Wednesday: Eternal King of Unrivaled Power

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 28th of February 2024

Read Psalms 2:1-12; Psalms 110:1-3; Psalms 89:4,13-17; and Psalms 110:5-6. What do these texts teach us about Christ as King?

The portrayal of God as the Messiah’s Father points to the coronation of the king when the king was adopted into God’s covenant (Psalms 2:7, Psalms 89:26-28). Psalms 2:1-12:7 foresees Christ’s resurrection and exaltation as the dawn of the new everlasting covenant and Christ’s royal priesthood (Acts 13:33-39, Hebrews 1:5, Hebrews 5:5).

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

The Messiah sits at God’s right hand as Someone who has unprecedented honor and authority (Psalms 110:1; Acts 7:55-56). “Moreover, the interplay between the Lord and the ‘anointed’ (Messiah) even suggests an intention to identify this Davidic Messiah with the Lord Himself. . . . If the one who sits at the right is the Lord, then, the Lord is the Messiah, since the latter is also seen at the right [see Psalms 110:1, 5]._”—Jacques Doukhan, _On the Way to Emmaus (Clarksville, MD: Lederer Books, 2012), pages 26, 27.

In the end, Christ will have absolute victory over His enemies. To make the enemies a “footstool” is an image that reflects the custom of the ancient Near Eastern kings to place their feet on the necks of their defeated enemies to demonstrate total dominance over them. Yet, Christ’s rod here is not a tool of terror (Psalms 2:9, Psalms 110:2).

The rod (“staff”) was originally held by tribal leaders as the symbol of the tribe (Numbers 17:2-10). Christ’s rod comes from Zion because He represents the people of Zion. His rod is a symbol of divine judgment, which ends the rule of evil and depicts Christ’s unrivaled reign (Revelation 2:27, Revelation 12:5). Even the wicked kings are given a chance to repent and submit to the Messiah (Psalms 2:10-12).

One graphic depiction of Christ’s ultimate victory is found in the pre-Advent scene in Daniel 7:1-28, which shows that, after judgment is given “ ‘in favor of the saints of the Most High’ ” (Daniel 7:22, NKJV), His kingdom is established, and “ ‘His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom’ ” (Daniel 7:27, NKJV). Because of the Cross, the promise of the kingdom is assured.

A blessing is promised to all who trust in the King, and the people rejoice in the Messiah’s sovereign and righteous reign (Psalms 2:12, Psalms 89:15-17).

How nice it is to know that, yes, in the end, good will triumph over evil, justice will be done, and pain and suffering will forever be vanquished. How should this truth give us comfort now when, from a human perspective, evil seems to prosper?