The Joy of the King - Psalm 21

Introduction (vv. 1-2)

Read Psalm 21

Psalm 21 (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults!

2 You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

3 For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

4 He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever.

5 His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.

6 For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

7 For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.

9 You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man.

11 Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.

12 For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.

13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!

We will sing and praise your power.

VV. 1-2 Help to tie this psalm into Psalm 20. The people prayed for the king in Psalm 20 and we see that God has heard their prayer and answered their prayer by giving the king his heart’s desire, so there is joy and thanksgiving for God answering their prayer. God had given David victory over and saved him from his enemies.

Again, this psalm could have been a prayer and praise for King David and for the following kings, there are things in this Psalm that give us hints that this is looking forward to the greater King, King Jesus.

First, within the Talmud and Targum, which are Jewish commentaries, they always interpreted this Psalm as pointing forward to the coming Messiah. It wasn’t until 1100 AD where a prominent Rabbi named Rashi suggested they quit interpreting this as pointing to the Messiah because he felt the Christians were falsely interpreting it as Jesus. So he wanted to interpret it solely as King David.

There will be things throughout the Psalm too that we will see that can really only be applied to Jesus, even though this can loosely be applied to David as one who points to Christ. And as we see the King’s joy in God, the people also rejoice because God has saved the king and answered his prayers.

I. God’s strength blesses the King (vv. 3-7)

The word for the “crown” God sets on his head is not a king’s royal crown. This crown or wreath is a gift to honor visiting dignitaries or guests at a banquet. They were made out of leaves, flowers, or precious metal. This is not a royal crown, although he certainly does rule. The point here is that God publicly honored the king and showed his love for him. “This rich gift, then, is a sign of the honor bestowed on the king by God—an open sign of divine approval for all to see.”

How did God honor him? David lists three ways God blessed the Messiah with his mighty power.

Johnston, James. The Psalms (Vol. 1) (pp. 224-225). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Life

God gave life to the King. God’s strength fought for the king, protected him from his enemies, and gave him life. This was definitely true of David. God protected David many times over and again from his enemies and when David’s life should have been cut short because of Saul and even because of his son Absolom, God protected and preserved him.

However, we see that there’s more than simply what God has done for David. God gave the King Messiah length of days forever and ever. While David was certainly blessed with life and more days, he did not live forever, at least physically. Now David, because of his faith in God, will certainly live forever, just as all those who put their faith in God, but only because God has granted the King Messiah life forevermore.

We see that Christ, being God, even though He died upon the cross, has been raised and is alive forevermore. Death will never touch Him again and because of that, those who follow Him and place their faith in Him will also receive life forevermore. Again, we see that as God blesses the King, He also blesses the King’s people.

Glory

Next, we see that God has blessed and honored the king through glory. Again, this was partially fulfilled through David as God promised him that someone would reign on his throne forever. David is seen as Israel’s first and best king outside of Christ Himself.

Glory essentially means weight. There is a weightiness and importance that God is giving to the King. A kind of importance that others will see and recognize and give their allegiance to because of this glory.

However, we see this perfectly fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of King Jesus.

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Because of Jesus’ perfect obedience to the will of the Father, the Father has bestowed on Him the kind of glory and importance no one else has had or will ever have. Jesus alone deserves to be worshipped and Jesus alone will receive all worship, even from His enemies.

Presence

Finally, God has honored and blessed the king with His presence. As we look through the pages of Scripture, the greatest blessing God gives to His people is Himself. It is not the things God gives, but His presence.

For those who do not love God, this will not seem like a blessing. For those who come to God only looking for what He can do or what He can give, they will never really be blessed by Him because those things should point us to Him, not be a blessing of themselves.

Jesus tells us the pure in heart shall see God. Those who are pure in their affections and desires long to be in the presence of God Himself.

Of course, Jesus again perfectly fulfills this because after His perfect obedience on the cross and His resurrection, God raised Him up and Christ ascended where He now sits on the right hand of the Father.

And for His people, because He has gained the victory, for those who trust in Christ, we know we will get to receive the greatest honor and blessing of being in the presence of God as well.

Why? Because in verse 7, the King trusts in the Lord. David trusted in the Lord and was promised to not be abandoned in Sheol. He knew that God would allow him to be in His presence. And David longed for that, because we saw in Psalm 16:11

Psalm 16:11 ESV

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

David wanted to be in the presence of God. The blessing comes when God granted David the desires of His heart. When our hearts desire God, He gives us that same blessing.

II. God’s strength fights for the King (vv. 8-13)

Next, just as the King and his people give thanks to God for what He has done for the King, they also thank God for what they know He will do for the King. God will fight for the King and give Him victory over His enemies.

Discovery

In Psalm 21:8

Psalm 21:8 ESV

Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.

God is not blind to where His enemies are. Even those who try to hide and disguise themselves will be found out by God. God sees and knows the heart of everyone and He will discover who and where the Kings enemies are.

We saw that God defended David from his enemies, even when he didn’t know where they were, God knew exactly where they were and what they were up to.

Likewise for Jesus, God protected Jesus from His enemies until it was His time to go to the cross. There was that situation where the people wanted to stone Him and He just walked right through the crowds because God protected Him until His time. And Jesus always knew when a line of questioning was sincere or if they were trying to trap Him.

Likewise, for us, we do not need to fear those who might oppose us. God knows who our enemies are. And if we are believers in Christ, we are a part of His body. And just as God protected the King, so He will protect us, whether that means physically for a time until He is ready to call us home, or He will protect us spiritually, knowing that even if the world hurts us, we are safe within His hands. God knows who our enemies are and we do not need to fear or protect ourselves for we have God with us if we belong to Jesus.

Destruction & Defeat

Psalm 21:9–10 ESV

You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man.

Psalm 21:11–13 ESV

Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed. For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows. Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.

Not only does God know who the Kings enemies are, He will bring destruction upon his enemies.

These words should bring a sober warning to those who would stand against the King. It should cause us to examine our hearts to be sure we are not counted as enemies of King Jesus. As Proverbs would say, the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There should always be a healthy fear and awe of who God is and to make sure we are in right standing with Him.

Hebrews 12:28–29 ESV

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

While God may not bring destruction immediately, destruction will certainly come for those who stand against King Jesus. We can stand confidently in obedience to Christ, even in the midst of persecution, knowing that God will bring justice for His people because He will destroy the enemies of Christ and His people.

Praise and Worship

Psalm 21:13 ESV

Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.

God was faithful to King David and brought him honor and success against his enemies. In a much more fulfilled way, God did the same for King Jesus and we as His people benefit from the joy and victory of Christ.

The proper response for us as His people is to submit ourselves to God in obedience and worship. We will sing and praise His power. Why? Because of what God has done for us in Christ. We come together each week to remind each other of the power of God demonstrated through the cross and resurrection of Christ. We remind each other when we celebrate and observe the Lord’s Supper. We remind each other and worship God when we celebrate and observe Baptism. We remind each other and worship as we sing hymns and praises to God. And we need to find ways to continue that praise and worship each day individually as we do when we come together corporately.