Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Our Warrior King | The Writings | Psalm 98

Episode Date: August 21, 2024

The Bible uses lots of imagery to describe God. Which do you prefer? Shepherd? Rock? Father? What about... Warrior? In today's episode, Jensen shares how Psalm 98 encourages us to see God as our true Warrior King. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 98

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. If I asked you to think of some of the imagery used throughout the Bible to describe God, what would come to mind for you? A gentle father? A mother protecting her young? A loving shepherd?

Maybe our sacrificial lamb? Those are more often than not what comes to mind for me. I tend to remember and focus on the children. imagery of God that helps me see him as my comforter, my provider, someone who is near and loving and gentle and kind. So often I imagine the God of Psalm 23, my shepherd, my close companion, my generous, and good host, which is absolutely true, all true of God. That's why these images are used throughout Scripture. I am guilty, though, of forgetting that in many places throughout scripture, we see other bits of imagery that portray other attributes and truths about who God is,

particularly the imagery of God as a warrior, a conquering king. I wonder sometimes if the reason that I don't often lean on this imagery is because it makes me uncomfortable. I want the soft and cuddly and comforting Jesus. I don't always want the warrior. It can get messy with my modern sensibilities. It's easier to just focus on everything else. But scripture doesn't let me do that. And honestly, when I try to cut out this side of God as the just, powerful conquering warrior king, I miss a massive part of God's bigger story, something worth celebrating, something that is absolutely necessary for our salvation. See, Psalm 98 in particular does a really wonderful job of pointing us to this larger truth about who God is. This Psalm is broken up into three stanzas, and we're going to just take it one stanza at a time,

and then we'll see how this Psalm points us forward to the big picture of God's redemption for all people and all of creation. Okay, let's jump in. Psalm 98, verses 1 through 3. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Okay, so let's remember context.

This Psalm is written for the nation of Israel to sing together. So when the author writes that the Lord has done marvelous things, when he talks about his right hand and holy arm working salvation for his people, we want to think of Jesus on the cross, that kind of salvation. But the author is certainly not thinking about that. Jesus hasn't been born. So the imagery of a right hand and holy arm are actually symbols of God's power and might in war. Exodus 14, 6 and 7 says,

Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow your adversary. series. You send out your fury. It consumes them like stubble. So knowing the symbolic meaning behind these phrases and the context with which the author is writing, we understand the bigger picture of salvation here. The psalmist is telling God's people to sing praises to God for the ways that he has saved them from their very real military enemies in the past, the ways that he has delivered them in war, that he has given them victory. And he says that

Through this kind of salvation, God has given his people. He's shown the nations around them that he is powerful, righteous, and faithful to his people. So with this in mind, he continues into the next stanza, verses four through six. Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth. Burst into jubilant song with music. Make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn, shout for joy before the Lord, the king. So worship God for what he has done. The fact that God is a powerful, righteous, and faithful warrior for his people is a reason to praise him. The people would have known that. God has kept them safe. He's fought beside them. He had delivered them in very real ways as the warrior. This is a reason to celebrate. I wonder if my

modern Western world has kept this imagery from impacting me so much because on a daily basis, my physical safety isn't often threatened. I've never seen war. I know that's not true for all people, and I'm incredibly grateful for the gift that I have in that. But the fact is that this lack of a visible, tangible enemy or threat keeps me from fully appreciating the joy and gratefulness and awe that came from seeing God as a mighty warrior fighting on my behalf. How real it must have been for the people of Israel. And so the psalmist calls them to worship, to sing praises, to shout, for joy to the king. This isn't a call for the calm singing of hymns, not that there's anything wrong with that, but this is a call to rejoice, to shout, to give the same amount of joy and honor and praise to the

Lord that we give to our favorite football team when they win the Super Bowl in the final seconds of the game. That kind of excitement and energy comes from a very real understanding of the gift that God's salvation is. And finally, the psalmist wraps up in verse 7 through 9. Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy. Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples with equity. So it's not just God's people now. It's the whole earth. Everyone is called to rejoice humanity and creation sing for the Lord, for he has come to judge the earth. Now this may seem odd. Why?

Why sing and praise and rejoice over God's judgment? But for the people who are facing, so much injustice, so much devastation, they longed for God's justice. They longed to see the world rid of evil, to see judgment come, to see a truly righteous and just God come and write all wrongs. The psalmist longed for this day. He called his people to seeing an expectation of this day. And as we read in the Psalm, we have the privilege of having an even clearer picture of God's bigger story than even they did. You see, as we read about God, as a warrior for the people of Israel,

we should be reminded of another place in Scripture when we see God depicted as a warrior coming to bring salvation to his people. Revelation 1911 through 16, I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called faithful and true. With justice he judges and wages war,

his eyes are like blazing fire and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth has a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written. King,

of kings and Lord of Lords. So John is being given a vision of Jesus, returning and facing the beast, facing Babylon, the enemy of God's people, the representation of Satan and all evil. He is mighty, powerful, righteous, and just. He has come to deliver his people. This time he will finish Satan once and for all by waging war against him. And Revelation tells us that ultimately Jesus will overthrow the beast. He will conquer Babylon. It will fall. And in it we read of the people in all of creation worshiping their conquering king. From Revelation 19, after this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting. Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. For true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the

earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants. And later, hallelujah, for our Lord God Almighty reigns, let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. God has been victorious in battle. He has conquered evil and because of it God's people can rejoice. Judgment has come. The earth has been set free. In Revelation 22 we read of what comes from this victory. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun. For the Lord God

will give them light, and he will reign forever and ever. The curse of sin, of evil, of injustice is broken. God's creation can rejoice, can flourish. They're free. We will reign alongside our conquering king forever. When you think of God and all the imagery found in the Bible, I hope that you will remember that he is a warrior, mighty in battle, a just and righteous conquering king. When we forget about this very real, very true aspect of God, we miss out on this incredibly integral part of the bigger story. Yes, God died to wipe away your sin. Yes, God is your comforter. Yes, God is your provider and shepherd, and we praise him for such. But this psalm also reminds us to give him the praise due, to shout for joy to the Lord because he has overcome our great and very real enemy.

He has waged war against the one who seeks to destroy us. He's waged war against injustice and evil, and he has won. He is fierce, mighty, and just. Shout for joy. The Lord has provided salvation through his mighty right hand. He has conquered death. He has overturned the curse of sin. He's set creation free.

We will one day reign alongside him in a renewed and restored creation forever. That is a reason to shout for joy to the Lord. Today, I just want you to take five to ten minutes to read through Psalm 98 again. And as you read, remember the bigger story. Think about the gratitude and praise that the people of Israel would have felt for the very real physical salvation that the Lord had given them. And remember that God has promised to do the same for you. Praise the Lord today as your conquering king.

Thank you.