Zion Theology in the Psalms

2002-04-09

David as the Anointed

David is the Lord’s anointed (which is the meaning of the words Messiah and Christ). Whomever the Lord anoints to be His king or one set apart for a special purpose is his anointed. Saul was also called the Lord’s anointed; David referred to him as such (1 Samuel 26:9). The Lord’s anointed could refer to any of the sons of David that reigned or will reign over Israel, from David to Zedekiah, to Jesus Christ. The anointed is a vassal to the rightful King, the living God. Van Gemeren states that the “Davidic king is [God’s] instrument of extending his kingdom to all the earth” (Van Gemeren 17). Throughout the psalms, there are often two aspects that need to be noted. First is the context the author was writing in, be it David or any of the psalmists. Second, there is a fulfillment that is seen in the righteous rule or experience that will be found in Jesus Christ. Such will be examined throughout this study. It is very important to understand that when reading the psalms, one does not forget the original context that the psalms were written in.

Relationship Between the Anointed and the Lord

Being the anointed puts the anointed man in a unique relationship with the Lord God of the universe. The Lord calls him His begotten son, and He is his Father (Psalms 2:7; 89:26-27). Being like His son, the anointed king receives His blessing in obedience (Psalms 18:20ff; cf. 45:4). He also will receive discipline in the event of his unfaithfulness (Psalm 89:30ff). We know these things from the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7. Given the position of the anointed, God avenges him (Psalm 18:47) and gives him his heart’s desire (2:8, 21:2). As a Father, He is the real power of the son and he will not be shaken (Psalm 21:7); therefore, he ought not trust in inferior objects of strength such as one’s own people (20:7). These things are summed up in the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7; that his kingdom would be forever.

Role of the Anointed to Israel and the World

As Israel wanted a king to rule over them because of the failing system under Samuel’s sons (1 Samuel 8:5), they did not see the repercussions of how a king would affect their lives with taxes and war efforts. Nonetheless, the king in Israel was to be very different as seen in the psalms. As opposed to other nations in the Ancient Near East, especially in Egypt, this king was not divine (until Jesus Christ), for the real King is God Himself. The king is subject to the law of God (as Jesus was), and as formerly said, would be disciplined when he sins. He is a comfort to his people, and to “trust in him is concomitant with trust in his appointed vassal, the Davidic king” (Van Gemeren 17). Psalm 72 describes how the king should rule. He is to rule with righteousness, which comes from God, to judge His people (Psalm 72:1-2). He is to bring justice to the poor (Psalm 72:4, 12ff), for he is to be a servant king. The king is to cut off evil from the land (Psalm 101).

Since the true King of Israel is God, the role of his anointed is to extend God’s rule over the face of the earth. In Psalm 18, with God working through His anointed, he will rule over the nations. In verse 49, David writes that he will give thanks to God among the Gentiles and praise His name. The testimony of the living God, therefore, is heard among peoples that do not know Him.

Laments of David

Psalm 16 demonstrates that David’s joy depends solely on God. According to Ross, verse one could summarize the entire psalm, “Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust” (Ross 803). David realizes his dependence on God, and there is no good thing in him apart from God (Psalm 16:2). The Lord was all what David needed, as God was his portion of inheritance (Psalm 16:5-6 in Ross 804). He would not worry about death overcoming him, because God would “preserve his life in the face of death.” He would know the “path of life so he anticipated experiencing further joy in God’s presence” (Ross 804). Death would not interrupt the joy he found in his relationship with God regardless of any trial David would have been experiencing at the time.

As mentioned in Psalm 16:10, David refers to himself as a ‘holy one,’ in the sense that he is one of God’s saints. In Psalm 22, though we do not know the occasion of the Psalm, the former half of the psalm is one of great distress. The introductory cry in verse 1 states how David feels extreme abandonment. The lament proper in the following verses describes how various enemies surround him. In verse 3-5, in the midst of his lament, he confesses his trust in God in how He has delivered Israel in previous times. Because David is one of God’s holy saints, he is not in favorable company in the Ancient Near East, as sordid dogs and ‘bulls of Bashan’ have surrounded him. He petitions God in verse 19, that he might be delivered from the perils that have come about. In verse 21b, his lamenting shifts, as if God has answered his prayer in an oracle of salvation (Ross 811). The vow of praise begins, that he will praise God amongst all of Israel. The entire world will remember and turn to the Lord (22:27ff). Amazingly, these things are also true of the Anointed that would come one thousand years later, Jesus Christ, even in the specificity of many events mentioned throughout the psalm. It is important to see that through the trials of the king, God will deliver him, and God will also receive the glory on an international level. The lovingkindness (or loyal, covenantal, unconditional love) of the Lord endures forever with David’s dynasty, ending eternally in Jesus Christ, and He will deliver the sons of David when they rely on Him.

Zion

Zion refers to a hill known as Ophel, which was held by the Jebusites before the reign of David (2 Samuel 5:7). The term, however, became known to signify all of Jerusalem. Van Gemeren notes that “Zion is the intersection of space and time, time and eternity, man and God. ‘Zion’ in the Psalms refers to sweet communion of God and His people” (Van Gemeren 17). It is the place that God has chosen to live (Psalm 132:13ff) and has placed His king there to be a righteous ruler on His behalf (2:6).

Psalms 96-99

Psalms 96-99 are some of those sometimes known as the Enthronement Psalms. These psalms “presuppose the centrality of Zion, where the Lord is magnified in the praises of the people” (Anderson 156). Naturally, God reigns over the entire universe, but the irruption of God’s rule begins in Zion and spreads out to the people of Israel and the world by His king, as a corollary to Van Gemeren’s definition above. The Enthronement Psalms, according to Ross, are characterized by the phrase, “the Lord reigns,” or designates Him as “the great King,” or the “Lord is coming judge” (Ross 786). Some attribute these psalms in connection with a fall festival that celebrated or ensured God’s reign over the universe for another year, though there is no Biblical evidence that such a festival ever existed.

Psalm 96 juxtaposes God with the mere idols the Gentiles worship, and why one should worship God. All of nature worships Him, and He will come and judge the world. In Psalm 97, images of judgment can be seen in phrases such as “Clouds and darkness are round about him” (97:2). The coming of the Lord is a time of fear and shame for the idol worshippers, but a time of rejoicing for the righteous. As Ross had noted, the vivid anthropomorphisms that are seen throughout are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and His coming. In Psalm 98:6, the Lord is the King, and this King entered the human experience as Jesus Christ of the Davidic dynasty.

Psalms in the Life of Jesus Christ

Peter, in his sermon in Acts 2, quotes Joel 2 as well as Psalms 16 and 110 to affirm Jesus as the Messiah (anointed) that has come to rule. Joel spoke of signs of judgment, just as many of the Enthronement Psalms have. As for Psalm 16, Peter argues that David spoke as a prophet concerning Jesus that He would not remain in the grave. Psalm 16:10 ultimately cannot be referring to David, for he had been dead for one thousand years at that point.

Psalm 110 stands out among the Royal Psalms because some of it simply cannot refer to David himself. David writes in the first verse, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Peter argues that it was not David who ascended to heaven, but Jesus Christ who died and rose again. This same One David refers to is also “a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4). This priest-king of Salem in Genesis 14 (Salem is said to be Jerusalem, cf. Psalm 76:2) serves as a paradigm of who Christ is, who gives the sacrifice on behalf of the people, yet is also a king who rules with righteousness. The Paul speaks at length on this in Hebrews 5-7.

Zion Theology Today

As the Enthronement Psalms vividly portray, the King of Israel will come in judgment, bringing shame to the unrighteous and joy to the righteous. Jesus Christ will come in the future, and will establish righteous rule on the earth. Repentance in Israel must precede the coming of the Lord. Until that time, the current world situation will continue with no chance of peace.

Bibliography

Anderson, Bernard W. and Steven Bishop. Out of the Depths: The Psalms Speak To Us Today, Third Edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000.

Ross, Allen P. “Psalms.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Theological Seminary, Old Testament. Victor, 1985.

Van Gemeren, Willem A. “The Psalms.” Expositors Bible Commentary with the New International Version of the Holy Bible in Twelve Volumes, Volume 5. Grand Rapids, Zondervan 1991.