A New King – Psalm 21

“To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah! For You meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—length of days forever and ever. His glory is great in Your salvation. Honor and majesty You have placed upon him. For You have made him most blessed forever. You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.” Psalm 21:1-7

Why does the king have joy in the Lord’s strength? The answer is easy. His job requires more of him that he has to give. God gives him free unmerited strength from above to manage the demands. Why does the king greatly rejoice in the Lord’s salvation? Because even the most conscientious king is going to make bad decisions from time to time or face a situation for which he has no solution. Our Lord bailed King David out of bad situations time and time again.

David had a shepherd’s heart. He wanted to see God’s people well shepherded. After Samuel anointed David to replace Saul as king, David endured perhaps as many as 10 years of being persecuted by Saul. More than once, Saul nearly killed him. His heart’s desire to be king of Israel was severely tested. Would God answer the request that was on his lips?

In 1 Samuel 18:6-11, the Lord reveals what sparked Saul’s desire to kill David. “When David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, playing songs of joy on timbrels. The women sang as they played, and said, ‘Saul has killed his 1,000’s, and David his 10,000’s.’ Then Saul became very angry. This saying did not please him. He said, ‘They have given David honor for 10,000’s, but for me only 1,000’s. Now what more can he have but to be king?’ And Saul was jealous and did not trust David from that day on. [In fact...] The next day a bad spirit sent from God came upon Saul with power. He acted like a crazy man in his house, while David was playing the harp. Saul had a spear in his hand, and he threw the spear, thinking, ‘I will nail David to the wall.’ But David jumped out of his way twice.” Saul did everything to stop David from becoming the king after him, but all attempts failed because God had already anointed David to take his place.

In the story of David and Saul we have a parable of sort about humanity and Satan. Lucifer was once an angel of God according to Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:12-19, but he became arrogant and led a rebellion in heaven against God. Revelation 12:7-9 indicate that Satan had a group of angels on his side. God’s angel Michael, defeated Lucifer and his angels, and cast them down to earth. In Luke 10:18, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” How is humanity connected to all of this? In Genesis 1:26-28, God gave the earth to Adam and by extension all of us who are Adam’s offspring. The devil does not want to be displaced.

The devil hates humanity for various reasons. First of all, we are made in the image of God which he lost due to his rebellion. Secondly, he and his angels were cast down to earth, but then, God gave to Adam and his offspring dominion over the earth. Thus, as Saul was outraged that God anointed David to replace him, so the devil is outraged that God has ordained humankind to replace him as rulers of this world.

Who did Jesus say would inherit the earth? In Matthew 5:5, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Those, like David, who entrust their lives to the Lordship, guidance and protection of God shall overcome the devil. Those who are anointed and led by God’s Holy Spirit as David was.

But we won’t inherit this dying and defiled earth. No, the Lord has promised us a new heaven and a new earth. In 2 Peter 3:13, Peter wrote, “According to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” The devil and his angels will be cast into the Lake of Fire, and God’s people will inherit a new earth that is free from him and no longer cursed due to sin. See Revelation 20:9-21:5.

The Lord met David with the blessings of goodness. Like the time when David and his men were hungry. In 1 Samuel 25:18, God moved in the heart of a rich woman named Abigail to provide them 200 loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready to eat, five baskets of dry grain, 100 vines of dried grapes and 200 loaves of figs.

“You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.” According to 2 Samuel 12:30 and 1 Chronicles 20:2, after conquering the nation of Ammon, King David took the king of Ammon’s gold crown and had it placed on his head. The crown weighed a talent of gold which is about 75 pounds, and it was set with precious stones. David must have had a strong neck to bear that kind of weight on his head. A golden crown represents supreme authority, honor, and victory. [1] The Lord gave David the blessing of a golden crown.

My guess is that David seldom wore that 75 pound crown of gold. David was not like pagan kings who lord their positions over people. For example, once, in 2 Samuel 23:15-17, three of David’s mighty men heard him express a desire for a drink of water. The three men broke behind enemy lines, snatched some water and brought it to David. When he found out that they risked their lives to secure the water for him, he would not drink it. David said to the Lord, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” The Lord led David to highly respect the lives of the people around him.

“He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—length of days forever and ever.” The Lord preserved David in the wilderness. He kept him alive so that he and his sons after him could enjoy a very long reign over the land.

As Christians we believe that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for us so that we would not perish but have everlasting life. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

The Lord placed on David honor and majesty. The Lord made him exceedingly glad with His presence. David trusted in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he prevailed.

God holds out the promise of eternal life to all who trust in His mercy, and to all who depend on His grace in Christ Jesus. He gives His Holy Spirit to all who surrender their lives to Christ. The Holy Spirit gladdens our hearts with joy. He is God’s divine presence with us.

“Your hand will find all Your enemies. Your right hand will find those who hate You.” Psalm 21:8

A coronation day for a king, like an inauguration day for our president, is a very special day, but after that day ends, new challenges arise. The challenge of removing enemies and haters from within the inner circle of leadership.

No matter how perfectly a king or president performs, he or she will never gain the favor of everyone around them. Jesus was perfect. In John 15:25, Jesus told His disciples that the way people hated Him without a cause fulfilled Messianic prophecies. For example, in Psalm 109:3, David wrote, “They have surrounded Me with words of hatred, and fought against Me without a cause. In return for My love they are My accusers, but I give Myself to prayer.”

King Jesus not only gave the shirt off His back for people He also gave the flesh off His back. He was severely flogged. While He hung like a piece of shredded meat on the cross, religious leaders mocked Him and hurled insults at Him. Jesus prayed for them that the Father would forgive their sins because they did not know what they were doing.

The enemies of Christ and His servants think they are fighting against a person they don’t like, but their animosity is actually from Satan against God. “Those that aimed to un-king David aimed, in effect, to un-God the Lord. What is devised and designed against religion, and against the instruments God raises up to support and advance it, is very evil and mischievous, and God takes it as devised and designed against Himself and will so reckon for it.” [2]

“You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger. The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth, and their descendants from among the sons of men. For they intended evil against You. They devised a plot which they are not able to perform. Therefore You will make them turn their back. You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.” Psalm 21:9-12

David wrote of the enemies of the Lord being swallowed and devoured. In Numbers 16, 250 men decided to defy and rebel against God’s servant Moses. The Lord caused the earth to open up and swallow them and their families. In addition to them, another 14,700 died of a plague that broke out in the camp. This was an act of God to stop Satan from overcoming Moses.

David wrote of the wicked being cast into a fiery oven. In Matthew 13:49-50, Jesus said, “At the end of the age the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus spoke more about eternal hell than any other in the Bible. We should never take God’s words about His judgment on sin lightly. Jesus had to die a cruel death on the cross to atone for our sins. We should praise Him daily for what He did for us.

“Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power.” Psalm 21:13

King David and the people of God in Jerusalem praised God for His strength to bring about a better government than the one they had endured under King Saul. What did they do for the Lord in response to His mighty acts on their behalf? They committed to singing and praising Him. Praise be to God for His marvelous goodness to us!



[1] Matthew Henry Commentary and Google sources
[2] Matthew Henry Commentary