Read
of the Psalmist’s sufferings. Think of the Saviour, suffering for you
(Psalm 22:7-8,18; Matthew 27:39,43,35). We highlight two statements: ‘My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’, ‘They have pierced my hands
and my feet’(Psalm 22:1,16). Jesus Christ was ‘crucified and killed by
the hands of the lawless men’(Acts 2:23). There is, however, more to His
story than this: ‘The Lord has laid all our sins on Him’(Isaiah 53:6).
When we read of Jesus Christ, ‘pierced for our transgressions’, we see
Him ‘pierced’ by men and forsaken by God (Isaiah 53:5; Zechariah 12:10;
John 19:34; Matthew 27:46). Looking on to Jesus Christ, risen, exalted
and returning, we see Him still bearing the marks of His suffering -
‘the mark of the nails’, ‘a Lamb standing as though it had been slain’,
‘pierced’(John 20:25; Revelation 5:6; 1:7).
Jesus
Christ has ‘tasted death for everyone’(Hebrews 2:9). Now, through Him,
salvation is proclaimed to ‘the congregation’, to ‘the ends of the
earth’ to ‘future generations’(Psalm 22:22,27,30). Jesus Christ, ‘the
same yesterday, today and for ever’, proclaims salvation to the great
‘congregation’, drawn from ‘every tribe and language and people and
nation’(Hebrews 13:8; Hebrews 2:12; Revelation 5:9). Jesus Christ has
passed ‘through the valley of the shadow of death’ for us (Psalm 23:4).
Now, we rejoice in Him, our Shepherd of love - (a) the Good Shepherd who
died for us (John 10:11); (b) the Great Shepherd who was raised for us
(Hebrews 13:20-21); (c) The Chief Shepherd who is coming again for us (1
Peter 5:4). He restores us. He keeps us from ’straying like sheep’. He
leads us ‘in paths of righteousness’(Psalm 23:3; 1 Peter 2:25).
For God’s people, there is a glorious eternal destiny: ‘I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever’(Psalm 23:6). We ‘receive this blessing from the Lord,...the God of our salvation’(Psalm 24:5). There is only one answer to the question, ‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?: Jesus Christ ‘shall stand in His holy place’. No one else has ‘clean hands and a pure heart’- no one else but Jesus. He is the One who receives ‘blessing’ from the Lord - and He gives it to us (Psalm 24:3-5)! How do we receive His blessing? - We must open our hearts ‘that the King of glory may come in’(Psalm 24:7,9). How can ‘the Lord, strong and mighty’ live in me? How can I receive His resurrection power? Jesus says, ‘I stand at the door and knock, if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in’(Psalm 24:8; Ephesians 1:19-20; Revelation 3:20).
