The Futility of Earthly Rule

Psalms 89:38-52

38 But You have cast off and abhorred,
You have been furious with Your anointed.
39 You have renounced the covenant of Your servant;
You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

40 You have broken down all his hedges;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 All who pass by the way plunder him;
He is a reproach to his neighbors.

42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
And have not sustained him in the battle.

44 You have made his glory cease,
And cast his throne down to the ground.
45 The days of his youth You have shortened;
You have covered him with shame.

Selah

46 How long, LORD?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
Will Your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my time is;
For what futility have You created all the children of men?
48 What man can live and not see death?
Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?

Selah

49 Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses,
Which You swore to David in Your truth?

50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants—
How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,
51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O LORD,
With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

52 Blessed be the LORD forevermore!
Amen and Amen.

The psalm ends with the futility of earthly rule, that of God’s anointed king David, for the promise looked forward to the Anointed Son of God and heavenly King to come into the world (John 3:19, 12:46, 18:37).  The crown of Israel’s earthly ruler would be taken away and the kingdom with it; the crown of the Divine Potentate is from everlasting to everlasting, and His rule always was and will be.  This is the pattern of the earthly anointed king seen as a foreshadowing of God’s Anointed who was and is and always will be.  The kingdom of God’s chosen on this world was transitory, the eternal Kingdom of God in Christ cannot be shaken or moved out of place.  Dwell on these truths.  The psalmist asked how the LORD could stand at a distance and watch the earthly kingdom and its ruler be taken away, yet he knew that time here is short and of the futility of placing confidence and hope in worldly power.  We all face death, the final enemy to be defeated by the final resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 54, 57).  God can and will deliver our lives from the power of the grave (Job 19:25-27)!  Think about what these truths really mean.  When we question God’s prosier mercies as the psalmist did, when we plead for vengeance on our enemies, when we ask God to take notice because we are His, then we can remember these certain promises and hope (1 Corinthians 15:57) of victory in His time in the final judgment and in the glory of His name and work for all time.  Those opposed to His Anointed will reproach no more.  The futility of all earthly rule will cease as His kingdom comes (Matthew 6:10, Revelation 12:10).  Blessed be our Lord, our God and Father and the Son, in the power and working of His Holy Spirit through the eternal gospel forevermore!