Second Pass at This Sunday's Bible Lessons

[The first pass here contains an explanation of what these "passes" are about.]

This Sunday's Lessons:
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12

General Comments (continued)
8. Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19: This Psalm is attributed to King Solomon, son and successor of King David. At the beginning of his reign, Solomon impressed God by asking not for wealth or power, but wisdom. The Old Testament records that God gave this gift to him, enhancing his rule. But, tragically, Solomon became mesmerized by power and wealth. Without quesiton, Solomon was the most powerful of Israel's kings and the wealthiest. But his reign also was also characterized by a tolerance of idol worship that compromised Israel's faith and because it was completely dependent on God for its life, its security as well.

9. The Psalm describes, as the Life Application Bible puts it, "the perfect king." Christians have long associated these words with Jesus, the Perfect King.

10. Throughout verses 1-4, Solomon repeatedly equates "justice" and "righteousness." The first two lines of the psalm is what the scholars call a chiasm. If you designate each segment of the verses with a letter denoting its theme, verse 1 would be broken down in this way:

Give the king (a)
Your justice (b)
O God
and Your righteousness (b)
to a king's son (a)

This equation of righteousness with justice (and what that means) is seen in the next three verses, where we see what the scholars call incomplete parallels, places where not the exact, but similar terms or images are used to drive home a point about the "perfect king."

May the mountains (a)
yield prosperity for the people (b)
and the hills (a)
in righteousness (c)

May he
defend the cause (a)
of the poor of the people (b)
get deliverance (a)
to the needy (b)
and crush the oppressor (b)

From this, we derive the conclusion that the King stands for all unable to stand for themselves. Liberation theology says that God has a preference for the poor. That may be.

But it isn't just the financially poor for whom God stands. We shouldn't forget that the founding patriarch of God's people was Abraham, a wealthy man. There's a sense in which all are poor and God is for those who have been made weak by sin and death and are in need of the perfect king, Jesus the Christ.

10. Verses 18 and 19 of the Psalm underscore that even this description of the perfect king really isn't about the king. It's about the God Who gives this king to the world.

11. The Psalm ends with the words, "Amen and Amen." Amen means Yes! or Let it Be! It's a way of affirming that what has just been said is true and desired. Whenever our modern translations of the New Testament quotes Jesus as saying, "Truly, I say to you..." or "Truly, truly...," it's translating the words from the original text in which Jesus says, "Amen, amen..."

When we say "Amen" at the conclusions of our prayers, we're not saying, "Over and out," but "Yes, I'm bringing these things to You, God, and I'm sure that You will respond to these prayers as You see fit. Your will be done."

Similarly, when we confess our faith and we close our confession with, "Amen," we're saying, "This is precisely what we believe!"

[I hope to post the next pass at these texts on Friday.]