Thy Throne, O God

The Son of God, our Lord Jesus, as the promised King of Israel, the Messiah, the Redeemer, truly has greatness beyond compare; for to the Son He says “Thy throne O GOD”!

“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:8) was our Lord’s answer to the devil when tried in the wilderness.  Yet even in rejection by the nation that He came to redeem, the Son’s place is at the right hand of the Father, where the angels worship Him.

No king of Israel, neither David nor Solomon, was due this great honor.  The Psalm where this quote is taken from, begins this way:

Psalm 45:1 — “My heart is inditing a good matter:  I speak of the things which I have made touching the king…”

But how could the king, a mere mortal, be addressed with “Thy throne, O God”?  This was a question with which the Lord also challenged the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees:

Luke 20:41 – 44 — “And He said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s son? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore calleth Him Lord, how is He then his son?”

A thought provoking question for those who supposedly were the experts in all things pertaining to the holy Scriptures.  If we think intently on the subject, how could a mere human being be given this title and honor to sit at the right hand of Jehovah?  That these prophetic writings pertained to Israel’s Messiah and Redeemer seems so very obvious, but is there more that we should consider.  When the Lord made a promise to David about the perpetual continuance of his throne and kingdom, this is the way it was stated:

2 Samuel 7:13 – 14 — “He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son…”

This is referring directly to David’s son Solomon.  And Solomon … well, Solomon brought Israel’s kingdom to its greatest glory (1 Kings 4), but he also lost it because he went after other “gods” (1 Kings 11).  That the kingdom was split under Rehoboam is true, but it was caused by Solomon.  So is the promise of none effect?  God forbid!  The prophet Isaiah spoke to Israel of a greater Son:

Isaiah 9:6 – 7 — “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

King after king in sat on David’s throne, but none could redeem Israel.  When the time was full, and all hope for redemption seemed lost, God intervened:

Galatians 4:4 – 5 — “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Luke 1:30 – 35 — “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

We must remember the condition of Israel at the time when God broke through and sent His Son into the world.  Much is made of the fact that Mary and Joseph were poor.  They offered “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24; Leviticus 12:8) when our Lord as a young child was presented to Lord in Jerusalem.  This is often stated in terms to encourage people to help the poor and destitute, or to make “Jesus”¹ to be a sympathetic figure to the plight of the impoverished because He was born into poverty as they are.  Let us think about this a little further:  Joseph is addressed by the angel of the Lord as “Joseph, thou son of David” (Matthew 1:20), with his pedigree written in the first 17 verses of what is commonly called the New Testament.  Now think of the poverty of the entire nation if the royal family is impoverished!  That is what our Lord was born into, and it was the full time for Him to come and redeem.  Why were they in that awful condition?  “For He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20).  The oppressed condition of His people was the direct result of their sin in turning away from their God Jehovah and turning to the “gods” of the people around them, which included all of the gross and detestable things that follow idolatry.

In the fullness of time God provided the promised Redeemer who would be the Son of the Highest, and the Son of David.  He would save His people from their sins, rule over the house of Jacob forever, smite the nations with a rod of iron and rule His Kingdom with a sceptre of righteousness.  O how the world needs such a ruler now!  Yet He came long ago, and was despised and rejected of men.  The world cries for peace, but they crucified the Prince of Peace, when He came in peace with the angelic declaration of “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

As rejected by the nation, the Kingdom is in waiting, while God is graciously calling all mankind without exception or distinction to be reconciled to Himself by the cross, the very instrument of mankind’s despite of the Son of God.  The witness of Holy Scripture is that God not only allowed it, but that He determined this to happen.  This does not take away any guilt, but illustrates the infinite wisdom of God in fulfilling His plan and purpose to redeem, and that His plan will not be thwarted.  The supposed victory of the “principalities and powers” turned out to be their utter defeat:

Colossians 2:15 — “And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

While the Son is now seated “far above all”, He is reigning in grace, not imputing trespasses to men, or, in other words, not holding sins against us in the offer of reconciliation to Himself.  The offer of salvation from God is not contingent on us changing our ways, but entirely on the grace of God, offered by the cross, and through the cross.  God has made His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.  He knew no sin, but our sin was put on Him, and carrying our sin on Himself, He took it to the cross and gave Himself for us on that accursed tree (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The Son will return and receive all that is coming to Him (John 6:37 – 40), but now He is “longsuffering, and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance²” (2 Peter 3:9).

Will you accept by faith God’s gracious offer of salvation by grace through faith in the death and resurrection of the Son of God for your sins?

Let us close with a Psalm of the King of Glory:

Psalm 24:7 – 10 — “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

“Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

“Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

“Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”

John 1:49 — “…Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.”

1. I have the Name Jesus in quotes here because that is how the world speaks of Him, and, alas, the way much of the “Christian” world speaks of Him.  But He is Lord, and should be addressed as such!  We henceforth do not know Christ after the flesh, and to teach Christ to reconcile Him to us is to teach another “Jesus”.
2. The repentance here is not in changing our ways to make us savable, but changing our minds to faith.  No one is ever saved because they made themselves savable, but “according to His mercy” (Titus 3:5).