“The Lord Is My…” – FBC Morning Light (5/2/2024)

The Lord as Strength in Psalm 21

Well good Thursday morning to you. Today in our Bible reading we're reading Psalms 21 through 24, again the Psalms of David, and each of these Psalms highlights and emphasizes something a little bit different about the character of God.

So in Psalm 21, for example, David is speaking as the king. He says, the king shall have joy in your strength, O Lord. So basically Psalm 21, David is extolling the Lord as his strength, that he as the king will find victory over his enemies, not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord.

He says, the king shall have joy in your strength and in your salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice. Now the salvation he's talking here, of course, is the salvation from his enemies, those who would try to destroy him and defeat him.

And what David understands is that the enemies of the king, King David, are the enemies of the Lord. The enemy that would try to destroy God's anointed king is an enemy of God himself. So in verse 8, for example, he says, your hand will find all your enemies, your right hand will find those who hate you, you shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger.

So the king praises the Lord for being his strength and deliverance from the enemy. In Psalm 22, he is seeing the Lord as his Savior, not so much from political or military enemies, but the Savior in the sense that Psalm 22 is a messianic psalm looking forward to the crucifixion of Jesus.

So Psalm 22 begins with those words that Jesus uttered on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? And from the words of my groaning. And verses 6 and following describe the scene of Jesus on the cross.

He says, I'm a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All those who see me ridicule me, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, he trusted in the Lord, let him rescue him.

Exact words that were thrown at Jesus on the cross. And verse 12, many bulls have surrounded me, strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me, they gape at me with their mouths like a raging and a roaring lion.

Speaking of the mockery that Jesus experienced on the cross. Verse 14, I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it has melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, my tongue clings to my jaws, you have brought me to the dust of death.

Dogs have surrounded me, the congregation of the wicked has enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones, they look and stare at me, they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Clearly a messianic psalm pointing to Jesus as our Savior. So the first psalm, the Lord is my strength. The second psalm, the Lord is my Savior. Psalm 23, of course, the Lord is my shepherd. And as my shepherd, my Savior, shepherd, provides me with just what I need.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, I shall not lack anything I really need, whether it's nourishing pasture, the still waters of refreshment, the restoration of my soul, his ever-present protection, confidence and steadfast hope in the future.

These are the things that the Lord, my shepherd, provides. And then that final psalm, Psalm 23, so the Lord is my strength, the Lord is my Savior, the Lord is my shepherd. And then Psalm 24, the Lord is my King, he is the Sovereign, he is my Sovereign.

It says, the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness the world, and all those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Goes on to ask some questions.

Who can ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, that's who. But he is my Sovereign, and how can I ever have access to the presence of my Sovereign?

Well, the only way I can is through the work of my Savior, and by his shepherding he leads me and brings me to that place of refreshment and so forth, in the presence of my Lord, my Sovereign. So these are some wonderful psalms, they're so rich and so much in each of them, isn't there?

The Lord is my strength, delivering me from the enemy. The Lord is my Savior, delivering me from the penalty of sin. The Lord is my shepherd, leading me, guiding me through life. The Lord is my Sovereign, before whom I have access.

Thank the Lord for all that he is to us. And our Father and our God, we do praise you and thank you today for who you are as our strength and as our Savior, our Shepherd, our Sovereign. May we bow before you, may we walk with you, may we worship and serve you with all of our being, we pray in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.

All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Thursday, may the Lord bless you in it. Good day.