Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 4 * BOOK 79
PART 4 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES – PART 4
Psalms 45, 46, and 47
It’s good to see you all back for the last lesson today. I suppose that coffee pot is about empty, isn’t it? Well, good to have everybody in here this afternoon. For those of you joining us on television, I know most of you have this program with a cup of coffee, if I can believe our mail. So we know exactly what you’re doing.
Okay, we’re going to continue on in our study in the Psalms. We’re going to go from 46 right on into chapter 47. If we run out of material before we run out of time, I’m going to go on to chapter 68, which would be the next Messianic Psalm.
All right, Psalms chapter 47. Now we’ve seen God the Son, the Messiah, pictured as the bridegroom of Jerusalem. Then we saw Him as the great God who intervened in the history of Israel from time to time. That reminds me, I probably should have done this while we were doing the last lesson. But jump up a minute to Zechariah, because a lot of times when I use these verses, people probably wonder—what does he mean by—he has done in the foretime.
Zechariah chapter 14 and this is just one example of what the prophet is talking about. How the Lord at the last moment will come in and rescue the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Zechariah 14—we can start at verse 1. This, of course, is the great prophecy concerning His Second Coming.
Zechariah 14:1-3
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem (See, there’s that city again.) to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; (or raped) and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, (And then when it seems like there is no hope.) and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.”
Well, there was more than one time. But the one we just looked at back there in II Kings with King Hezekiah is just one of those times when God interceded on behalf of Jerusalem, in particular, and Israel in general.
All right, now we can come back to Psalms chapter 47. We’ll just take these verses one-by-one and see how the God of Israel supplies all their needs. And, of course, they’re going to need this especially in the Tribulation period—which, of course, is making it so appropriate for today, because we certainly feel that the Tribulation is not that far out into the future. It just seems as though everything is coming together so quickly.
Psalms 47:1-2a
“O Clap your hands, all you people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. 2. For the LORD most high is terrible;…” Now ordinarily we think of God as what? The God of love.
But as Psalms 2 put it—we’ve looked at it often enough—after mankind has rejected the cross and crucified Him, next will come that time of what? Wrath and vexation. And that is exactly what it’s going to be. It’s going to be the wrath of God poured out, and He will indeed be “terrible.” Love will be a past thing. His judgment is being meted out. So now here we have it.
Psalms 47:2
“For the LORD most high is terrible; (when His wrath is poured out for–) he is a great King (and again) over all the earth.”
Now I’m just reminded. Someone just asked me how to witness to someone. Of course, the first thing I like to impress on someone who is a complete rebel and probably even claims to be an atheist—come back with me to Colossians. I’ve used these verses over and over. You know what I’ve said about them. I want people to know who Jesus Christ really is. Who is He? What has He accomplished so that we can rest on the fact that the rest will be accomplished? Well, Colossians chapter 1, I think these verses are so vivid. They are so simplistic in language that even the most agnostic, the most rebellious, would be able to see who this Jesus of Nazareth with whom we have to do is. All right, Colossians 1 and we’ll start at verse 13.
Colossians 1:13
“Who (That is God the Father in verse 12.) hath delivered us from the power of darkness, (in other words, at our salvation) and hath (already) translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Now we’re in the Body, but the Body is in the Kingdom. Now verse 14:
Colossians 1:14
“In whom (that is the Son) we have redemption (the process of being bought back) through his blood, (Which is the price of redemption. We’ve been bought back by His blood, and along with that we have–) even the forgiveness of sins:” We’re forgiven! We are blameless is the way Paul puts it in two different places. Because we’re forgiven! That happens when we believe for our salvation that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, as we see in I Corinthians 15:1-4. But here’s the part I want everyone to see.
Colossians 1:15a
“Who is (This Jesus of Nazareth, He is–) the image (or that visible appearance) of the invisible God,…” Which I referred to earlier this afternoon. Remember now, that this Godhead, as we looked at it way back in the first program, is comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But God the Son stepped out of the invisible Godhead and became the visible manifestation of that invisible God. That’s what verse 15 says.
Colossians 1:15
“Who (the Son) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature;” In other words, He’s the first that was ever made visible. He is from eternity past with the rest of the Godhead.
Colossians 1:16a
“For by him (God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth) were all things created,…” Now most people just refuse to give Him credit, and say He wasn’t the one who created. Oh, yes He was! Absolutely, He was. Now the other two persons of the Godhead were involved, but it’s God the Son who was given the responsibility to call for creation.
Colossians 1:16
“For by him (God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, I’m going to keep repeating it.) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, (That is political powers, empires—doesn’t make a bit of difference.) or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things (everything) were created by him, and for him:” They are His to do with as He pleases.
He’s Sovereign. The whole universe is His! When you look up at that starlit sky—my goodness, lately, you know, I just love to look up and see Orion. I almost feel like he’s just hanging up there watching over me. And some of these other bright, brilliant stars—and to think they’ve been there for thousands of years. Have they moved? No. The ships still sail by them, you know. He’s the Creator of everything. He knows every star by name. He holds them all together. And then on top of that, verse 18:
Colossians 1:18
“And He is the head of the body, the church:…” Notice it doesn’t say He is the King, because He’s the head of the Body. He’s our Saviour.
That’s what sets us apart from all of these promises given to Israel. Because through all of Israel’s history, as I’ve been stressing over and over now lately, this promise of a King and a Kingdom came about shortly after the Nation appeared. And then especially after King David, all of these promises fell into place. All right, back to Psalms chapter 47.
Psalms 47:2b-3
“…he is a great King over all the earth. 3. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.” Now remember I showed you in one of these programs earlier this afternoon, Israel isn’t going to be beneath. Israel’s going to be where? Above. And that’s exactly what the Psalmist is referring to here. The nations of the world are going to be under the feet of Israel and not the other way around. Verse 4:
Psalms 47:4
“He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved.” See how exclusivist this is. This isn’t for a Gentile. This is strictly for the Children of Israel coming out of the loins of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Psalms 47:5-6
“God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. 6. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, (And again it’s repeated.) sing praises.” And Israel did. That was all part of their worship experience. Now Paul gives us likeminded instructions. I have to go look at it a moment.
Come back with me to (keep your hand in Psalms) Ephesians chapter 5. This is why I’m always emphasizing that Paul gives us all of the necessary instructions for salvation and for our Christian walk while we’re here on planet earth and for our hope for the end. It’s all in these Romans through Philemon letters of the Apostle Paul. And everything else in Scripture pertains primarily to His Covenant People Israel. But now look what Paul writes to us in Ephesians chapter 5 starting at verse 18.
Ephesians 5:18
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled (or controlled) by the Spirit;” The Holy Spirit, Who is also designated in Luke 24 as the power from on High. All right, now verse 19, under the control and the leadership of the Holy Spirit we:
Ephesians 5:19
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” That’s appropriate. Of course it is. And that’s why I’m still an advocate of the old Hymns. The old Hymns made sense.
The old Hymns had a lot of theology to them. Some of them might have been a little bit off, but for the most part they had relatively good theology. This stuff we’ve got lately is empty. There’s just nothing to it. Totally empty, but, oh, my goodness, this isn’t where the Scripture puts us. It puts us “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
And then verse 20, here is the appropriate access to the throne room. I get this letter almost once a week: how do we pray? Well, here it is.
Ephesians 5:20
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now, isn’t that plain enough? How do we pray? We pray to the Father, and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that gives full credit to everything concerned. So, you see, it wasn’t just Israel that was instructed to sing. Paul tells us to do the same thing – make our hearts happy and joyful with melodious songs and hymns. All right, back to Psalms 47, verse 7.
Psalms 47:7
“For God (Again, the Triune God, but the King part of the Godhead is the Son.) is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.” See, there again is the Deity of Jesus Christ. We know that Christ is the King. Christ is the Anointed One. He’s the Messiah. And yet He is the God that is the King.
Now when it comes to using these terms of Deity in different ways, I like to come back to Exodus chapter 3. Come back there with me. Because I think we have to understand that as we glean from Scripture, we have this constant reference to God, the Lord. And yet it comes down to the final analysis of—who is the voice in the burning bush? Well, it’s God the Son. It’s Jehovah. It’s the Jesus Christ of the New Testament, but He’s not called that back in the Old.
All right, Exodus chapter 3, I think we’ve got plenty of time. In the first four verses we have Moses noticing this bush that’s afire and isn’t burned up. So he turns aside. Because after all, that would be interesting, wouldn’t it? To have a bush on fire and yet it just keeps burning and burning and doesn’t disappear.
Exodus 3:3-4a
“And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush,…”Now right there in one verse you have two terms for Deity. The Lord and God. Well, are they two different persons? Of course not. It’s the same voice coming out of the burning bush.
Exodus 3:4b-5
“…God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5. And God said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Now watch this.
Exodus 3:6
“Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Plain enough? Well, that’s just as plain as language can make it. It’s the God with whom Israel has to do.) And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” Now we come down to verse 7. What’s the term of Deity? LORD.
Exodus 3:7
“And the LORD said, (Same person that’s in the burning bush.) I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;”
Exodus 3:8-9
“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.” All right, now for sake of time come down to verse 11.
Exodus 3:11
“And Moses said unto God, (Well, he could have just as well said, And Moses said unto the Lord. These are all interchangeable terms of Deity. And that’s all I wanted to point out here.) Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Now you’ve got to remember. What’s the situation? Moses has been out there herding sheep for forty years on the backside of the desert. He’s almost become unattached to civilization. And he says, who am I to go before a King? I’m just an old, lowly forty-year shepherd. But that’s where he had to be before God could use him. Verse 12:
Exodus 3:12-13a
“And God said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. (Now here we go again, the terms of Deity.) 13. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?…”
What made him say that? How many gods did Egypt have? Well, we can’t number them. But every one of them had a what? Had a name. And old Moses knew that. He says, listen, if I speak of a God to the people of Israel, the first thing they’ll say is—which one? Which God? What’s his name?’ All right, now God doesn’t scold Moses, not one bit. He just simply says–
Exodus 3:14
“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
All right, now I always have to follow this up with a New Testament account in John’s Gospel chapter 8. And this, again, just nails it down. That even though we have all these terms of Deity, yet it is Jesus of Nazareth as we know Him in the New Testament. One and the same. Let’s jump in at verse 48. The Jews were always tormenting Him, especially the upper crust.
John 8:48-49
“Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon? 49. Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me.”
John 8:50-52a
“And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep (or believe) my saying, he shall never see death. 52. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a demon….” If He’s going to claim to have power over life and death, they think He has a demon.
John 8:52b-54
“…Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; (They’re dead.) and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? (He has been for 2,000 years.) and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54. Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoreth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:”
John 8:55-56
“Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: (Because you say you do and you don’t.) but I know him, and keep his saying. 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he a saw it, and was glad.” Boy, they caught that full force, didn’t they? That was like hitting a homerun. And they got all shook up and said, now wait a minute, wait a minute.
John 8:57
“Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?” Two thousand years ago? Like a young man on the elevator in Jerusalem—we were talking about the end-time, another fellow and I. In fact, he was a retired fighter pilot. We were talking about that, and this twenty year old looked up at us real quizzically, and I said, “Yeah, everything is getting ready for the end-time.” And I’ll never forget his answer. “Ah, come on.” What does that tell you? He thought I was way out in left field. But see, these guys thought the same thing. You’ve seen Abraham? Aw, come on. Come on, let’s get with it. But now look what Jesus said.
John 8:58
“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Do you think those Jews caught it? Full force—because they knew chapter 3 of Exodus. They knew what God told Moses.
And here was His explicit answer that He was the same God of Abraham that spoke in the burning bush. He was the same God that opened the Red Sea. And all the way through Israel’s history, it’s God the Son who is the One who communicates and brings about all of these things on planet earth. All right, let’s go back and finish Psalms chapter 47 a moment and verse 7 again.
Psalm 47:7a
“For God (God the Son in this case, God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified Resurrected Ascended Lord of Glory, He–) is the King of all the earth:…” Now He’s not tonight, because who is the ruler of this world? Satan is. Satan is the ruler of this world tonight. He’s not the King of the church—He’s the Head of the Body. So He will not assume Kingship until He returns.
Now, I think I’ve got time. Let’s go back up to Matthew a moment. Because I want to make sure that everyone in my listening audience understands that Jesus of Nazareth is that coming King. Come into Matthew chapter 19, because here’s where it’s put so explicitly—that when He returns, He will assume His Kingship. Tonight He’s at the Father’s right hand. God the Father is on the throne. But when He returns and sets up this glorious Kingdom there in Jerusalem, it will be God the Son. All right, Matthew 19—this is during the end of His closing days of earthly ministry.
Matthew 19:27
“Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” As the Twelve. For reward. For their following and being faithful for these last three years. Now watch Jesus’ answer.
Matthew 19:28
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye who have followed me, (these last three years) in the regeneration (When the world is made back as it was in the Garden of Eden. It’s going to be as a result of the horrors of the Tribulation and the power of restoration that will take place at His Second Coming.) when the Son of man (Jesus of Nazareth) shall sit in the throne of his glory, (You see that? Why? Because He’s the King. And He’s going to sit on that throne in Jerusalem.) ye also (the Twelve) shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” But I want you to see that when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His Glory, that’s when He’ll be the King, then, of Psalms chapter 47.
All right, just got one minute left. Let’s go back and finish the chapter. Psalms 47 once again, verse 8:
Psalms 47:8-9a
“God reigneth over the heathen: (the Gentile world, when He takes up the Kingdom rule) God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. 9. The princes of the people are gathered together, (That is the princes of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.) even the people of the God of Abraham:…” The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is this same King that’s coming. It’s the same Son of God who suffered and died the death of the cross and brought about salvation for the whole human race.
Psalm 47:9b
“…even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly (What?) exalted.” And that’s the word we can close with!