Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
"In the midst of the assembly I will sing praises to You, O Father" (Psa 22:22) If such a suffering, crucified, buried, resurrected, and ascended One is by His Holy Spirit praising the Father among us, how can we not but be encouraged, and carry on likewise? And why shouldn't we be interested in finding details of His relations with the Father in heaven, detailed in the prophetic word?
|
"Finding details of His relations with the Father in heaven"... that sums up my current Bible reading. To me, everything worthwhile, today, hinges on this. As I wrote earlier, WL typically gave three options from the text. First, that the psalm-writer was natural and fallen and wrote from that perspective, trying vainly to keep the law and please God. Something like "My hands are clean, and You've saved me because You delighted in me" in Psalm 18 was supposedly natural. Or, the writing typifies the Christian believer and his relations with the ascended Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit operating within. Today, therefore, it's not dead letter to strain after, but an indwelling, living and life-giving Spirit. And lastly, there's the option of a "revelation of Christ" which the psalmist had, while writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit: e.g. "Not one of His bones shall be broken." Obviously this interpretation was typically driven by NT usage.
But I believe that another interpretive option shows us the Man, Jesus Christ, of Nazareth town, a Galilean in occupied Judea, a descendant of David who hungered and thirsted and struggled and wept, who was mocked by His own younger brothers: "If you are the Christ, go and show yourself at the feast. Don't hide." This very frail, mortal Man can be seen, again and again, in intimate relation with His Father, who is God enthroned in heaven. In this, the psalmist typified Him excellently. Those declarations of fealty and obedience were kept to the "jot and tittle". Jesus overturned nothing, sidestepped nothing, fulfilled all - "It is finished". It is entirely complete in Him. "The things which were written concerning Me must be fulfilled" (Luke 18:31, 22:37, 24:44).
And the weak, frail, mortal human race can now see in Scriptures this One, while yet on earth, in full dependence upon the Father's will and speaking. He was completely dependent and utterly obedient. "He trusted in Him, let Him come down and save Him now" (Psa 22:8; Matt 27:43). The vulnerability of the mortal Christ on earth, which He overcome with faith and trust and hope and obedience, is now a vision beckoning to all those vulnerable creatures who follow.
Let me shift gears for a moment. I try to be "up" on what's current, and recently was viewing a website of one of the "Mega-churches". Essentially they have their own streaming tv station: all the meetings are video-taped and available for viewing. I clicked on one of their recent services, and I couldn't even make it through the first song. It was the typical "Praise and Worship" affair, with a large, plain stage and a half-dozen fresh, smiling musicians. What got me at first was the metronomic banging of the drummer. It was like they were
'thump-thump-thump' agitating the crowd into an elevated, trance-like state. (Maybe that's just my post-Pentacostal allergy kicking in).
But what killed it for me was the "We love You and praise You, our exalted Jesus" theme. Now, nothing's wrong with that of itself. But what I missed was any trace of the relationship of Jesus with the Father. I needed evidence of Jesus, on earth, praising the Father, obeying the Father, and yes even being perfected by the Father. That's why these texts rescue me today. Jesus is now enthroned on high, King of kings and Lord of lords, but before exaltation He walked the proverbial mile or three, with us. The "Man in the glory" was first a man living among the sheep. The P&W guys just bypassed that, and created their own Cargo Cult, staring up at a shiny "Jesus in the Sky" that's far above our toils and cares of humanity below.
But He was here with us.
Now back to my point, and why I think this textual imagery has such powerful potency. Instead of saying, "This is the natural psalmist trying to trust in God", or instead of, "This is the Christian trusting in his own version of 'Jesus in the Sky'", what we might see in the text is the very human Jesus, on earth, trusting in His Heavenly Father. Through fealty and obedience Jesus and the Father were one. Man and God were joined again, and the curse was broken, and estrangement and alienation were gone. When the writer of Hebrews quoted the Psalms and said, "We see Jesus" (2:9) this is Jesus that I recognize. This is He of whom Peter said, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we're all witnesses of it." (Acts 2:32).
To sum, it's not my trust in God that counts, nor even my trust in Jesus, even (though I do). The vision that burning before me in the text is the frail, mortal, vulnerable Human Being who trusted in His Father God to save Him. This is the brass serpent who was lifted up before our eyes. And this is the One now enthroned. This is the Lamb of God, slain for all. This is the One we can see, and hear, and follow. Because we're here, and He was here, among us. The disciples were with him for several years, and their testimonies are clear; His Holy Spirit is here, declaring Him through the Holy Word.
To me, the Spirit expressly declares that "My hands are clean/I have kept Your word/You rescued Me because You delighted in Me" in Psalm 18 is not merely King David trying to rescue himself, but it importantly typifies the coming Son of David, who is Jesus Christ. God got Jesus out of the 'jam' of incarnation in the flesh of sin, and did it in a way that gives life to all who believe. This was the unique grain that fell and brought forth many grains. God even said, "This is My Son in whom I delight". God delights in Jesus, His Son.