The Hill Beyond

Psalm 21:8-13

8You will capture all your enemies.

Your strong right hand will seize all those who hate you.

9You will destroy them as in a flaming furnace

when you appear.

The LORD will consume them in his anger;

fire will devour them.

10You will wipe their children from the face of the earth;

they will never have descendants.

11Although they plot against you,

their evil schemes will never succeed.

12For they will turn and run

when they see your arrows aimed at them.

13We praise you, LORD, for all your glorious power.

With music and singing we celebrate your mighty acts.

The experienced hiker pointed to a distant peak. “That’s where we’re headed. It should take us four days, if we’re lucky.”

“Four days!” a younger, novice hiker responded. “We can take this hill by supper time!”

The older one just shook his head and smiled. “It’s farther than you think.”

They climbed the wooded trail all day, with the young hiker pressing hard to reach the peak by the end of the day. Sure enough, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, the hill leveled off and they reached a clearing. “See,” crowed the young hiker. “We made it to the top.”

The veteran hiker smiled again and pointed to the next hill, which loomed even larger ahead of them. “No, that’s where we’re headed.”

Psalm 21 is like that. On the surface this psalm is about David. But a closer look will reveal a deeper meaning beyond this. Verse 4 says: “The days of his life stretch on forever.” Verse 9 says: “You will destroy them as in a flaming furnace when you appear,” reminding us of Jesus in Revelation 6:16. Indeed, many Jewish scholars considered this psalm to be speaking of the Messiah.

As you read this psalm, praise God for his justice, righteousness, and sovereignty. But don’t stop there. Lift your eyes and look for the hill beyond—the coming future king whose “life [and reign] stretch on forever.”

Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,

High on Thine eternal throne;

Savior, take the power and glory;

Claim the Kingdom for Thine own:

O come quickly, O come quickly,

Hallelujah! Come, Lord, come.

JOHN CENNICK

Notable Quotable

“We are far too fearful of the haters of the Lord. Their power equals not their purpose. He who at any moment can arrest them now holds them in rein. Most of our perils exist in apprehension only. This applies both to the church and to individual Christians.”

ALFRED EDERSHEIM