Today, I want to switch things up a bit.
Let’s kick things off by reading Psalm 41.
Here it is:
“For the leader. A psalm of David:
How blessed are those who care for the poor!
When trouble comes, Adonai will rescue them.
Adonai will protect them and keep them alive;
they will be happy in the land.
You will not hand them over to the desires of their enemies.
Adonai will support them on their sickbed;
when they are ill, you will restore their health.
I said, “Adonai, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die and his name vanish?”
When they come to see me, they speak lies;
their hearts gather deceit, then they spread it around.
All who hate me whisper together against me,
they imagine the worst for me:
“A deadly thing has taken hold of him;
now that he lies down, he’ll never rise again.”
Even my close friend, someone I trusted,
who ate at my table, has turned against me.
But you, Adonai, be gracious to me;
raise me up, so I can repay them.
I’ll know that you delight in me
if my enemy does not triumph over me.
You uphold me because of my integrity
and place me in your presence forever.
Blessed be Adonai, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen.”
Why am I sharing this?
Because this was the Psalm David composed when he was on the run from Absalom.
It gives us a strong idea of David’s feelings when things were falling apart all around him.
I also want you to keep your eye out for a character in these Psalms who will reappear 1,000 years later.
Do you have any idea who I might be talking about?
His name is Judas Iscariot.
That’s right, folks.
Just as David was betrayed, so was Yeshua betrayed by someone close to him.
We can also see that David knew he was surrounded by enemies.
Even though he kept to himself in the palace, he sensed trouble brewing.
He heard people whispering that they wanted him gone so they could install a new king.
Lies were spreading, and even his closest advisor started turning against him.
David begged the Lord for help, saying God was his only hope to survive.
He also claimed he was innocent, though we know that’s not exactly true.
Yet because of God’s grace, David’s sins had been forgiven.
However, it’s the foreshadowing of Judas that I find most fascinating.
This Psalm expresses how one of Yeshua’s most trusted and inner circle of friends so coldly betrayed him.
Finally, let’s close with one pattern that directly connects to the New Testament gospel message.
David may have considered himself innocent and without sin.
But Yeshua was really the sinless one.
But what’s incredible is that BOTH David and Yeshua bore the curse of the Law upon them.
The only difference is that David bore the curse (meaning the consequence) of the law for his own sins…
While Yeshua bore the curse of the law for our sins.
Can I get an Amen in the house?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish,
but have everlasting life.”
-John 3:16
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