusalem, verses 18, 19.

Although David wrote this psalm because of

his personal sin with Bathsheba against Uriah and
God, yet it is of general use for all repentant
persons as is the case with most all other psalms. It
is penitential in context, expressing the deep
desires of all repentant hearts. Nevertheless, this is
a record of David’s repentance for his personal sin.
And it was to be sung in the public service of the
139
congregation.

David sinned against several people, including

his family, and against the people of God, as well
as against Uriah and Bathsheba. But none of these
were sinned against as much as was God. David
realized the gravity of the situation, and so his
repentance was deep and heart-felt.

Repentance and confession give honor to God

God is justified in His threats against sin.

Heartfelt repentance and confession clear God
when He is judged and when He executes His
judgments. David recorded this confession that
when he should come into trouble, none could
blame God, or that He had done David any wrong.
All who are truly repentant justify God by
condemning themselves and asking for God’s
forgiveness (Psalm 51:1-4).

In verse 5 David writes about his origin. He

confesses the undoneness of his fallen human
nature. Had David considered this before, he would
140
not have given in to the temptation, nor have
ventured upon enchanted ground. His sin might
have been prevented had he seriously considered
his inherited weaknesses.

His tendencies led him into sin against

Bathsheba, Uriah, his family, and God. Once he
allowed the desires of the flesh to control him, thus
separating from grace, he could not help himself.
Not only was David guilty of adultery and murder,
he had an adulterous and murderous nature which
he inherited from his ancestors.

Tendencies to sin are twisted in with human

nature as it passes from one generation to the next
through the genes, by the law of heredity. David’s
mother and father came into the world with sinful
fallen human nature. From conception David had
the snares of sin within the flesh. Inherited fallen
nature is a burden to all believers and the ruin of all
unbelievers.

141
 The call of God to the fallen race is a call to
repentance and to faith

God desires to remove from us the offenses we

have committed and to give us new hearts. Not
only does He command and invite us to repent, He
gives us the very words by which we may return to
Him: “Take words with you, and return to the
Lord. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity; receive
us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our
lips’” (Hosea 14:2).

David’s sin is not an exception to the human

family. His sin is rampant in the world today. If
ever he needed saving from sin, we today need it in
a hundred-fold degree more. Both young and old
need the help of an outside power. We desperately
need a Savior who understands our weaknesses and
who will come nigh to us. Is there such a One?
Yes. He is the “Seed of David.” It is to Him we
now turn.

An echo of Psalm 40:6 is found in Psalm 51:16:

“You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give
142
it; you do not delight in burnt offering.” This
thought is repeated in Hebrews 10:5, 6 in reference
to Christ: “Sacrifice and offering You did not
desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In
burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no
pleasure.” In Psalm 51:17 we find the acceptable
offering: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You
will not despise.” This was the sacrifice Christ
offered.

Christ, the second Adam, the “Man of

Sorrows,” became “acquainted with grief” in order
to represent us. Christ for us was Christ as us and
with us. “Numbered with the transgressors,” “He
poured out his soul” in repentance “unto death”
(Isaiah 53:3,12).

The Book of Psalms takes in the whole of

Christ’s life as our Representative, the Son of Man
on earth. The ending of His life by way of the cross
is found in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit, a broken heart—these, O God, You
will not despise.” The marginal reading of the NIV
143
gives it in the first person: “My sacrifice, O God,
is” a broken spirit. Christ’s contrite and broken
heart God did not despise. The bruising of the heel
of the promised Seed of Genesis 3:15 involved the
breaking of Christ’s heart in unspeakable anguish.
Hodgkin wrote that Christ is the prophetic subject
in Psalm 51:17:

“By wicked hands He was crucified and slain.

By the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God He was delivered to death. By His own will
He laid down His life. These three statements are
all true in the mystery of that great sacrifice for sin.

“Surely we have in Psalm li. not merely the cry

of the sinner, but a prophecy of this great sacrifice
in the words: ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou
wilt not despise’ (li. 17). This is ‘the plural of
majesty.’ In Hebrew the plural is often put where
the word great is to be understood.

“‘The great sacrifice of God is a broken heart.’

This was the sacrifice that our Saviour offered for
144
us. He clothed Himself in a human body that He
might have it to offer (Heb. x. 5, 9, 10). He became
possessed of a human heart that it might be broken.
The way into the holiest is opened up for us
through the broken heart of our Saviour.

“This is the gospel for us sinners. It is this that

humbles us and brings us to know the power of the
cross of Christ to break the power of sin and set us
free to serve Him” (A.M. Hodgkin, Christ in All
the Scriptures, Pickering & Inglis, London, Eighth
Edition, 1936, p. 119).

Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in

iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”
reveals the fallenness of human nature into which
David was born. This Scripture, by extension is
testifying beforehand of the sufferings of Christ.
Throughout the psalms there is plainly stated for us
the kind of human nature Christ took when He was
conceived in the womb of His mother Mary.

145
This penitential psalm was indited by the Spirit
of God

Every repentant human being has uttered the

sentiments, if not the words, of this inspired prayer,
including Jesus. Christ was the Son of David. He
was the “Seed of David.” He was the promised
“fruit” of David. This truth is the gospel of God. …
“[T]he gospel of God … [is] concerning His Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of
David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:1-3).
“From this man’s [David’s] seed, according to the
promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus”
(Acts 13:23; see also Acts 2:30). This was in
fulfillment of God’s promise to David that the
Messiah would be the fruit of his body (see Psalm
132:11).

Modern science has discovered that along with

physical attributes such as skin, hair and eye color,
there are also tendencies to sin that are transmitted
from parents to child. In conception, attributes of
both father and mother are focused in the zygote
formed by the union of male and female gametes.
146
Through genetic coding, ancestral nature passes
from generation to generation. Not all the
weaknesses of the flesh of ancestors are manifested
in every person born. Nevertheless, every person is
a carrier of unseen tendencies.

These tendencies may not be manifested in one

generation, but may and do crop up after several
generations to plague an individual or a family in
various ways as they are given in to, as for
example, in the case of David.

Weakened tendencies to sin, received and

cultivated by David’s forefathers, were passed on
by him and were inherited by Jesus. That is the
significance of the phrase about Jesus in that He
was “the seed of David according to the flesh”
(Romans 1:3). However, unlike David, Jesus did
not succumb to the infirmities of His inherited
fallen human nature. Deeply touched by them, yes,
but He “condemned” them where they reside and
ruled in the flesh (Romans 8:3). The Savior of the
world chose to enter into the hereditary line of
David—the line that was the most degraded and
147
corrupted of the twelve tribes of Israel. And He
conquered all the corruptions of the flesh. He
overthrew the enemy’s stronghold entirely. He
invaded enemy-held territory and was completely
victorious.

Christ was born holy, lived a holy life, and

returned to heaven as spotless as when from there
He came. But that holiness was lived in fallen
human nature by the power of the Holy Spirit. He
depended solely and totally upon that power. Christ
was righteous by faith, not by human nature. His
sinlessness was in character and in life, while
living in fallen flesh. There is no evidence that
Christ had holy human flesh.

Stephen Haskell, writing at the turn of the last

century, combated a doctrine that emerged within
several Christian groups. He dealt with it in one of
those groups. The end result of that false doctrine
was this: the only way a person could overcome sin
was to have a change from inherited fallen human
nature to a holy nature like that possessed by Adam
before he fell. This experience was based on the
148
hypothesis that Christ took Adam’s sinless human
nature and so by-passed the law of heredity and the
consequent struggles of the rest of the fallen race.
The advocates of the so-called “holy flesh”
doctrine claimed that Christ was exempt from the
working of the great law of heredity. Overcoming,
to some of those advocates of one hundred years
ago, meant receiving so-called “holy flesh.”
Haskell addressed this issue with one group of
people involved in what was called “The Holy
Flesh Movement.”

He wrote an editorial entitled, “Christ in Holy

Flesh, or a Holy Christ in Sinful Flesh.” His
employment of alternate propositions marked the
specific stage when rival doctrines about Christ’s
human nature were being advanced for
consideration. The entire article was devoted to “A
Holy Christ in Sinful Flesh.” The alternate
hypothesis was, as stated above, that Christ was
sinless because He took “holy flesh,” the sinless
nature of Adam in his pre-fall state. That which
especially caught my attention in the editorial was
when Haskell quoted Psalm 51:5 and then
149
commented, “It was Christ through David who
said: ‘Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin
did my mother conceive me.’ This states plainly
the nature of the humanity in which Christ was
conceived.” Stephen Haskell, The Review and
Herald, October 2, 1900. And it was in this nature
that Christ condemned and overcame sin. It is this
that gives us hope.

Christ, though innocent of any personal sin,

took His place before the throne of grace as a
penitent. Psalm 51 does not speak about the dignity
of His birth, as descended from the prince of the
tribe of Judah. It deals with hereditary tendencies
to sin, along with the committed sins of the world
that were laid upon Jesus.

Christ had such a deep sense of sin that He

continually thought of it with sorrow of heart and
shame. He was mortified and humbled by it. He
“learned obedience by the things that He suffered.”
Christ submitted to the discipline of a penitent.
There is but one law of repentance for the fallen
race, and Christ came under that law. His
150
confession is specific. His conscience smote Him.
Not for any personal sin of His own, mind you, but
for your sins and mine.

Christ laments in this passage

Sin was committed against God. God was

wronged. Sin denies this truth. It was God’s
command that was disobeyed, His manner of life
that was despised, His name dishonored, His
promise distrusted. God is treated deceitfully and
disingenuously by sin. And Christ bore it and felt it
all as though He had committed the sins of the
whole world.

Christ, as Representative of the fallen race,

walked in the way of righteousness. That way is
the way of repentance, faith and obedience. He
fulfilled all righteousness.

Christ’s repentance was unto death. When we

repent, we die to sin. When Christ repented, He
died because of our sin. He was made to be sin
itself for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Treated as the
151
number one sinner, treated as fallen Adam
deserved to be treated, treated as the fallen race
merits, Christ suffered the full consequences of the
fall. He died the death of the damned.

Nearly the whole of Psalm 51 deals with the

awfulness of sin, repentance and confession from
which Christ was not exempt. Over-shadowed by
the Holy Spirit, Mary conceived and gave birth to
that holy Child Jesus (Luke 1:30-35). Christ was
born holy. He lived a holy life by faith, and died
holy, wholly in faith. Upon His ascension to
heaven He was as holy as when He descended in
condescension to His lowly birth in the stable. But
He was conceived in fallen flesh. Mary, fallen by
human nature, could only pass on that same nature
to Jesus. It was impossible for her to give to Him a
higher, holier, sinless nature than she had.

The Spirit of Christ moved upon David to write

concerning Himself, “Behold, I was shapen in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”
(Psalm 51:5). Some may counter this concept with
the fact that David was writing about his own
152
inherited human nature, which he received from his
mother. And that is true. It is likewise true of all
the rest of the human family. And Jesus shared
with us in our common lot. He entered into His
own creation through the law of heredity. His was
a miraculous conception. But miracles do not
ignore or destroy God’s natural laws. A miracle is
never an exemption or a transgression. If a law is
valid, there is no need for an exemption. An
exemption is wrong. If an exemption is needed, the
law is wrong.

Christ came to us where we are

He is not afar off, but nigh unto us. He became

“us.” And He became “us” in the same way that we
became—through conception and birth through the
genetic working of the great law of heredity. Jesus
was the seed of David. Paul wrote that this is the
good news, the glad tidings, the gospel (Romans
1:1-3). Christ was the fruit of David’s body (Psalm
132:10, 11).

It is written, “From this man’s [David’s] seed,

153
according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a
Savior—Jesus” (Acts 13:23). The good news of the
gospel is that Christ, the Savior of the world, was
born of the seed of David according to the flesh.
Carried through the genes is the DNA coding that
transmits fallen nature from one generation to the
next. Jesus, the second Adam came through David
and Abraham all the way back to the first Adam.
Christ was born “according to the flesh.” There has
been only one kind of human flesh born and that is
fallen. The fallen flesh or nature of Adam reached
all the way to the flesh of Jesus. It reached Him
through the family line of David.

Christ came with such a heredity that enters

into and shares our sorrows and temptations. The
results of the working of the law of heredity of the
humanity of Christ are revealed to us in the names
of His ancestors as recorded in Matthew 1.

Satan, knowing that Christ must come through

this royal line, especially targeted it. He corrupted
it. Christ coming in the flesh came into the flesh in
the weakest of families. This reveals Christ’s
154
willingness to be the Savior of the world. No one
needs to think that Christ does not understand him
because of heredity or environmental limitations.
He is touched with the feelings of our weaknesses.
He is a complete Savior, both from the temptations
from without and those from within our fallen
nature.

155
 Chapter 12

The Seed of David

Psalm 132:11

Under the solemnity of an oath that would not

be annulled, God promised to David a descendant
to sit upon his throne. The oath reads: “The Lord
has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from
it: ‘I will set upon your throne the fruit of your
body.’” There are those who believe this psalm was
written by Solomon and was to be sung at the
dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. Be that as it
may, Peter applies this verse to Christ. More than
applying it to Christ, Peter states unequivocally
that David himself knew this promise was about
Christ: “Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing
that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the
fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne” (Acts 2:30).

Christ was in the loins of David genetically

when the promise was given to him. To illustrate,
156
consider Hebrews 7:9, 10: Levi, the great-grandson
of Abraham, was in his loins when at that time
Abraham was childless. Levi was in Abraham
genetically. So the human nature Christ inherited
was from David.

Paul, while at Antioch in Pisidia, preached to

the Jews that from David’s “seed, according to the
promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus”
(Acts 13:23). The word “seed” in the language
used by Paul is spermatos, from which our English
word sperm comes. The sperm of David was the
reproductive cell by which the traits of his human
nature were passed on from one generation to the
next down to the humanity that Christ would
inherit from His own mother, Mary.

Consider briefly the design and function of

sperm. Within the sperm are chromosomes—
threadlike linear strands of DNA and associated
proteins in the nucleus of the cell that carry the
genes and which serve in the transmission of
hereditary information.

157
 Within the chromosomes is located the “recipe”
for our hereditary traits. A gene is a hereditary unit
that occupies a specific location on a chromosome
and determines a particular characteristic in an
organism. Transmitted from parent to offspring are
the colors of skin, eye and hair, and all other
physical characteristics. Hereditary mental and
moral weaknesses are likewise transmitted through
the genes. However, genetic tendencies to sin are
not to be construed as excuses for bad conduct.

That which is inherited through birth is termed

nature. Mental and moral limitations, which enfold
man without conscious volition, are part of this
legacy. The physical structure with its established
tendencies, received from previous generations, is
included in this legacy. Heredity is the law of
transmission. You and I are everything that our
ancestors contributed and delivered to us mentally,
morally and physically at conception, combined
with prenatal influences up to the time of birth. We
all, without exception, were born with a fallen
human nature inherited from our parents and the
rest of our ancestors, reaching all the way back to
158
Adam and Eve.

Our first parents were created with sinless

natures. All their tendencies were toward goodness
and purity. It was in their nature to be and to do
good. Had they remained faithful to God, their
offspring, through the law of heredity would have
inherited only righteous tendencies. But because of
their sin, all of their offspring without exception
were and are born with tendencies to sin. Adam,
Abraham and David could not give to any of their
descendants a higher nature than they possessed.

Some persons blame “bad genes” for their sins

Included here would be alcoholism and

homosexuality. Genes can predispose one person to
getting drunk more readily than another person, but
those genes do not force that person to drink
alcohol. The same principle applies with regard to
homosexuality. Genes may give some males fewer
androgens (steroid hormones that develop and
maintain masculine characteristics) than others, but
those genes do not make anyone engage in
159
homosexual behavior. Nor does a limited number
of androgens cause that kind of conduct.

In writing to the Corinthians, Paul stated: “I

keep under my body” (1 Corinthians 9:27). He
recognized that if his body was not kept under
control, its hereditary claims would make
unreasonable claims. The inherited desires and
impulses and passions were severely disciplined by
the power of God in cooperation with his choices.
The flesh, or fallen nature, is to be “crucified with
all its affections and lusts.” This is accomplished
only by the grace of God in putting to death the
temptations to sin that come from within our
hereditary make-up. Every thought, every desire,
every impulse, is to be brought into “captivity” to
Christ. His life becomes the vitalizing power in the
life of the believer, and thus the temptations that
assail us from within and from without are resisted
and overcome.

Full of significance are the words, “from

[David’s] seed, according to the promise, God
raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus” (Acts 13:23).
160
Paul in his introduction to Romans takes up this
same thought and presents Christ as “born of the
seed of David according to the flesh” as “the
gospel of God” (Romans 1:1-3). The gospel is the
good news about the genealogy of Jesus. Not only
is this a great theological truth. It is also a most
comforting thought for frail, erring mortals. God’s
power was manifest in our human heredity, in
Christ, when He became incarnate. This is the good
news—the gospel of God.

The New Testament introduces us to Jesus

through His genealogy (see Matthew 1:1-17). This
is “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the
son of David, the son of Abraham.” David had all
the passions of fallen human nature through the
law of heredity. We will take a brief look at the
ancestry and the posterity of David. This is the line
from which Christ came as to His human nature.
Concentrated in Christ were all the weaknesses of
humanity, especially of the line of David from the
family of Judah. The fact of Christ’s fight of faith
and consequent victory gives hope and comfort to
mortals weakened and bowed down with hereditary
161
weaknesses.

Of the men mentioned by Matthew, several

were extremely wicked: Jacob—selfish, crafty,
deceitful; Judah—a man of licentious conduct,
whose children were born of an impure woman
(see Genesis 38); David—an adulterer and a
murderer; Solomon and later Manasseh, brought
into Israel the idolatrous worship of Molech (the
national deity of the Ammonites who offered their
children in sacrifice to him. Manasseh practiced
this abomination. See 2 Kings 21:6). Ahaz was a
leader in apostasy. Of Rehoboam, Abijam,
Jehoram, Amon, and other kings of Judah, the
record is about the same. Some of these men had
not one redeeming trait in their characters.

At one time the royal line was nearly

eliminated by Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter. Joash,
the last rightful heir to the throne, as a baby was
hidden in the temple for six years. (2 Kings 11:1-3;
2 Chronicles 22:10-12). Satan knew that Christ
would have to come through this line. Thus he
moved the worshippers of Baal to try to destroy the
162
royal line of Judah. Having failed to destroy it, he
proceeded to corrupt it. Although Judah’s
descendants ruled in Israel and later in the kingdom
of Judah, they lost all ability to control themselves.
Notwithstanding that they were kings, they were
the weakest of the weak, morally. This was the
royal line of Judah. Royal, but royal rogues! From
such an ancestry Jesus came.

Search His ancestry for a Daniel, an Isaiah, an

Elijah, a Moses, or a Jeremiah. They are not there.
They are conspicuously absent.

There are four women (other than Mary)

mentioned in Matthew’s account of the genealogy
of Jesus. Of the four, two were adulteresses, Tamar
and Bathsheba. One was a harlot, Rahab. Ruth the
Moabitess was from a race that was the offspring
of incest between Lot and his oldest daughter (see
Genesis 19:30-38). From such an ancestry Jesus
came. He chose to come from such an ancestry.

163
 Can you fathom such love as this?

Truly, Christ became one of us. Mary was not

an “incubator,” she was His mother. And He is not
ashamed to call us “brethren.” This should give us
all encouragement regardless of the hereditary
background from which we originate, and of which
we had no choice.

God, by an oath to David, swore that from his

loins must come Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of
man. David was given the gospel in that oath
concerning Christ as the fruit of his body, as
recorded in Psalm 132:11. That good news
continues to ring in our ears as we hear it. God was
morally and ethically bound to send His Son to the
lost human race in order to save it. Christ came and
fought and conquered sin in our nature. “In all
things it behooved Him to be made like unto His
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful
High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able
to succor them that are tempted” (Hebrews
164
2:17,18). Because He “was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin” we may know that
He is “touched with the feelings of our infirmities”
(Hebrews 4:15, 14).

Whether we are weakened by ancestral

infirmities or with sins that we have habitually
practiced, we can know that we have a complete
Savior. He, burdened with inherited weaknesses,
was also weighted down with the committed sins
of the world. These were all placed upon Him.
Having never sinned, yet He knows what we go
through. And He knows just how much divine
power we need when we are tempted for He
received power from on high, by faith, while He
walked this earth as a man.

165
 Chapter 13

Justice and Mercy Meet in

Christ
Psalm 85:10

“Mercy and truth have met together;

righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

In this verse we have a figure of speech called

“personification,” by which the attributes of God
are represented as actions of human beings. In this
we observe the harmony of God’s divine attributes
in Christ’s undertaking of our salvation.

Because of Christ’s work, God shows mercy

upon the fallen race without violating His truth and
justice. In Him mercy and truth are met together,
righteousness and peace kiss each other. Separated
for a time, now joined, they are at-one in Him.
Christ as Mediator not only brought heaven and
earth, God and man, together. He also joined

166
together forever the divine attributes of God.

Some persons dwell on God’s mercy but not

His justice. Others focus the attention on the justice
of God to the neglect of His mercy. At times we
are apt to lose sight of either or both of these
prerogatives. However, we must keep in mind that
God is infinite in every perfection. A prerogative is
a right or power belonging to a person by virtue of
rank, position or character.

God’s prerogatives of justice and mercy are

equal in rank and authority. They are clothed with
imperative power. Both have a right to require and
demand priority. These prerogatives we will
consider in this chapter.

Justice and mercy are twins, but not identical

They are not one and the same. Each has an

identity of its own. Lucifer (later became known as
Satan), the angel who sinned and defected from the
government of God, challenged God’s justice and
mercy. Sin brought questions to the minds of all
167
intelligent creatures in the universe concerning the
prerogatives of justice and mercy during the war of
the universe between God and Lucifer.

From the beginning of the controversy, Lucifer

was at odds with God’s moral law (see John 8:44,
45; Isaiah 14:12-14). Because justice and mercy
are foundational to the government of God and
therefore to His law, conflict arose concerning the
pardon of sin. If justice should be found
inconsistent with mercy, it would be impossible for
sinners to be forgiven. If God’s law should be
broken, then every violation of it must be punished.
And if mercy should be extended, God would not
be a God of justice and of truth. From legal
proceedings in our own day we observe that
Satan’s purpose has been to divorce mercy from
justice.

After making man in His image, God carefully

and specifically informed Adam about the single
forbidden tree placed in the garden of Eden
(Genesis 2:9, 16, 17). Lucifer knew that in some
manner the prerogative of justice had to be
168
revealed to man. He knew well the attributes of
God. He knew that God’s government must stand
by virtue of the unity of the prerogatives of God,
and accordingly, that it must fall by separating
these same prerogatives.

The great mastermind of evil knew God better

than any other created being. He knew where and
how to strike a telling blow against God. Attributes
most despised by Lucifer are the prerogatives of
truth, justice and mercy. These he was compelled
to assault.

Lucifer thought that if God should exercise any

one of His prerogatives, others would have to be
set aside. He reasoned that if justice should be
exercised, then mercy would have to go. But if
mercy should be exhibited, then truth and justice
would be denied.

The enemy of God and man laid well his plans.

That which worked in heaven was now set into
motion against Adam.
169
 Step one: through the medium of influence of
mind upon mind he enticed Eve to sin.

Step two: Eve in turn by the same principle of

mind influencing mind, led Adam into sinning
against God’s express command.

Step three: thus Lucifer hoped to create a gulf

between the sovereign prerogatives of truth, justice
and mercy.

Consider this scenario of the personification of

God’s prerogatives in relation to Himself after sin
entered the human race:

Truth: Is it not true that You fixed a

punishment for man if he should disobey? If You
are true, You are obligated to follow that which is
true.

Mercy: If You are merciful, You must have

mercy on fallen man. If You can have no mercy on
him, You cannot be called merciful.
170
 Justice: Are You not called just and righteous?
If You are just, You will exercise punishment on
the transgressor. If You do not, You cannot be just.

Peace fled from the heart of God

Through sin Satan succeeded in separating not

only man from God, but also the prerogatives of
the justice and mercy of God. There is nothing in
the universe by which finite minds can compare the
rending of the divine attributes within God
Himself. Satan thought the gulf separating justice
and mercy could not be spanned.

With an intensity that defies description, both

fallen and unfallen beings watched the unfolding of
the principles of truth, justice and mercy in man’s
redemption.(1 Peter 1:10-12). Angels studied into
the significance of the sacrificial system
established after man fell. Later, when the
tabernacle was built in the wilderness, they studied
that earthly typical sanctuary and its services. The
mercy seat covered the ark that enshrined the tables
171
of the law. Here was foreshadowed Christ, the
mysterious Mercy-seat of God. Here God was
revealed. He was revealed as both just to His law
and as the justifier of the repenting, believing
sinner (Romans 3:25, 26; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John
4:10).

It took nothing less than the cross of Calvary to

settle the question raised by sin. The cross was the
mysterious medium used by God to reconcile His
own prerogatives. Not only man and God were
drawn together by the death of Christ, but also
justice and mercy. The cross alone was the bridge
by which the gulf produced by sin could be
spanned and thus the prerogatives of God could be
reunited.

Paul caught a glimpse of the glory of the cross

as on it Christ reconciled the things of heaven as
well as those of earth:

“It pleased the Father that in Him [Christ] all

the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile
all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on
172
earth or things in heaven, having made peace
through the blood of the cross … in the body of His
flesh through death …” (Colossians 1:19-22).

The agonizing, questioning cry of Christ, “My

God, My God! Why have You forsaken Me?”
echoed God’s own breaking heart as He as well as
Jesus felt the conflict between infinite emotions in
the rending asunder of His own attributes of justice
and mercy. This was part of the horrible experience
of the atonement from God’s standpoint in
affliction. In all of Christ’s affliction He was
afflicted. Especially through the cross, Christ gave
to man a new revelation of God. Yes, God and man
were reconciled. But more than this, through the
death of Christ justice and mercy within God’s
very being were at-one-ment also! Just before His
committal prayer, Jesus made His last declaration,
“It is finished” And as Justice approached the cross
in reverent submission, Mercy echoed, “It is
finished,” and replied, “It is enough.”

Thus through the cross, Christ reconciled

“things in heaven”—the holy attributes of justice,
173
and mercy and truth. When Christ was uplifted on
the cross, He drew both justice and mercy across
the gulf of separation. In Christ, God reconciled the
world unto Himself; in Christ God reconciled His
own attributes of justice and mercy.

Full of significance are the words of Christ

when He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all to Myself” (John 12:32). (The
word “men” is in italics to indicate that it was
added.) Not only is man drawn to Jesus, but the
very attributes of God are pulled across the gulf
that sin produced. The devil’s charges were proved
to be false. God’s government and His
administration were found to be flawless. Justice
and mercy and truth were vindicated and honored.
One day Satan will bow down and concede and
confess that the conflict he generated was forever
settled beyond question.

Psalm 85:10, personifying God’s attributes,

reveals the work of the cross and sums up the
healing process in the heart of God. “Mercy and
truth are met together; righteousness [justice] and
174
peace have kissed each other.”

Because of Christ’s work of reconciling the

prerogatives of justice and mercy, each stand
separate in all their exalted dignities, yet they are
united. Because of the cross and the consequent
reconciliation between the divine prerogatives,
mercy becomes a terrible power to punish sin while
justice demands forgiveness for all who believe.
The believing sinner has a right, based on God’s
justice, to ask God to revive him and to deliver him
from trouble. Because of mercy the Psalmist asked
that his enemies be cut off:

“Revive me, O Lord, for Your name’s sake!

For Your righteousness’ [justice’s] sake bring my
soul out of trouble. In Your mercy cut off my
enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul;
for I am Your servant” (Psalm 143:11, 12).

Compare that with the following proverbial

saying written by Solomon: “By mercy and truth
iniquity is purged” (Proverbs 16:6, KJV). On the
one hand, God’s mercy is involved not only in
175
showing clemency, compassion and sympathy, but
also in execution and in punishing sin. Justice, on
the other hand, is exercised in forgiveness and
cleansing from sin. It is because of justice that we
have a right to a Savior. “If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Man considers justice as the reason we should

not be pardoned, knowing we deserve to be
punished. Justice must be satisfied. But justice has
been satisfied. Because of this, justice has a royal
right to declare forgiveness to anyone who believes
in Jesus as his Substitute and Savior. Rather than a
barrier to justification, the justice of God is the
very ground and reason for it. It is God’s argument
in our behalf. Notice what Paul wrote concerning
this:

“Being justified freely by His grace through the

redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set
forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through
faith, to demonstrate His righteousness [justice],
because in His forbearance God had passed over
176
the sins that were previously committed, to
demonstrate at the present time His righteousness
[justice], that He might be just and the justifier of
the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).

Clearly, justification by faith rests on

God’s justice

Justification is an act of His justice. This is

because Christ exhausted the penalty of justice on
our behalf, in our stead, in our place. Then, when
we believe, justice demands our justification. We
call for mercy, but justice answers. As a just God,
He cannot condemn the believer, since Christ
dissipated the sentence against us. The attribute
that seemed both to Satan and man to be the reason
for God not to forgive is the very basis for why He
does pardon us through faith in Christ.

Because of the reconciliation of the divine

prerogatives, compromise with sin is not allowed
and the claims of justice are not ignored. Each
attribute of God is given its ordained place.
Mercy’s clemency and compassionate character are
177
not destroyed when mercy punishes sinful,
impenitent man devoid of remorse who throws
away God’s gift of Christ to him. And without
violating its integrity, justice is exercised in
pardoning the repentant transgressor.

Through mercy Christ became a curse for us.

Consequently, we have been redeemed from the
curse, according to justice. Because of justice we
have a right to claim Christ as our Savior. Because
we are sinners we are entitled to come to Christ.

Like a flash of lightning, Satan and his

accusations fell from the affections of the watching
universe when the redemption price was paid.

Since the cross of Christ,

the devil has changed his tactics

Now he claims that because of Christ’s death,

justice is set aside. The mercy and love of God are
offered as his message to man, minus justice.
Today many in Christianity are convinced that not
only the penalty for sin was abolished, but also the
178
justice of God. Mercy according to this doctrine
distances itself from justice. But no, God’s mercy
manifested to mankind through Jesus does not set
aside justice.

The last battle of the universe will be over the

prerogatives considered in this chapter. Satan’s
claim that God’s mercy destroyed justice at the
cross has implications for us today. While he
clothes God with his own tyrannical attributes, he
advocates a sentimental love that veils the law,
justice and retributive punishment. It matters not to
Satan how he accomplishes his nefarious work. He
needs confusion to establish himself. He attempts
to amalgamate the meanings of justice and mercy
into a single meaning when he cannot separate
them.

God’s message for the last days will present

both justice and mercy. Each attribute will be
allowed to stand distinct but united in their
sovereign majesties. The meeting together—the
linking—of these prerogatives means they are
forever inseparable. In Christ, they are always
179
found side by side in every situation.

180
 Chapter 14

“Melchizedek: Priest King”

Psalm 110

Although this psalm is short, it is very deep and

rich with Christ and His righteousness. It is pure
unadulterated gospel. It is the truth as it is in Jesus.
The subject spoken of here is without a doubt
Christ. He applied it to Himself (see Matthew
22:44). Others also in the New Testament apply
this passage to Christ (see Acts 2:34; Hebrews
1:13; 10:12.13).

There are several orders of priests recorded in

the Old Testament. These include the Patriarchal,
the Levitical, the Aaronic, and the Melchizedekal.
Christ’s priesthood was greater than all others
combined. A single kind of priesthood could not
sufficiently illustrate Christ’s work on behalf of the
fallen race. Of the mentioned priesthoods the
Melchizedek order was the greatest of all (Hebrews
7:1-10). Melchizedek is mentioned historically
181
only briefly and in passing in an account
concerning Abraham (Genesis 14:18-20), but he is
significantly mentioned in this psalm under
consideration, and seven times in the book of
Hebrews and is directly related to Christ and His
priestly work (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6,10; 6:20;
7:11, 15, 17, 21).

The priesthood of Melchizedek links our day

with the days of Abraham in that Christ’s
priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek’s. The
seventh chapter of Hebrews repeats the story of
Melchizedek recorded in the fourteenth chapter of
Genesis. The setting of the return of Abraham is
from an expedition against several nations who had
united together and in their conquests kidnapped
Abraham’s nephew Lot. Melchizedek met
Abraham, blessed him, and gave him bread and
wine to drink.

Melchizedek was a high priest of God

Abraham recognized that fact and gave to him

a tenth part of the recovered spoil. The
182
Melchizedek priesthood is the Christian priesthood
of Christ. And those who are Christ’s will give
tithe of all their increase just as Abraham
recognized the fact that the tithe belongs to the
Lord.

Christ also blessed His disciples with bread and

wine at His last supper. But more than just
temporal blessings, the bread and wine were
consecrated by Christ to represent His great
sacrifice given for the fallen race that we might be
blessed. And also the bread and wine represent the
spiritual provisions Christ has stored up for us in
the Everlasting Covenant of grace for our
refreshment when we become weary with our
spiritual conflicts. Christ our High Priest meets us
in our spiritual battles, refreshes us, renews our
strength and blesses us. As God sent Melchizedek
to bless Abraham, so He sent Christ to bless us in
turning us from our iniquities (Acts 3:26).

Who was this priest, Melchizedek?

Some have thought that it must have been

183
Christ in human form. Others speculate that he
came from another planet. As to the first notion, no
one can be a type of himself. There is a distinction
to be made between a similitude and reality,
shadow and substance, or else they are of the same
identity which then destroys the type-antitype
construction. Melchizedek was one of an order;
Christ was “another priest” of the same order
(Hebrews 7:15).

As to the second idea, priests were to be of the

human family. A priest was to be beset with the
infirmities of those whom he represented (Hebrews
5:1-5). It is in connection with the Melchizedek
priesthood that it is written of Christ, “who in the
days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers
and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to
Him who was able to save Him from death, and
was heard because of His godly fear, though He
were a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things
that He suffered” (Hebrews 5:6-8).

Melchizedek was a Canaanite Gentile ordained

of God with the distinction as “priest of the Most
184
High God” who bestowed God’s blessing upon the
Hebrew race in Abraham. He was a king of
Gentiles and a priest of Gentiles, again typifying
Christ. Christ was of both Gentile and Hebrew
descent (see Matthew 1). His priesthood was
greater than all in that it encompasses all mankind
everywhere and in every place.

Christ became the King and Head and Mediator

of the fallen race. He was/is the “Light to the
Gentiles.” He is “the Savior of every man,
especially those who believe” (Isaiah 49:6; 1
Timothy 4:10). Like Melchizedek, Christ too was
God’s Priest among the Gentiles. The Gentiles
must come to God through Him. It is only through
this priesthood that we can obtain reconciliation
and remission of sin.

As a type of Christ, Melchizedek was like Him.

He “was made like unto the Son of God” (Hebrews
7:2). He was a type of Christ as a king and as a
priest. The word “Melchizedek” is more of a title
than a personal name. It is compounded from two
words, Melek, which means a king from malak, to
185
reign; and zedek, meaning righteousness. His title
means “King of righteousness” and Salem, the
name of his city-kingdom, means “peace”
(Hebrews 7:3). Melchizedek not only was a priest
of righteousness, he was also a king of
righteousness and peace. Righteousness and peace
belong together. When a person believes and is
justified, at that very moment he is at peace with
God. This is because righteousness and peace meet
in Jesus. He is “the Lord our Righteousness” and
the “Prince of Peace.” The work of Christ’s
righteousness is peace, quietness and assurance
forever (Romans 5:1; Jeremiah 21:6; Isaiah 9:6;
32:17).

Righteousness and peace come to us through

the Melchizedek order. By that order we are saved.
Christ is our King and Priest representing us upon
the throne of the universe which is in God’s temple
in heaven. Our hope is based on this order of
priesthood. It is centered in the fact that Christ our
“forerunner is for us entered (within the veil of the
heavenly temple), even Jesus,” “made an high
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”
186
(Hebrews 6:19, 20).

So far as the inspired written record goes, every

king who attempted to unite the two offices of
priest and king met with God’s disapproval.
However, both Melchizedek and Christ were
appointed to those united offices by God, and
Christ by oath. Melchizedek represented God to the
people he governed, and he was their
representative to Him. So with Christ. Of Him it is
written, “The Lord has sworn and will not repent,
‘You are a priest for ever according to the order of
Melchizedek.’” “The Lord said to My Lord, ‘Sit at
My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your
footstool’” (Psalm 110:4, 1).

Of Christ’s kingly priesthood it is written, “He

shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the
glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so shall
He be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of
peace shall be between them both” (Zechariah
6:13). As priest upon the Father’s throne Christ
makes reconciliation for the sins of the people. The
power and authority by which He does so is the
187
power of the throne of the universe, upon which He
is seated at the right hand of the Father. It was by
God’s oath that Christ was made a High Priest after
the order of Melchizedek.

The priesthood of Melchizedek was greater

than the patriarchal in that Abraham, a patriarchal
priest, paid tithe to him and knelt in submission to
him, receiving the blessing of this person who was
greater than himself.

Likewise, that priesthood was greater than the

Aaronic because Aaron in Abraham paid tithe to
Melchizedek and also received the Melchizedek
benediction as Abraham knelt. And this was long
before Aaron was born. This well illustrates the
corporate solidarity of the human race.

We were all in Adam after as well as before he

sinned. If he had perished in the garden of Eden the
moment he sinned, you and I would not have seen
the light of day for we were in his loins as was
Levi in Abraham’s. And further, if we were not in
Christ when He died, we could not be saved. We
188
all died, since Christ died for all (2 Corinthians
5:14). This illustrates the corporate, legal
equivalent of the eternal death of the damned.

This priesthood and kingship of Christ are

connected with God’s oath. These offices of Christ
came from God, ratified by His oath. This oath is
God’s assurance of His gift of Christ to mankind.
This oath is more necessary than the food we eat
and the water we drink and the air we breathe, for
without it we would have nothing to eat, drink or
breathe. God “swore and will not repent.” To
repent means basically to have a change of mind
about something, or to turn back from a purpose.
This gives force to the oath made by God. It is
unchangeable, no matter what the cost to Him. He
placed Himself at risk in this oath. He staked His
throne for the fulfillment of His word.

This oath is security of the plan of redemption

based on Christ in human nature. It was to be a
terrible price at which that oath was to be fulfilled.
The Father and the Son must be separated. The Son
must give up forever some of His attributes as God,
189
and take upon Himself the form and nature of the
fallen race in order to save it. And in this condition
Christ must meet the enemy and conquer him in
behalf of mankind. He must meet and overcome
Satan and his temptations on every point where the
first Adam failed.

More than this, Christ was to “taste death for

every man” (Hebrews 2:9).

And through the Father’s infinite connection

with Christ, He too would taste it in His Son. He
drank the whole torrent of this world’s sorrow.

This oath and God’s determination not to turn

aside from it involved Christ being “made to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
He was to be made sin itself in order to minister to
us righteousness and peace. From this God would
not turn aside, even though it cost the Godhead
infinite sufferings. The occasion for repentance, for
turning back, was the cost of our redemption. It
was Christ or us, and the Godhead took the more
190
costly route. They decided to pay the price, “for
God so loved the world that He gave His only-
begotten Son …” (John 3:16). Whatever the
combined forces of man and devils could throw at
His Son, God would not withdraw from His settled
purpose to make His Son a priest after the order of
Melchizedek.

Included in the oath of the Melchizedek

priesthood of Christ was Christ as the Surety of the
everlasting covenant of God (Hebrews 7:20-22).
Christ is the Surety of the everlasting covenant
from two perspectives, that of man and that of God.
A surety is a bondsman, a guarantor that a person
will show up to answer charges of a complaint of
guilt in a legal court hearing. If the person charged
with the crime does not show up for the hearing,
the bondsman forfeits what he put up as a
guarantee. In the case of man, we failed and Christ
forfeited His life. He made Himself responsible for
our failure.

On the part of God He guaranteed the oath for

our redemption. In behalf of God He paid the
191
supreme sacrifice which is the basis of the
everlasting covenant. You can read the covenant
agreement between the Father and the Son in Isaiah
49. Christ was given to be a covenant to the people,
for the people and of the people (Isaiah 49:8; see
also 42:1-7).

A covenant is so called from the idea of

sacrificing animals and passing between the
divided parts in solemn covenant. This involved a
promise and/or an oath that if one failed to perform
his promise, then let him become like the dead
divided carcasses through which he passed. God
did this with Abraham. He gave to Abraham a
promise, and backed it with an oath. And He did it
with Christ and the human race. Adam lost his
position and his possessions. Christ, the second
Adam, regained the lost dominion through the
Melchizedek priesthood, by the oath of God.

The ministry of Christ in the heavenly

sanctuary as our High Priest after the order of
Melchizedek is for the specific and definite
purpose of establishing the “better covenant” with
192
its “better promises” in behalf of the “heirs of
promise.” Involved in the everlasting covenant is
the restoration of the earth as an everlasting
possession based on God’s righteousness received
by the inheritors through faith (Romans 4:13).

The carrying out of the oath of God in the

covenant necessitated Christ being born into mortal
flesh in order to die. It had to have been the nature
of fallen man, because Adam in holy flesh could
not die. This too was an occasion for God to turn
aside. How could He allow His Son to become a
part of the fallen race? He would do whatever it
must take to redeem mankind. He swore that He
would do it and would not turn away from His
purpose. Christ would become one with the race.
He would be numbered with the transgressors in
order to save them. Christ for us, Christ with us,
Christ as us. This was included in the order of the
Melchizedek priesthood by the oath of God,
notwithstanding that it would cause the greatest
possible sorrow and suffering to the Father as well
as to the Son.

193
 Christ would, as the head of the fallen body of
mankind, suffer with each member of His body till
their suffering should cease forever and the power
of sin over them be crushed forever. He is the Head
of every man and it is when sin is eradicated that
every tear shall be wiped away (1 Corinthians 11:3;
Revelation 21:4). This includes the tears of God.
His heart grieves while the body of Christ, the
human race as well as the church, suffers.

There are seven New Testament references to

Psalm 110:1 (Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke
20:42; Acts 2:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Hebrews
1:13; 10:13). These refer to Christ’s reign with His
Father on His throne. There is one reference to His
own reign upon His own throne (Revelation 3:21).
Christ overcame, by faith, all opposition to be
seated upon His Father’s throne. His enemies were
formidable. They were Satan and his combined
host along with man, sin, guilt and death. Christ
overcame all by faith while He lived. “Of the
increase of His government and peace there will be
no end” (Isaiah 9:6, 7).

194
 In answer to Pilate’s question, “Are you a king
then?” Jesus replied, “To this end was I born”
(John 18:37). Christ had to be “fitted” to be King
of the human family. That fitness could not have
been accomplished if He came only as the Son of
God. To become the race’s king He must come as
the Son of Man. And this fitness had to be adapted
to the requirements of the race who in the
weakness of their human infirmities endured the
fierce assaults and conflicts with sin and Satan. He
must take upon Himself human nature and pass
triumphantly through all the experiences of the
subjects of His kingdom, taking their sins, but
without sinning. He was born to be this kind of
King.

Christ had to become the Seed of the woman

before He could be our High Priest. This is so,
because a Priest must be taken from among His
brethren so that they can know that He is “touched
with the feelings of their infirmities” (Genesis
3:15; Hebrews 2:17, 18; 4:15). Christ had to
become the Seed of the woman to become our
King, for it takes kingly authority rather than
195
priestly power to bruise the serpent’s head. Christ
must be born into the human family. He was born
to take fallen Adam’s place. In taking his place, He
became the King over all the earth and took the
title conferred upon Him by the oath of God as
Priest-King after the order of Melchizedek. God
was morally obligated by His oath to make Christ a
Priest-King. And Christ was under that same
obligation in order to redeem us.

The term “right hand” denotes God’s authority

and highest power. Here it is used of the place and
position accorded Christ in His human nature as
now exalted. “Under His feet” is used to denote
complete subjection to that highest power. Christ’s
enemies will become part of His footstool literally
when they are reduced to the physical material of
which the earth is composed. The earth is God’s
footstool and the wicked will become non-sentient
ashes (Isaiah 66:1; Malachi 4:1, 3). The oath will
reach its full effect when Christ takes possession of
His kingdom in the earth made new.

But it is in the here and now that Christ is

196
making up the subjects for His kingdom.

He takes people with various hereditary and

cultivated backgrounds from every nation, kindred
and tribe and transforms them into willing and
obedient subjects in His present kingdom of grace.
When He returns for His subjects He will translate
them into His kingdom of glory. There they shall
meet with the Father Himself and see His face and
hear His words. They shall see Him who would not
turn from His purpose to redeem them regardless
of the cost to Himself. And as Melchizedek blessed
God when he blessed Abraham, so the redeemed of
the ages will voice the written words of John:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power

Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
(Revelation 5:13).

197
 Chapter 15

The Cornerstone
Psalm 118: 22, 23

“The stone which the builders rejected has

become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s
doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Jesus referred to this prophecy toward the end

of His life on earth (see Matthew 21:42). By a
series of illustrations He revealed to the leaders of
Israel what they were about to do in rejecting and
putting Him to death. He finished His discourse by
quoting Psalm 118:22, 23, and concluded that the
kingdom of God would be taken from them and
given to a nation that should bear the fruits of the
kingdom.

Christ tried by every means within the range of

His influence to make plain to His rejecters the
nature of the foul deed they were about to do. He,
the Cornerstone of the plan of salvation, was
198
rejected by those who should have built their own
characters, by faith, upon that solid Rock. Christ
attempted to show them their danger by calling
their attention to this prophecy of Psalm 118.

The prophecy of the rejected stone was an

actual occurrence in Israel’s history when they
built the temple in Jerusalem. The workers took
foundation stones from a quarry and moved them
to the temple site. At the quarry the stones were
measured and cut to exact size. Each stone was
exactly fitted for the foundation before placement.
When the workers brought the stones to the temple
site they placed them in their proper positions
without hammer or chisel (see 1 Kings 5:17, 18;
6:7).

One stone transported to the building site did

not fit because of its size and unusual shape.
Because of this, it was not accepted by the workers.
It became an annoyance to them, always in their
way. That rejected stone lay there in their way for a
length of time.

199
 Finally, when the workers came to lay the
cornerstone, they could not find the right one to
use. Ignoring the rejected stone, they searched for
one that could bear the immense weight and
pressure of the temple to be built upon the
foundation. The proper stone must be used, for the
wrong one would endanger the entire building.
None of the chosen stones withstood the rigorous
tests brought to bear upon them. Some crumbled
from massive weights placed on them. Sudden
atmospheric changes destroyed the stability of
others.

Eventually attention was called to the stone the

workers previously rejected and currently stumbled
over. They saw it, but not really. The stone was a
nuisance, and it never dawned on the workers that
that stone was of any use whatever. However,
while examining it, builders could find not one
crack in it from exposure to the elements of
weather. Next, in applying the pressure of great
weights to the stone, those builders learned that it
did not crumble. So the long rejected stone was
now brought to the crucial location where the head
200
or cornerstone was to be placed in the foundation.
It was found to be an exact fit.

Isaiah wrote of Christ and applied the

experience of the rejected stone to Him. The Spirit
of prophecy spoke through him and he wrote:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a
tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily”
(Isaiah 28:16). Earlier he wrote, “He will be … a
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the
houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them
shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be
snared and taken” (Isaiah 8:14, 15). God, the
Master builder of His spiritual temple of believers,
laid the Cornerstone even though the builders
rejected and stumbled over Him.

Paul used the experience of the rejected stone

to illustrate the differences between the messages
of righteousness by faith and righteousness by the
works of the law. He wrote that

201
 “the Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even
the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the
law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of
righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it
by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For
they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is
written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone
and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him
will not be put to shame” (Romans 9:30-33).

Christ and His righteousness have endured

every test of pressure brought to bear. He carried
the entire world’s burden of grief and guilt. He
never failed and never shall. Because He passed
every test, we can build on the sure Foundation and
never be disappointed. To those who believe, He is
a precious and a sure foundation; but to those who
disbelieve, He is a stone of stumbling and a rock of
offense.

In His earthly life and even to this day, Christ

has borne neglect and abuse. He was, and is,
“despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows
202
and acquainted with grief: … He was despised and
we esteemed Him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Men still
slight His mercy, spurn His righteousness and
despise His goodness. But He is the true
Cornerstone, notwithstanding stumbling, bumbling,
unbelief. Those who build on any foundation other
than Christ will be swept away when the tempests
of human passion in the last days of earth explode
and rage through every land. But those who know
and appreciate Him, build on the only solid
foundation. Peter stated it this way, concerning
Christ the Cornerstone: there is no “salvation in
any other, for there is no other name under heaven
given among men by which we must be saved”
(Acts 4:12). All who live forever must and will
build upon Christ the true and sure foundation.

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected

indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
you also, as living stones, are being built up a
spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ” (1 Peter 2:4, 5).

203
 “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers
and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God, having been
built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being
joined together, grows intro a holy temple of the
Lord, in whom you also are being built together for
a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-
22).

In His humiliation, Christ is the Stone of

righteousness cut out of the mountain without
hands. He is the Cornerstone of strength and
firmness and duration and life eternal in the
spiritual temple of the living God. He is a
Cornerstone most precious. “This is marvelous in
our eyes” (Psalm 118:23).

204
 Chapter 16

The Love Song

Psalm 45

This psalm is known as the Marriage or Love

Song. It points to Messiah the Prince as the Royal
Bridegroom, and to His church as His bride. The
first half of the psalm reveals Christ as a Warrior
and Bridegroom; the second half speaks about His
bride.

The Spirit of Prophecy gave this song to David

to write concerning Christ. David’s heart burning
within Him, motivated by the flame of love, wrote
of love and of war. Although David says he will
write of things pertaining to the king (perhaps
himself), He directs his thoughts to Christ. He
writes of the excellencies of Jesus: “You are fairer
than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your
lips; therefore God has blessed You for ever”
(Psalm 45:2). Christ is the favorite of heaven. Yet
for our sake He became one of us. Because He is
205
blessed for ever, so are we. He has the blessing,
and He has it for us. We are blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
(Ephesians 1:3).

Grace was poured into Christ’s lips. Grace was

given that He might know how to speak a word in
season to those who are weary. The Father
awakened Him morning by morning that He might
be instructed in what to say and how to say it
(Isaiah 50:4). From that grace came those gracious
words that spoke to and blessed those who heard
(Luke 4:22).

Not only was grace poured into His lips, but it

was poured into His heart for strength and
encouragement. Grace kept and qualified Jesus for
His work as Savior and Mediator. And from His
fullness of grace, we receive (John 1:16).

The Bridegroom is a Man of war who is

victorious over all His enemies (Psalm 45:3-5). He
comes to the field of battle to rescue His bride-to-
be. She being in captivity needs to be set free
206
before He can marry her. She, being in captivity to
Satan and to self, needs to be delivered. Christ does
it by the power of the “sword,” which is His word.
There is a sense in which even she must be
conquered. She must be submissive to her
Heavenly Husband. He is to be the head of the
household of faith. The converting and controlling
power of His word must capture her heart. There
must be a willing obedience on her part, controlled
by her appreciation of Him. In other words, she
must learn to love Him. It does not come naturally.

The cause in which Christ is engaged is that of

truth, meekness and righteousness (verse 4). These
are the principles of His character that were lost by
man. These Christ came to retrieve and rescue and
to restore within His bride that she might be all
glorious within. He proposes to do this with the
everlasting gospel in these last days (Revelation
14:6-12).

Because Christ is the truth, and is meek and

righteous, it is from Him that His spouse learns
meekness that she might be clothed in His
207
righteousness. Because of these, she shall prosper
and stand by His side as His bride. But first His
word must be allowed to work in her heart. The
word sets up truth within her heart to rectify her
mistakes; meekness to control her passions;
righteousness to control her heart, and
consequently her life.

Before the word can do its work within the

heart of His bride-to-be, the arrows of conviction
must penetrate her hardened conscience and fasten
there with the piercing sharpness of the granite
point of the arrow, and bring her to her true
condition. She must be startled by her condition
and then be brought into loving submission to the
Man-of-war, the Bridegroom, the One who truly
loves her.

Psalm 45:6, 7 are quoted in Hebrews 1:8, 9.

From this we learn that it is God the Father who
says to the Son in this psalm, “Thy throne O God,
is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a
right sceptre” (KJV). Our Mediator, the Son of
Man, is God. His kingdom is eternal, and He shall
208
rule on this earth forever. All the opposition from
the gates of hell shall not prevail against Him. His
rulership is one of righteousness. Whatever Christ
does, He will never wrong a single subject of His
kingdom. He loves righteousness and He loves to
do righteousness. He hates wickedness and He will
eventually eradicate it from the universe where
righteousness shall reign in every heart and in
every place. And that work of righteousness is
peace and assurance forever (Isaiah 32:15; Romans
5:1).

Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness. He

was anointed above all others, whether they are
kings or priests or even angels. The Spirit of God
was given to Him without measure to qualify and
to enable Him for His work. He came to preach and
to deliver the captives (Isaiah 61:1; 11:2). Christ
was filled with the oil of gladness, He delighted to
carry out the work He was sent to do. Even the
horribleness of the cross was endured for the joy
that was set before Him, which joy was in seeing
men and women, boys and girls, in His kingdom
forever because they respond to His unconditional
209
pursuing love (Hebrews 12:2). He is satisfied with
the travail of His soul (Isaiah 53:11). The salvation
of sinners is His joy. The holy angels rejoice over
the salvation of sinners (Luke 15:10), but Christ’s
joy is even greater.

Notice His robes of state as they are described

in Psalm 45:8. They are not depicted in terms of
the pomp of purple, gold and silver. His robes are
not for decoration. They are noted for their
pleasantness. They smell of myrrh, aloes and
cassia. These elements were compounded both in
the oil and in the incense of the sanctuary. Both
represented Christ’s righteousness—the incense
representing His robe of righteousness by which
He justifies and clothes us, the oil representing the
Holy Spirit of righteousness by which He anoints
and sanctifies us.

The character developed in Christ during His

lifetime on earth is represented by the making of
the incense. Just as the typical priests in days of old
put the ingredients of the incense together to offer
as a sweet smelling offering in behalf of the people
210
whom they represented, so did Christ in reality.
Both the oil and the incense were so sacred that no
one was to make anything that resembled or
smelled like them (see Exodus 30:23-38). The
lesson from the symbols is that there is no place in
God’s plan for our salvation for any merit on our
part, or for any counterfeit righteousness that may
resemble Christ’s. No merit accrues from man. It is
Christ only. Only Christ and His righteousness.
And those who are clothed with His righteousness
will proclaim that all encompassing subject. It will
swallow up every other.

His ointment, His incense, draws souls to

Himself, and this makes Him precious in their sight
(Song of Solomon 1:3, 4; 1 Peter 2:7). Out of
heaven’s “ivory palaces” there wafts to earth the
fragrance of Christ’s righteousness. This fragrance
is enjoyed by His followers on earth. Every good
thing done by the believer is surrounded and made
acceptable by this cloud covering of righteousness.
Christ is “all and in all” (Colossians 3:11).

Psalm 45:9 depicts the church as His queen

211
standing by His side. By an everlasting covenant
He has betrothed this woman to Himself. She
stands at His right hand, the place of honor. She is
seen clothed in a garment woven with gold thread,
even the gold of Ophir, the most pure and precious
and valuable on earth. This is Christ’s bride. This is
the Lamb’s wife. His graces are her ornaments. In
Revelation 19:8 they are compared to fine linen,
clean and white. Both the linen here and the gold of
Ophir represent the purity and the costliness of
Christ’s grace and righteousness by which we are
clothed.

Although they are free, they are not cheap.

They cost Christ everything. Heaven itself was not
considered of more value than was the lost race.
His form of God was not considered, by Himself,
of more value than mankind. He laid aside His
form as God to take upon Himself our nature to
redeem us (Philippians 2:5-7). He will retain our
redeemed nature forever. Forever He is the Son of
Man. We are indebted to Jesus forever for the
costliness of the garments by which He clothes us.

212
 To Him we owe our redemption. Our adorning
is not because of corruptible things such as silver
and gold and diamonds—the base things of earth,
but to the precious blood of the Son of God. Even
now He is knocking, ever knocking, at the door of
His bride’s heart, inviting her, counseling her to
receive the gold tried in the fire, the white raiment,
the anointing oil and the gift of repentance
(Revelation 3:18-20)—this that she might stand at
His side in honor clothed in the garment He
prepared for such an occasion, even the garment of
the fragrance “of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out
of the ivory palaces.” She too will be glad with the
joy that makes the Bridegroom delighted.

The last part of the psalm is addressed to the

royal bride-to-be. In verse ten she is counseled to
consider what has been said, and to incline her ear
to what He will say to her. Just as a man and his
bride are to separate from friends and family in the
earthly order of things when they marry in order to
become one flesh, so it is in the heavenly wedding.
Christ and His bride are to become one. Christ has
eyes only for her. He waits patiently for her to have
213
eyes only for Him. Christ submitted Himself to her
level. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among
us” (John 1:14). He came to dwell with us as “God
with us” (Matthew 1:23). He became one of us.
Christ gave up everything for His bride.

Now He longs to see that same kind of

submission on the part of His bride to Himself.
This is the only way the marriage can last for
eternity. She must renounce all others and have
desires only for Him in accordance with the law of
marriage. He renounced all for her. Will she not
respond in a favorable decision to Him?

She is not to retain her affection for the things

of this earth. Neither is she to covet a return to
them. When she responds to His love, she will
realize the delight He has for her. He desires the
beauty that will come to her as the result of
responding to Him. He is concerned for this
beauty. This is the beauty of character. His concern
is that if she should turn again to her old ways, her
beauty will become blemished. There is no place
for an amalgamated religion. It must be pure and
214
undefiled.

The bride, the church, is to be subject to Christ

as the wife is to the husband. This is the reverence,
the love and the honor of which Paul writes in His
letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 5:24-31). The
husband is to love, cherish, and protect his wife as
Christ does the church. The church in turn ought to
cherish and love Him.

God who said to His Son, “Thy throne is

forever and ever” now addresses the church who,
because of being espoused to His Son, He now
calls His daughter (Psalm 45:10, 13). She is “all
glorious within” and covered with a garment of
woven gold. As mentioned above, the gold is that
which comes from Christ. It is the gold of faith that
works by love and is tested in the fires of affliction
(see Galatians 5:6; Revelation 3:18; 1 Peter 1:7).
This is the faith that justifies and sanctifies and
glorifies. This faith is always associated with
Christ’s righteousness given in justification and
sanctification, which entitles and fits the bride for
marriage to Christ. The glory within is seen
215
without. The glory within is the character of Christ
woven into the fabric of her character. God’s glory
is His mercy and graciousness, longsuffering,
goodness and truth (Exodus 33:18, 19; 34:5, 6).

God speaks of the honors He designed

especially for His daughter

The riches of the universe are laid before her.

Her wedding shall be celebrated with a great deal
of honor and joy. She shall be brought into the
palace of the King of the universe (Psalm 45:14,
15). Even now the inhabitants of the universe are
on tiptoe. They await the coming of the bride to the
King’s palace and the wedding of all weddings.

In the completion of the mystical body, when

the church, the Lamb’s bride-to-be, responds to His
love, He knocks at the door of her house and calls
to her: “Open for Me, My sister (i.e. spouse), My
love, My dove, My perfect one.” Then shall the
longing of Christ be satisfied (Song of Solomon
5:1, 2; Revelation 3:20). Then will go out the
invitation:
216
 “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His
wife has made herself ready. And to her it was
granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
bright, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the
saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write blessed are those
who are called to the marriage supper of the
Lamb!’” (Revelation 19:7-9).

This will be the day of His wedding, “The day

of the gladness of His heart” (Song of Solomon
3:11; 2:8). On that day He will break into singing
just “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so
shall your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5).
Yes, the singing Savior “will rejoice over thee with
joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee
with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17, KJV). On that
occasion God’s paean (an expression of feeling by
calling on others to rejoice) will be answered as
His people from every nation, kindred, tongue and
people break into rapturous praise as they unite
with God in His song of rejoicing:

217
 “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be
glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of
Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your
judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King
of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You shall see
disaster no more” (Zephaniah 3:14, 15).

Psalm 45 ends with unending praise. The praise

of this marriage will be perpetual in the tribute of
Christ, the Bridegroom for His bride, and in the
admiration and appreciation she has for Him. “I
will make your name to be remembered in all
generations; therefore the people shall praise you
forever and ever” (verse 18).

218
 Chapter 17

In Summary and Conclusion

We have considered some of the psalms about
Jesus, Christ’s experiences in humanity—His life,
His temptations, His sufferings and His death, His
resurrection from the grave, and His ascension to
heaven. Christ is our High Priest after the order of
Melchizedek. He is the second and last Adam, the
Head of the fallen race. There is nothing that
touches us that does not touch Him.

Christ crucified is the scarlet thread that binds

the Book of Psalms into a whole. In the passages
we studied in this book we entered into His
thoughts and feelings as we beheld and listened to
the Word prophetically given in the gospel psalms.
This is only a beginning. There is much more. As it
was said by the queen of Sheba concerning
Solomon, “indeed the half was not told me,” so it is
with Christ.

The discovery of Jesus in the psalms (and in

219
every other book of the Bible) is like the discovery
of a vast continent reached by ship. First the
beachhead in the sand and then onward in search of
the treasures of the land. When it comes to the
discovery and the study of Christ, we are still by
the seaside in the sand. Eternity will open up for us
“all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”
hidden in Him (Colossians 2:3). Here and now, in
our study of Christ, our hearts open up to Him in
appreciation and our lips utter, “Thanks be to God
for His indescribable Gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

220