Messiah: Exalted by God

“May His name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through Him, and they will call Him blessed. Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. (Psalm 72:17-19, NIV). “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’ “ (Matthew 2:1b-2. NIV). “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11, NIV). [Read Psalm 72].

All of Psalm 72 is a Messianic hymn. The Psalm is attributed to King Solomon. Did he know when he wrote the psalm, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that he was writing about the coming Messiah? Jesus Himself and early Christians understood this psalm as prophetic of the Messiah. Although it is not quoted directly in New Testament writings, some very important Christological passages are based on the psalm, such as portions of Ephesians 1, Philippians 2. Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1. And how we thrill to the words of the beloved hymn, “Jesus Shall Reign” written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748) who composed his lofty poem of praise based on this psalm, and in particular verse 8: “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.”

Does it thrill you to read about how people in many lands celebrate the birth of Messiah? I am working now on some games for a Sunday School class Christmas fellowship. I want it to be fun, but at the same time reverent and meaningful, a means whereby participants may come away from the evening with a better understanding of why it was necessary for Jesus to come to earth and sojourn among us. The Magi of eastern lands studied the heavens and realized that a special King was born, and went to worship Him. God exalted Jesus, even to eastern astrologists. Shepherds on a Bethlehem hillside heard the angels’ songs and went to Bethlehem to worship Jesus.In our towns and countryside, centuries from the time of Advent, we meet together and worship the newborn King. When we think about the magnitude of this knowledge and celebration, we can hardly take it in! The time will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord! Better to join the throng willingly, with our own faith intact, than to wait until that day when this prophecy, too, will be fulfilled!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Sunday, December 5, 2010