Psa 21:8-13 | KingComments | STEP | In order for the full blessing to be enjoyed, it is necessary for all that are in rebellion against God be judged by the Conqueror of Calvary. In , the remnant is speaking to the King. This is about trusting in the victory that the King, Christ, achieves over the enemy, whereby the King puts His trust in the LORD and the LORD does not shame His trust. God is performing His work of deliverance with respect to the remnant Himself and does so in and through His Messiah. In the last verse of this section, , we see this clearly. There they ask the LORD to redeem them by His strength and power, while the Messiah has that strength and power. The cursing and extermination of the enemy are part of God’s faithfulness to His covenant. We see this, for example, in what God says to Abraham: “The one who curses you I will curse” ( ). By this He is saying, as it were: ‘The one who despises you, I will destroy.’ There is no doubt about God’s power and that of His King over the enemies. His “hand”, and specially His “right hand” as a picture of power, will know how to find His enemies, that is, those who hate Him ( ). No enemy can hide from Him un-findable. He will seize them in their most hidden hiding place and place them in the light of His judgment. He will make them “as a fiery oven” as soon as He shows His face to them ( ). Here God reveals His wrath. He is furious, as it were. That will happen “in the time” of His “anger”, or the time of His presence, which is the time “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God” ( ). Then He shows His face. He is “the LORD” Who “will swallow them up in His wrath”. “The fire shall consume them”, nothing of them will remain on earth. Not only will they themselves perish in judgment, but also “their offspring”, literally “their fruit” and “their descendants” He will “destroy” them “from the earth, … from among the sons of men” ( ). They will have no successors in evil. There will be no remnant of them left through whom evil could progress or revive. Evil has been eradicated radically, that is, root and all. Truth and righteousness will triumph and never be trampled on again. The Messiah reigns and He is the Friend of truth and righteousness which will be upheld by Him in a perfect way. In the reason for the judgment is mentioned, which we see from the word “though” with which the verse begins. Judgment comes because of the “evil” they have “intended” against the LORD and His Anointed (cf. ). This is not about evil deeds, but about devising a plot in their hearts. It proves that they are sinning deliberately, premeditatedly. Several times in the Gospels we read that the leaders were plotting evil against God’s Anointed ( ). They have “devised a plot”. They do not want Him to be King over them ( ). Therefore, they have devised all kinds of things to put Him to death. But nothing came of their cunning plan. It proves their folly to do anything against Christ. They devise it all in their pride, while being blind to the fact that “they will not succeed”. If they finally succeed in putting the Lord Jesus to death, it will not be because of their scheming, but because He delivers Himself to them, because it is God’s time for it. They will not be able to carry out their plans to thwart God because God turns the tables. It is not the Messiah Who is their target, but they are God’s target ( ). He will “make them turn their back” and “aim with” His “bowstrings at their faces”. That He is aiming His bow at their faces means that they are on an advance in His direction. He is not lying in ambush, but is attacking them head-on, with the result described in the preceding verses. The psalm ends with a prayer that the LORD will exalt Himself in His strength and the promise of the remnant that they will then sing and praise His power ( ). The King began in by praising the power of the LORD. Then the song of victory sounded. The song of victory was sung in faith trusting in the LORD. He will do what He promises and fulfill it in His anointed King, Who trusts in Him perfectly. The remnant shares in that confidence and in the certainty that it will be as it was sung. The LORD has helped and it is also certain that He will continue to help. Yet it still comes down to trusting in faith, because the enemies may be considered defeated for faith, but they are still there. Therefore, the knowledge that things will eventually be all right does not make prayer unnecessary. In fact, this certainty cannot endure in any other way than through prayer alone. This prayer of faith that the remnant prays is therefore completely appropriate. What matters in the end is that the LORD is glorified. Thus, this psalm ends with the heartfelt desire to exalt Him. This corresponds to the prayer: “Hallowed be Your name” ( ).

‏ Psalms 21:8-13

Judgment on the Enemies

In order for the full blessing to be enjoyed, it is necessary for all that are in rebellion against God be judged by the Conqueror of Calvary. In Psa 21:8-13, the remnant is speaking to the King. This is about trusting in the victory that the King, Christ, achieves over the enemy, whereby the King puts His trust in the LORD and the LORD does not shame His trust.

God is performing His work of deliverance with respect to the remnant Himself and does so in and through His Messiah. In the last verse of this section, Psa 21:13, we see this clearly. There they ask the LORD to redeem them by His strength and power, while the Messiah has that strength and power. The cursing and extermination of the enemy are part of God’s faithfulness to His covenant. We see this, for example, in what God says to Abraham: “The one who curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3). By this He is saying, as it were: ‘The one who despises you, I will destroy.’

There is no doubt about God’s power and that of His King over the enemies. His “hand”, and specially His “right hand” as a picture of power, will know how to find His enemies, that is, those who hate Him (Psa 21:8). No enemy can hide from Him un-findable. He will seize them in their most hidden hiding place and place them in the light of His judgment.

He will make them “as a fiery oven” as soon as He shows His face to them (Psa 21:9). Here God reveals His wrath. He is furious, as it were. That will happen “in the time” of His “anger”, or the time of His presence, which is the time “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God” (2Thes 1:7b-8). Then He shows His face. He is “the LORD” Who “will swallow them up in His wrath”. “The fire shall consume them”, nothing of them will remain on earth.

Not only will they themselves perish in judgment, but also “their offspring”, literally “their fruit” and “their descendants” He will “destroy” them “from the earth, … from among the sons of men” (Psa 21:10). They will have no successors in evil. There will be no remnant of them left through whom evil could progress or revive. Evil has been eradicated radically, that is, root and all. Truth and righteousness will triumph and never be trampled on again. The Messiah reigns and He is the Friend of truth and righteousness which will be upheld by Him in a perfect way.

In Psa 21:11 the reason for the judgment is mentioned, which we see from the word “though” with which the verse begins. Judgment comes because of the “evil” they have “intended” against the LORD and His Anointed (cf. Psa 2:2). This is not about evil deeds, but about devising a plot in their hearts. It proves that they are sinning deliberately, premeditatedly. Several times in the Gospels we read that the leaders were plotting evil against God’s Anointed (Mt 12:14 ; Mt 26:4).

They have “devised a plot”. They do not want Him to be King over them (Lk 19:14). Therefore, they have devised all kinds of things to put Him to death. But nothing came of their cunning plan. It proves their folly to do anything against Christ. They devise it all in their pride, while being blind to the fact that “they will not succeed”. If they finally succeed in putting the Lord Jesus to death, it will not be because of their scheming, but because He delivers Himself to them, because it is God’s time for it.

They will not be able to carry out their plans to thwart God because God turns the tables. It is not the Messiah Who is their target, but they are God’s target (Psa 21:12). He will “make them turn their back” and “aim with” His “bowstrings at their faces”. That He is aiming His bow at their faces means that they are on an advance in His direction. He is not lying in ambush, but is attacking them head-on, with the result described in the preceding verses.

The psalm ends with a prayer that the LORD will exalt Himself in His strength and the promise of the remnant that they will then sing and praise His power (Psa 21:13). The King began in Psa 21:1b by praising the power of the LORD. Then the song of victory sounded.

The song of victory was sung in faith trusting in the LORD. He will do what He promises and fulfill it in His anointed King, Who trusts in Him perfectly. The remnant shares in that confidence and in the certainty that it will be as it was sung. The LORD has helped and it is also certain that He will continue to help.

Yet it still comes down to trusting in faith, because the enemies may be considered defeated for faith, but they are still there. Therefore, the knowledge that things will eventually be all right does not make prayer unnecessary. In fact, this certainty cannot endure in any other way than through prayer alone. This prayer of faith that the remnant prays is therefore completely appropriate.

What matters in the end is that the LORD is glorified. Thus, this psalm ends with the heartfelt desire to exalt Him. This corresponds to the prayer: “Hallowed be Your name” (Mt 6:9).