Psalms of Christ's Exaltation

Bonus! Today's discussion is also up on Youtube if you'd rather listen! 

Yesterday we began discussing Christ in the Psalms. We started by looking at some of the ways in which Christ's experiences on the cross were previewed in Psalm 22. Today we look beyond Christ's sorrow and humiliation. We can see in the Psalms prophetic previews of Jesus' rescue by God and exaltation. Psalm 30 gives us a Psalm of David. The superscript to Psalm 30 reads a few different ways depending on your English translation.

NIV: A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

KJV: A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David

ESV: A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple. 

The difference in these renderings is focused around the word for "house" in Hebrew "הַבַּיִת". This word can sometimes be rendered as dwelling place for worship, but is far more often (in hundreds of instances) used for house. The first temple built in Jerusalem was built during the reign of Solomon after the death of David. Meaning that David may have composed this Psalm in dedication to the future construction of the temple, or the Hebrew word here isn't in relationship to the temple, but rather the palace or home of David. 

Whether the word references home or temple, either way the Psalm has a setting of dedication to God for the grand opening of either a home or temple. When Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin one of the charges brought against him was words spoken against the temple:

"We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.'" (Mark 14:58)

Finally two came forward 61and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” (Matthew 26:60b-61) 

The claim by Jesus was figurative regarding the temple in Jerusalem, he was in actuality speaking about his own body (as we are told in John 2:21).  

At this point, you might be thinking "Ok Jacob...how does this relate back to Psalm 30?", great question! Let's take a look at Psalm 30:

I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. (Psalm 30:1-3)

The Psalm speaks of thanks to God for rescue. Help was called for, and the Lord provided healing. The position of the Psalm seems to be one of death, yet God spared the one speaking from the "realm of the dead" and "going down to the pit". The Psalmist again speaks of being spared in verse 8-10:

To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.”

While David could be thankful to God for a momentary rescue from death, David would eventually die. David would eventually become as his forefathers, dust. Yet the Psalm uses dust as the linchpin of the appeal to God for rescue. "Will the dust praise you?" is the reasoning of the Psalmist in distress. While David would eventually die, this points to a need of one who would be able to praise God without the threat of becoming dust. The Lord is worthy of praise forever, the Lord's faithfulness is worthy of proclaiming for an eternity. It is from this position that the Psalm shifts into rejoicing:

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever. (Psalm 30:11-12)

The one rejoicing is one whose clothing has changed. The Lord has caused this change in clothing for the purpose of bringing praises to the Lord from the heart. We see the Psalmist was in distress, the appeal to the Lord while in distress, and we see the Lord's rescue and the praise rendered in thanksgiving as a response to God's deliverance. We see this same pattern in the exaltation of Jesus as well.  Christ on the cross, was there ever a person more in distress! Christ cried out to the Lord. The Lord's rescue came as he raised Christ from the dead. Christ Jesus then lives forever more praising and leading the worship of God in genuine thankfulness rooted in the reality of God's deliverance. 

By way of summary, Psalm 30 points to an everlasting thanks offered by one who has been raised from death by God to a life no longer touched by death. Jesus spoke of the destruction and rebuilding of the temple of his body, what better description of Christ's rescue and exaltation than a Psalm dedicated to the new building of either David's home or the temple of God. Jesus himself is the one in whom "all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form." (Colossians 2:9). Jesus is the one whose body has been made new through the resurrection. If there was ever a place to be dedicated to the praise of God out of thanksgiving for his deliverance it is the certain to be found in Christ! 

Psalm 30 isn't the only Psalm which speaks of Christ's deliverance from death and exaltation. Nor is Psalm 30 the only place that Jesus' body could be understood as a temple, home or building. 

In Psalm 118 there is a beautiful description of one in battle who must depend upon the Lord. The Psalmist declares boastfully that they are not afraid of the mortals who seek their life (v5-7). Then the Psalmist doubles down repeating that the Lord is the best place of refuge, not humans (8-12). Jesus certainly was left without army, follower, or friend on the night he was betrayed. He only looked to the Lord for help. The description of the plight of the Psalmist comes to a dramatic peak in vs 13:

I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. 

In the throws of suffering is when the Psalm changes focus from the problem, to the problem solver: 

The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter. I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. (Psalm 118:14-24)

This passage is of course a passage that Jesus referenced regarding himself and the kingdom of God. We read in Matthew 24:42-44

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Jesus uses building language regarding himself, that he is the stone rejected by the builders, and yet rejected by mankind, accepted by God. The cornerstone being foundational in any building's construction, Christ Jesus here pointed to a Psalm which used battle language to emphasize trust in the Lord in the midst of great turmoil that results in overwhelming victory via the Lord's faithfulness. 

We see in the Psalms language expressing the humiliation, sorrow, eventual victory and ever lasting exaltation of the Messiah. As we conclude today's discussion, please don't think that Psalm 22, 30, and 118 are the only Psalms pertaining to the Messiah. I could say more here and include some discussion on Psalm 110 (and other Psalms), but I think I'll save that for Sunday's sermon. I'll close today by giving you a question to ask as you read through the Psalms, think about what a Psalm would have meant to Jesus as he read them, sung them, and experienced them. When you read a Psalm how would it's meaning be different if it was Jesus reading it?