Psalm 145:11 They who?

"They shall speak of the glory of Your Kingdom

and tell of Your power."

~Psalm 145:11 ESV

For those who have been following the blog, you know that we are working Psalm 145 through, one verse at a time, and today we happen upon a verse that is sadly out of context. In light of this, I want to quote also the preceding verse to make sense of who "they" and "You" are. 

"All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

    and all your saints shall bless you!

11 

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom

    and tell of your power,

12 

to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,

    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom."

Psalm 145:10-12 ESV

With our context providing clarity of who "they" and "You" are in this passage, we see that it is the saints of God (Christians) who are speaking of the glory of this Kingdom, and that the Kingdom belongs to God, who is the "You". We know from other passages of Scripture that saints are the blood bought believers in Jesus Christ, who are declared righteous, not according to the works they have done, but according to God's mercy and the sacrifice of Jesus for sin, are seen and truly own the righteousness of Jesus Christ as it has been given to them as a gift from God along with being born again of the Holy Spirit.

In John's Gospel account, chapter 3, we are given the narrative account of Jesus talking to a man named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Let's pick up the account from the Scriptures in John 3:2-8 KJV

2 The same [Nicodemus] came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, 

we know that thou art a teacher come from God:

for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? 

Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 

Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, 

but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: 

so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

As we think about the Kingdom of God in the psalm, the saints are speaking of the glory of the Kingdom of God. However, in John 3, Jesus makes it clear that not only can one not enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born again by the Holy Spirit, regenerated, quickened, brought to life from death, but they cannot even see it. This is challenging to some as the Old Testament is speaking of saints and God's Kingdom (not national Israel) through a king of Israel, but one whose line would lead to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, whose lineage traces back to King David.

Here we see God's overarching knowledge and sovereignty over time, "declaring the end from the beginning", and the trust that one can have in God as one who He chose to set His love upon, a sinner rescued from death, one who once stood condemned, but now one for whom there is no condemnation, being in Christ Jesus. John 3 goes on to speak more of the work of the Holy Spirit in this life giving salvation, and of the consequences to those who are not saints, not adopted of God, nor washed in the blood of Jesus. In verses 35- 36 we see that:

"35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:

and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life;

but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Herein lies the difference between the Israelite who rejected God for idols and King David whose love for God, though he fell into sin, always produced a repentance that leads to life. In the New Testament passage, Nicodemus seems to be awakened to the truth of Jesus as Messiah, though we do not know for certain, but later on we read of Nicodemus following Jesus.

It is my contention that this discussion was not an intellectual back and forth about spirituality, but a man who knew of Jesus, heard of His signs and miracles, and was regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and thus sought Jesus out and learned great truths previously mysterious to many generations of Jews who longed for the Messiah to come, but Nicodemus now seems to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that he needs to be born again (even if he doesn't understand at first) and it seems from later testimony that Nicodemus truly repented, believed, and was born again to a new and living hope in Jesus, even while Jesus had not yet died for sin. 

Yet, in the definite plan of God, which cannot be ruined, we see here another bridge between the Testaments, with men like Abraham and Moses looking forward in hope, trusting completely in the promises of God which were given to them, yet not fulfilled even in their lifetimes. Abraham never saw his seed as numerous as the stars in the sky, and Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because of his sin striking the rock against God's command. Here we meet Nicodemus in John 3 due to a clue about the coming Kingdom of God in Psalm 145, and watching God's masterful plan unfold before his very eyes, we next see Nicodemus in John 19: 38-40 that Joseph of Arimathea came to recover and properly prepare Jesus' body for burial with this very same Nicodemus, and he brings along with him a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes to prepare the body. This is worth a serious amount of money, so considering the vast gift to prepare a dead man's body and his personal involvement in the burial process, it would seem that Nicodemus was born again, trusting first in Jesus early in His ministry, to Jesus' death and burial, and also for His rising from the dead and walking the Earth for another 40 days before ascending to Heaven. Nicodemus got to live in the middle of these events, speak personally with Jesus, see the crucified corpse, and presumably see Jesus again in the interim between the grave and the ascension into Heaven, where Jesus is preparing a place for those who loved Him. 

So where does this leave us, the average American who hasn't seen miracles and signs, who didn't live in Israel or have the Law of God passed on from generation to generation? Nothing has changed about how people get to see or inherit the Kingdom of God, and so we can find great solace from the words of Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3. In fact, we have in this chapter a great explanation of how God saves sinners, one that I find is best explained by reading Romans.... the whole thing. I also highly recommend Ephesians 1-3 which speak of the character and nature of God's plan to save His elect, the fact that we are all dead in our sins without being born again, and the grace of God that gives salvation as a gift, not as any results of works on our part, but a new creation that because it is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, will hate sin and love truth. 

For me, I am left wanting more. I want more wisdom about God's salvation of man, more filling of the Holy Spirit, more power and conviction in my preaching, more of the character of the perfect Husband, Jesus, and of the love the Bridegroom has for His Church, His Bride. I want more of God, and I want to share God more with others, share more with my friends, family, strangers, anyone anywhere who will listen to this Good News, the Gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Redeemer. 

But to those who are not born again, those who are not saints, those who are still dead in their sins, this is a wake up call to the eternal nature of God's punishment for sin, from John 3:36, "the wrath of God abideth (remains) on them." This is what breaks my heart, this is what drives me to pray, and this is why we spend our time and resources, limited though they are, in spite of disability, pain, hardship, mockery: that there are people out there who need to hear the Gospel, maybe for the 50th time before God chooses to give them life, but people whom God loves and Christ died for, people that God will use weak servants like us to reach them in love and truth, grace and mercy, loving even those who are our enemies because Christ Jesus loved us when we were dead in sin and full of rebellion against Him. 

I don't want to go on forever in this post, but to be honest, as I write through the things that I have meditated upon the last month or so, I am again renewed in hope, bolstered in strength, and pressed to action for the cause of Christ the King. We give our lives an offering til all the Earth resounds with ceaseless praise to the Son." ~ "For the Cause" by Keith and Kristyn Getty

Until the King returns, we herald His coming to all who will listen. All Hail, King Jesus!