The Psalms offer much encouragement for believers and have done so for many centuries. They offer comfort for a variety of troubling situations and provide perspective to help us deal with troubling emotions.
Many saints recognize the prophetic value of the Psalms. Psalm 22, for example, provides vivid details of Jesus’ crucifixion many centuries before that type of execution even existed. Who but God could have revealed such specifics almost a thousand years in advance?
While reading through Psalms several times in the past few years, I have observed anew their prophetic value. Many of them look forward to Jesus’ return to earth and His reign over the nations of the earth.
The apostle John wrote about this time in Revelation 20:1-10 where he provides the length of this intermediary kingdom before the eternal state. We refer to this time as the Millennium because John specifically tells us that it will last for one thousand years.
A multitude of verses in the Old Testament speak of this future rule of King Jesus. For this post, however, I will highlight what the Psalms tell us about God’s King.
GOD THE FATHER GIVES THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD TO HIS SON
I love Psalm 2 because it sets the stage for all other Messianic prophecies in the Psalms. Here we learn that it’s the Father who gives the nations of the earth to His Son as His inheritance.
In Psalm 2:7–8, we read this:
Psalm 2:7–8 KJV – “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”
Daniel 7:13-14 provides added context to these verses. There, “one like the son of man” approaches the “Ancient of Days” who gives Him a realm such “that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” Similar to what we read in Psalm 2, the Father gives the Son dominion over the kingdoms of the world.
Psalm 2:9 describes Jesus’ future rule in a way that eliminates interpreting it as His headship over the church or the eternal state:
Psalm 2:9 KJV – “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Jesus most certainly doesn’t rule in such a way over His bride. And such a reign can only apply to a time when sin and death still exist, which eliminates the eternal state.
I wrote the following in my book, The Triumph of the Redeemed:
The presence of rebellion and harsh judgment during this reign of Jesus, as we see in Psalm 2, differentiates it as well from the eternal state where sin and death will no longer exist (Revelation 21:4). No other time fits with the conditions of Jesus’ rule as described in Psalm 2; it must be the Millennium where Scripture indicates that sin and rebellion will occur (Zechariah 14:16–19; Revelation 20:7–10). Only the millennial reign of Jesus aligns with the conditions described in Psalm 2.
Psalm 2 opens the door to glorious prophecies throughout the Psalms that tell of Jesus’ triumphant Second Coming and the praise-worthy glories of his thousand-year reign over the nations.
JESUS WILL PUT AN END TO WARFARE
When I arrive at Psalm 46 on my trek through the Psalms, I stop and read it several times. During these chaotic times, it reassures me of God’s sovereignty and future reign over the nations.
In a context that speaks to the coming Tribulation period as described in the book of Revelation, Psalm 46 tells us that Jesus will put an end to all the warfare in the world when He returns. It will not happen until then. Indeed, it cannot.
Psalm 46:9 KJV – “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.”
What does this all mean for us?
It’s a call to rest secure in God’s sovereignty over all of history knowing that Jesus will someday rule over all the lands and peoples of the earth. Until then, violence will continue unchecked in our world.
I love verse 10 of this Psalm; I often quote it to myself when current events trouble my soul.
Psalm 46:10 KJV – “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”
We can quiet our hearts knowing that in the future, the Lord will fulfill the last two lines of Psalm 46:10. (Please note: this verse does not find it’s fulfillment in missions, but only in the coming thousand-year rule of Jesus over the nations of the earth.)
Doesn’t that make you want to jump for joy and “sing praises” to the Lord? That’s exactly the sentiment of Psalm 47 in which the Psalmist rejoices at the prospect of the Lord ruling “over all the earth.”
Psalms 47-48 are also Messianic Psalms that tell of the rejoicing and praise that will erupt on the earth once God’s King, Jesus, reigns for a thousand years over the peoples of the earth from Zion.
Does this not give us a new perspective on current events?
JESUS WILL ADMINISTER JUSTICE UPON HIS RETURN TO EARTH
Psalm 94, another Messianic prophecy regarding God’s King, begins with a plea for God to judge the wicked:
Psalm 94:1-2 KJV – “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.”
Along with Psalm 37, this is my go-to Psalm when I feel anger mounting inside me due to the wickedness, deception, and widespread corruption in our world. It reassures me that God sees all that is happening and His day of reckoning is ever so close.
Verse 20-23 of Psalm 94 describe how the Lord will respond to the rampant wickedness of our day:
Psalm 94:20-23 KJV – “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off.”
There’s coming a great day of justice for those who by their statutes (and executive orders) “condemn innocent blood to death.” Though the application is wider than abortion, it fits oh so well with Biden’s attempt to negate the recent ruling on abortion by the U.S. Supreme Court.
God’s King “will reign in righteousness” (Isaiah 32:1). In order for that to happen, He must first cleanse the earth of all the wickedness, violence, deception, and corruption that’s oh so rampant today.
The globalists of our day plot in vain because when Jesus returns to the earth, He “will wipe them out.”
JESUS’ REIGN WILL CAUSE THE EARTH TO REJOICE AND WORSHIP
Whenever I read through the Psalms, I always look forward to the time when I reach Psalms 95-100. There we catch a further glimpse of the rejoicing and praise that will resound throughout the earth at Jesus’ Second Coming and during His subsequent rule over the earth.
Do not let anyone tell you that these chapters speak to a spiritual reign. The Psalmist is clearly prophesying about God’s King that will someday return and rule over the nations of the earth. The language speaks to a physical kingdom with a visible Ruler.
Please read all of Psalms 95-100. The words of Psalm 96:9-10 sums up this passage:
Psalm 96:9-10 KJV – “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.”
Kings in ancient times acted as the supreme court of the land. So, when the Psalmist says that God’s King “will judge the peoples with equity,” he’s referring to what Jesus will do in His role as King of the earth. In His regal capacity seated on the throne of David, Jesus will act as the supreme judge.
JESUS WILL RULE FROM ZION
The Psalms clearly depict God’s King as ruling over the nations of the world from Zion, another name for Jerusalem.
Psalm 99:2 says: “The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.”
Psalm 48:1-3 leaves us with no doubt as to the place where God’s King, Jesus, will rule over the kingdoms of this world.
Psalm 48:1-3 KJV – “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.”
We know from the book of Zechariah that when Jesus comes, He will make significant changes to the geography of Jerusalem (14:4-8). During Jesus’ rule on the earth, The Lord will adorn the city with much added splendor. (Mount Zion is a geographical location within Jerusalem.)
God’s King will surely rule the world from a gloriously restored Israel and Jerusalem will not only be its capital, but also that of the entire world.
WE LIVE IN PERILOUS, YET EXCITING TIMES
The day in which we live carries with it much excitement along with increasing peril and many dangers.
As we watch ancient prophecies fall into place, it reminds us that the world is marching toward the time when God places His King on the throne of David from where He will rule over the nations of the world.
We can be absolutely certain that someday God’s King, the Lord Jesus, will rule over the nations of the earth just as God the Father promises us all through the Psalms.
In Isaiah 46:9-11, we find these reassuring words about God’s sovereignty in this matter:
Isaiah 46:9-11 KJV – “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
This is what God loves to do. In Scriptures written long ago, He tells us what will happen next as He prepares the world for Jesus’ kingdom. There has never been a time like today when we see God’s moving the world toward the Tribulation period that will result in God placing His King on the throne of David.
Yes, we live in perilous times that are more threatening than I ever imagined they would be ahead of the Rapture.
The good news is that Jesus is coming for us soon. He is God’s King who will fulfill all the prophecies listed above from the Psalms and well over a thousand more verses in the Old and New Testaments that speak of what He’s about to do in purging the world of evil ahead of the establishment of His glorious kingdom headquartered in Zion.
