Psalm 102 Part 3
Dennis Edwards
102:14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and
favour the dust thereof.
However,
some of these verses are used to justify Christian Zionism. Many Christians
have supported Israel blindly as a result of being told that the present state
of Israel is the Israel of Bible prophecy and set to receive all the blessings
of God.
102:15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy
glory.
The day is
coming when the heathen and all the kings of the earth shall fear the name of
the Lord and His glory. But that day does not take place until God tribulates
the planet for thee-and-a-half-years during the second part of the prophesized
last seven years. It doesn’t take place until after the seventy-five days of
the wrath of God that proceed immediately after the tribulation period.
102:16
When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall
appear in his glory.
Some say
the verse is a prophecy that Israel would become a political state once again
before the second coming of Christ. On May 14th 1948 Israel declared
themselves an independent state and have every since been fighting to remain
one. Some Christians point to the above verse as a confirmation that God is
behind the present-day nation of Israel. They quote from Genesis 12:3,
“I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee.”
These
Christian Zionists believe that true followers of Christ must whole-heartedly
support present-day Israel and its idea of Greater Israel or from “the
Mediterranean to the Euphrates.” By supporting Israel and its desire for
autonomy of the lands once promised to Abraham, they believe they will help
fulfil Bible prophecy and hasten the return of Christ, the rapture, and the
1,000 year Millennium. Let us look at some verse in Isaiah that complement that
idea.
Isaiah
11:11-12 And it shall come to pass in
that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the
remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and
from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath,
and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations,
and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of
Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Jeremiah
30:3 For, lo, the days come, says the
Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says
the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their
fathers, and they shall possess it.
These
verses are used to justify Israel’s existence, showing that it’s Biblical
prophecy and, therefore, God is behind it. Woe be to any man who would stand
against it. Christian Zionist’s and much of the Western Evangelical Christian
believers have for many years taken these verses to mean that God supports today’s
Zionistic nation of Israel.
It may very
well be that it is the hand of God that has done it. However, elsewhere in
Scripture, we find that God brings the people back in unbelief only to further
chastise them.
Jeremiah
30:11 For I am with you, says the
Lord, to save you: though I make a full end of all the nations whither I have
scattered you, yet will I not make a full end of you: but will correct you in
measure, and will not leave you altogether unpunished.
It is
difficult to discern how to interpret many of the Scriptures. Is the Lord
talking here of the Jewish nation or is He talking about the true believers,
the followers of Jesus? Some take these verses as whole-hearted support for the
present- day nation of Israel, and therefore back Israel 100%, no matter how
they behave.
102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and
not despise their prayer.
The verse
above seems to indicate that the Lord may in fact be on the side of the
destitute, which in the present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict could very
well be the Palestinian refugees from Gaza. Will the Lord hear their cry? Or
will he despise their cry because they are not Jewish? Around 10-20% of the
Palestinian used to be Christian. It’s difficult to believe that God does not
hear the cry of the Palestinian people who are destitute and afflicted, and
without a strong power that will make a stand for them.
Psalm
102:18-20 This shall be written for the
generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise
the Lord. For he has looked
down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; To hear the
groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
Again, it
would seem that the Palestinians of Gaza are more like the groaning prisoners
and those that appointed to death, than the Israelis, at this point.
102:21 To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in
Jerusalem;
It is very
difficult to declare the name of the Lord in Jerusalem today. Evangelization is
very strictly controlled. However, according to Zechariah 12 and 13,
during the course of the tribulation period, two-thirds of the Jewish people
living in Israel shall die in the war that will take place. One-third will turn
to Christ and be supernaturally saved from destruction. The one-third “will
call upon My name, and I will hear them, I will say, It is My people: and they
shall say, The Lord is my God,” Zechariah 13:9b.
102:22 When the people are gathered together, and the
kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
The
kingdoms of the world will become the kingdoms of our Lord at the end of the tribulation/wrath
of God or at the beginning of the Millennium.
Rev
11:15 And the seventh angel sounded;
and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever
and ever.
102:23-24 He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened
my days. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years
are throughout all generations.
The
psalmist is asking the Lord to give him a little more time to do God’s work.
102:25-27 Of old has thou laid the foundation of the earth:
and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt
endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou
change them, and they shall be changed: But thou are the same, and thy years
shall have no end.
Only God
and His Word are unchanging. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but
my words shall not pass away,” Matthew 24:35.
Malachi
3:6 For I am the Lord, I change
not; therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Hebrews
13:8 Jesus Christ the same,
yesterday, today, and for ever.
Apostle
Peter also comments on perishableness of the present life.
2 Peter 3: 9.15a The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.
(Though these verses could be referring to the period at the end
of the Millennium when “fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” Or it
could be talking about the destruction by fire during the wrath of God on many
of the nations of the earth found in Ezekiel 39:6, and elsewhere, Isaiah
13:6-13, and Zephaniah 1:14-18.)
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner
of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for
and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. (The new heavens and new earth
come after the Millennium, Revelation 21:1.) Wherefore, beloved, seeing
that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace,
without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is
salvation.
Lamentations 3:22-23 It is of the Lord’s mercies
that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every
morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Psalm
102:28 The children of thy servants
shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
God’s
kingdom of hearts and souls goes marching on into eternity. As many as receive
Jesus, as their Lord and Saviour, to them He gives power to become the sons of
God. Believe and be saved and walk as He walked. Come and follow Him the maker
of all things and the giver of eternal life.
King James Version (KJV) r.
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