The One True King Psalm 21

By: Edward Cortez

 

Psalm 21 is a depiction of a victorious king – undoubtedly a prophetic reference to the One true King – Jesus. If the prior psalm – Psalm 20 is a prayer that speaks of the king’s blessing upon his army, Psalm 21 is a bestowal of blessings upon the king himself.

The author of this psalm is David, the greatest king of Israel. In it, he acknowledges that it’s God’s strength and power that gave him the victories he accomplished as a king. Let’s listen in to him in verse one, “The king rejoices in your strength, LORD. How great is his joy in the victories you give!”

King David recognizes God as an answering and giving God who grants his heart’s desire and has not withheld his requests. God also gave him unending blessings, foremost of which is eternal life and joy in His presence. And because he trusts in the Lord, he will not easily falter. These are wonderful royal benefits that king David experienced. Yet they are also available to anyone who is a child of God who has trusted Christ. Just come to think of it, as sons and daughters of the King and Ruler of the universe, we have all these royal benefits in Christ when we become part of His kingdom!

The apostle Paul went into a doxology of praise when he realized how much blessings and benefits we enjoy for being in Christ. He declared in Ephesians 1:3-7, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

From verse eight till the end of Psalm 21, king David turns his attention to the power, strength, and might of the one true King. This King will one day appear for battle and will burn his enemies up as in a “blazing furnace…and His fire will consume them” (verse 9). Talk of divine retribution – while we are looking for true justice in the world today against evil atrocities it will not come until the coming of this one true King. Human justice is usually corrupt, unfair, and does not go far enough. But divine justice is perfect, fair, and swift. The judgment for our sins has been placed on Jesus when he hanged on the cross. When we trust Christ and his sacrifice on the cross as sufficient to atone for our sins we will escape the judgment of God. And so, with David we shout, “Be exalted in your strength, LORD; we will sing and praise your might” (verse 13).