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Psalm 89:20, 27-29   I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him…. And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.  I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.  I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.

Whereas the number of Psalms that might be identified as ‘Messianic Psalms’ can vary between 15 and 20, Psalm 89 is universally recognised as one.  While the description of this Promised King fits with all God’s promises, the name, ‘David’, and the use of the phrase, ‘I have anointed him with my sacred oil’, confirm that the ‘Moshiach’ is the One to whom Etham the Ezrahite is referring.  The fact that all the other descriptors of this Promised King were nascent in King David’s reign (1010-970 BC), they were clearly pointing to a much ‘Greater David’, a descendant in whom they would ultimately be fulfilled.

The Messianic Psalms are a great source of encouragement to us as we reflect on the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus (‘Saviour’) Christ (‘Messiah’).  God’s Covenant People had to hang on to the promise for a millennium before Jesus was born, and, more sadly, many of them have rejected the fulfilment of God’s promise in him, and are still waiting!  In the 1980s when I was ministering in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney I saw many Government buses carrying the advertisement on the back, ‘We want Moshiach now’, which made me sad every time I was stuck behind one, and drove me to more fervent prayer for Jewish evangelism.

But all this encourages me in my conviction that, in spite of how difficult things are becoming for the Church worldwide today, with much opposition and many setbacks, as it was for Israel then, God is faithful, and the fulfilment of his Promise that Jesus will Return in power to rule as Judge and King over every nation is assured, regardless of what we might be called on to endure as we patiently wait.  As the Apostle Paul wrote: “But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us – by me and Silas and Timothy – was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, but in him it has always been ‘Yes’. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.  And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

I am also reminded that Jesus has commissioned us with a task while we are waiting: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).  Let us all be inspired into action in the light of God’s proven faithfulness, and let us take every opportunity to pray for our world and and to bear witness to Christ; it is much better to meet him as Saviour than to have to stand before him as Judge!

– Bruce Christian