My Redeemer is Alive

                  

Stanley Praimnath was in his office in the South Tower at the World Trade Center when his phone rang. "Are you watching the news?' asked a woman in their Chicago office. "Are you alright?" "I'm fine" he said wondering why she had called. Just then he turned to gaze out the window. The surreal sight of a low-flying jet, heading straight for his tower, disrupted his view.

He dropped the phone in mid-sentence and dove to the floor. Curling under his desk he began praying to God, "Lord, help me," he prayed desperately as the aircraft smashed into the tower. The smell of jet fuel was in the air. Equipment was scattered all around with rubble covering the floor and dust in the air.

He began clawing his way out. "Lord, I have to go home to my family," he wheezed. Just then he saw a light. "I am here to help you." He thought, "This is my guardian angel! The Lord sent somebody to help me!" Praimnath's guardian angel was Brian Clark, a Christian who was an executive three floors below.

 The two miraculously climbed out of the rubble to safety. Praimnath took the tattered clothes he was wearing that day, put them in a box, and wrote DELIVERANCE all over it. he told his wife, 'if I ever get spiritually cold, I want you to bring this box to me, open it up, and show me what the Lord brought me from"(James Bott)

Psalm1 is intentionally placed first to introduce the theme of the entire book of Psalms. Psalm1 can be outlined as the way of the righteous (v. 1-3), the way of the wicked (v. 4-5) and the end of both the righteous and the wicked (v. 6). The theme of the Psalm is the contrasting ways and destinies of the righteous and the wicked. This theme is repeated throughout the entire book of Psalms.

In Psalm 34, we find the same theme. In verses 19-22 David says “the righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned” (Ps).

The righteous person may have many troubles. The oldest books of the Bible is a story of the immense suffering of one of the most righteous men in God’s eyes (Job 1:8, Ezek 14:14). Job had to deal with the fact that in his life, God does not act the way he always thought God would and should act. But In Job 19:25-27 we see his faith and hope.  He says “I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand on the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God”.

Job could not understand why God was acting so completely out of character with what he had always believed. But he boldly claimed he had a redeemer. He knew that his redeemer was a living being who would stand at last on the earth. Job knew that his skin would be destroyed (Job 2:7-8); Yet, in the flesh he shall see God. Restoration will come even if it only came after life on this earth was over.

In Psalm 34:20 David says that the Lord protects all the bones of the righteous. During the last plague, God commanded the Israelites to slaughter the Passover lamb and smear some blood on the doorframe. The “blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are and when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exod.12: 13). God killed the firstborn of each Egyptian family, but “passed over” the Israelite’s homes, leaving their children unharmed. 

The Israelites were commanded not to break any of the Passover lamb’s bones (Exod.12: 46). This is the instruction that is echoed prophetically in Psalm 34:20. David says that the Lord protects the bones of the righteous, not one of them will be broken. Jesus was perfectly righteous and when he was crucified, not one of his bones was broken, fulfilling the prophecy (John 19:31-36). Jesus is the Lamb of God whose protective blood covers the righteous (John 1:29).

Does the Lord delivers the righteous out of all their afflictions and keeps their bones intact? We need to look to Christ and see how this promise was fulfilled in his case. The promise “not one of his bones will be broken” is figurative, not literal. Christ died on the cross; it is his bones that were not broken. A righteous man may indeed break bones and even die with broken bones.  But natural death is the last step before receiving a perfect body. Death will be been swallowed up in victory (I Cor. 15:53-54).

In Ezekiel 37, Prophet Ezekiel was taken to a valley full of dry bones. The Lord said to him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” He watched with amazement the reversal of death and decomposition.  The bones assembled themselves into skeletons. Muscles and tissue came upon the bones. The breath of God came into the bodies and they stood upon their feet (vv. 7-10). Is this how resurrection will happen? (Dan. 12:2, Rev.20:13).

God’s people were suffering in exile because of sin. They had lost hope of freedom and ever seeing their homeland again. They said, “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!” God said “behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves... you shall live and I will place you in your own land (vv.11-14). God demonstrated to Ezekiel that he has the power to restore dry bones back to living people. He will redeem his own from whatever state life or death will throw them.

In Psalm 34: 21 David says “Evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. In Psalm 35 David prayed “Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me …for without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit… let his net that he has hidden catch himself; into that very destruction let him fall. And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; It shall rejoice in His salvation. All my bones shall say, “Lord, who is like You, Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him”.

Proverbs 26:27 says “whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them”. This reminds us of when God’s invisible hand orchestrated the hanging of Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai (Esther 7:10). God has put the wicked on a slippery path that will send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they will be destroyed, completely swept away by terrors (Ps, 73:18).

The people of Judah had sinned, Isaiah 3:8-11 says “Judah is falling, their words and deeds are against the Lord … they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! “. Even in the midst of judgment, God protects the righteous.

Proverbs 1:29-33 says that since the wicked choose not to fear the Lord ,they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to God will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm. Proverbs 10:16 says “the wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death”.

David was confident that the wicked would eventually destroy themselves. The wicked may think “The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land (Ezek 8:12). But he sees everything and one day he will act. Proverbs 21:18 says “The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous and the unfaithful for the upright. The sinner who has been spared for long must never presumes that God does not care about what he is doing.

Solomon says “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked…because he does not fear before God (Ec. 8:10-13)

In Psalm 34: 22 David says “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned. This is especially important regarding the historical background of Psalm 34. David was not delivered from the hand of Achish because of his righteousness but because of his relationship with God. God graciously delivered David, not due to his righteousness, but because of his relationship.

David does not say, there is nothing in them that deserves condemnation; He says there is no condemnation. There is no condemnation because the Lord has redeemed the souls of those who trust in Him (1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Paul said “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8: 1-2).