Psalms 10

Chapter 10. The Millennial KingPsalms 72This psalm has primary reference to Solomon, and is called a Psalm or Song for Solomon. But it is greater than even Solomon in all his glory, and reaches its true fulfillment in the “King of kings” (Revelation 19:16) and “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), of whom Solomon was but a type. David was the type of Christ our King, with special reference to His conflicts and conquests. Solomon typifies His peaceful throne and His millennial kingdom. This is the picture of Christ’s millennial throne. Section I—The King1. We behold here the picture of a wise king. “Endow the king with your justice, O God” (Psalms 72:1). This word “justice” means the power to rule and judge with wisdom, such as God gave to Solomon in so preeminent a measure. This was his special request of God, and it was marvelously given. We all remember the wonderful wisdom with which he detected the true mother of the child that was brought to him for judgment, and how his wisdom brought from the uttermost parts of the earth the wondering pilgrims, who came to sit at his feet and propound their hard questions until nothing was left unsolved of all their hearts’ desires. But “one greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42), the “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6), the Man of whom it was said by His enemies, “No one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:46); the One who answered the craft and subtlety of His foes until they were glad to escape from His presence in silence and confusion—“Christ… the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Earth owes much to wise sovereigns, but her true King has yet to come. What a glorious day that will be when upon the throne of earth shall sit that Mighty One, whose infinite wisdom shall govern the happy nations and bring to earth its highest possibilities of blessing! 2. He is a righteous King. “He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice” (Psalms 72:2). How much the world has suffered from injustice, oppression and wrong! All the sorrows of men spring from their sins. But the King that is coming shall be not only the Righteous One, but His people shall be all righteous. “In his days the righteous will flourish” (Psalms 72:7), and sin and wrong shall disappear from the earth. This is the secret of failure in all our social and political attempts at reform. The material itself is wrong, and until that is rectified, all the best of human plans must end in failure. A building lay in ruins, and many were discussing the cause of the wreck. The architect said that the plans were perfect; the contractors declared that the specifications had all been complied with—every brick was in its place, and every arch was rightly set. Why had it tumbled in ruins? A plain workman took up a brick and crushed it beneath his fingers. “There,” he said, “is the cause; the brick is rotten, and one is not able to support the weight of another. The material is worthless, and all your best designs are useless with a lot of rotten brick.” Alas! republicanism, social reform, philanthropy, humanitarianism, legislation, example, philosophy, poetry, patriotism can do nothing to elevate and save humanity so long as the human heart is corrupt and the materials are worthless. But the day is coming when sin shall disappear, when righteousness shall prevail, and when it shall be said of earth, in the language of the ancient prophet: “The Lord bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain” (Jeremiah 31:23). What a glorious day it will be when truth and virtue, honesty and uprightness, unselfishness and love shall bind man to man in a chain of holy benignity, and the prayer of ages shall be fulfilled: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). 3. It is a kingdom of peace. “The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness” (Psalms 72:3). “In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more” (Psalms 72:7). Other kings have ruled by the sword. But He shall be called the Prince of Peace. Oh, the unspeakable horrors of war! Who can measure its frightful expense in treasure and blood, in tears and agony! Oh, the horrors of bloody strife and the mutilated forms of dying men! Oh, the wild and devilish strife of the sanguinary battlefield! Oh, the myriads of graves that have marked the track of earthly conquerors! In the last few decades there is not an important nation under the sun that has not been deluged in blood. But all this is coming to an end. Through the dim future, through long generations, The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease; And, like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, I hear the voice of Christ again say “Peace.” Peace, and no longer from its brazen portals The voice of war’s loud thunder shakes the skies, But beautiful as songs of the immortals The holy melodies of love arise. But that is only one side of peace. There are a thousand strifes that never end in blood. There are a thousand swords that shed only the richer blood of the spirit. Oh, the sorrows and sins that come from lack of harmony, from the discords of human hearts, from the ill adjustments of human lives, from the clash and friction of human spirits! Men are at war with themselves, at war with each other, at war with God. Oh, for the coming of the Prince of Peace! That will bring rest to every restless heart, harmony to every divided home, unity and love to all human lives, and peace with God. And it will be so perfect that like the planets around their sun, all earth’s inhabitants will move in harmony with the will of God, and earth once more will become the counterpart of heaven, and its troubled sea of unrest like the sea of glass before the throne (Revelation 4:6). 4. It will be a kingdom of grace and love. “He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor…. He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth…. For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight” (Psalms 72:4, Psalms 72:6, Psalms 72:12-14). He will be the King of grace, of gentleness, of meekness. He will be the Protector of the poor, the Comforter of the sorrowing, the Friend of the friendless. Earth has had its Prince Arthurs and its Peters the Great, whose glory it was to live among their peasantry and to befriend the lowly and the poor. But the coming King is the ideal of gentleness and grace. Oh, the happiness His reign will bring! “God will wipe away every tear” (Revelation 7:17) and redress all wrongs, destroy all enemies, heal all the wounds of the ages. What a world that will be where there will be no sin, no sickness, no sorrow, no selfishness, no Satan! What a Millennium that will be where we shall have our perfect bodies, our perfect spirits, our parted friends, our blessed Savior forever! O long-expected day, begin, Dawn on this world of pain and sin. 5. It will be a kingdom of glory, riches and splendor. “The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts” (Psalms 72:10). “May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long” (Psalms 72:15). While all the elements of spiritual blessings will be there, there will not be lacking one thing which can constitute material happiness and glory. The earth will be transformed. Its physical features will be materially changed, its climate adjusted, its thorns and thistles, rocks and desert waste places exchanged for beauty and fertility, “the desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom” (Isaiah 35:1). The very animal creation will be so changed that they will perfectly minister to man as in the first creation, and violence, cruelty, and suffering will pass away from earth. The riches and the glory of earth will be laid at the feet of Jesus and shared with His redeemed. Has He not said: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33)? It is then that the reward will come, and they who have followed Him in the sacrifice of all earthly ambitions will sit with Him on thrones and receive with Him a hundredfold of houses and lands and earthly distinctions and glories. This is not to be the chief element of their happiness. These things are nothing without Him. But having taught them to find their portion first in Him, He will give them all besides, and Himself with it and in it, and make real the old testimony of one of His saints: “First, I have everything in God, and then I have God in everything.” 6. It will be a universal kingdom. “He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Psalms 72:8). “All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him” (Psalms 72:11). There will never be another universal kingdom until Jesus comes. Our boasted democracy is not going to include the world. Its next hope is a king, and the earth is waiting for His advent with groans of pain. The Church is not going to become universal, but Christ Himself, by His personal coming, shall gather all nations and tribes and tongues beneath His peaceful scepter. 7. It will be an everlasting kingdom. “He will endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations” (Psalms 72:5). “May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed” (Psalms 72:17). Not only for a thousand years will His kingdom last, but forever and ever. The scriptural conception of the future is very glorious. It is not a monotonous forever, but it is a succession of aeons, or ages, of surpassing glory. The Millennium is but one of these ages. The new heavens and the new earth will be the next, and beyond that is age after age forever. Could we be told the glory of some of these distant ages, we could not even comprehend it. But as these mighty aeons roll on, we shall be prepared for yet greater progressions and this mighty universe will expand until that great promise is fulfilled: “In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Such is a feeble outline of this inspired picture of the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus. The other Scriptures are full of the picture of this golden age of Christian hope and promise. But what can we do to hasten it? Section II—His Subjects1. We can long for it. There is a great promise to those who simply and truly love His appearing. If we desire it, it will influence and transform our lives. It is the goal of our highest hopes and affections and the time when our real life shall begin. Is our treasure there? Are our hopes there? Is every fiber of our being crying: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20)? Is it home forever to our homeless hearts? This is what the Master sees and loves. This is what friendship appreciates in a friend—the sense of his absence, the longing for his return. 2. We can pray for it. Do you ever pray for the things that are coming to you after Jesus comes? Have you stored up anything on the other side of the resurrection, for which you are waiting and asking? Oh, you little know the power there is in that kind of prayer! It will elevate all your being by cords that are anchored to the very throne, and attractions that will lift you above the skies. 3. We can live for it. We can be ready for His coming every moment. He can keep your garments unspotted. Let Him adorn you with the wedding robe; and when all the members of His Church are thus adorned, and the Bride is ready for her husband, He will not be long in coming. 4. We can labor for His coming. The best way to hasten it is to send the gospel to all nations and take the invitations to the wedding to all earth’s inhabitants. When this shall have been done, we know the end will come. Blessed hope! Lord, hasten it! Oh, let the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” (Revelation 22:17), and every heart respond, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). In Scotland’s darkest day, the nation at last felt that its only hope lay in the return of John Knox. So he was sent for, and eagerly they awaited the first signal of the great reformer’s advent. At length a messenger hastened up from Leith, entered the chamber where the delegates were secretly assembled, and carefully shutting the door, a whisper was breathed, “John Knox has come.” It went from lip to lip, and men stood up with strange excitement, buckled on their armor and helmets, went from village to village, and from home to home, until, ere many hours had passed, the tidings had been whispered to every waiting heart, “John Knox has come!” Brave men gathered quickly to the secret meeting place where a mighty host stood around their glorious leader, and the enemies of Scotland trembled on their throne before the power of one mighty man. Scotland was saved, and the religious liberties of the world were settled. Oh, this is the only hope of the world! Let us send it up to heaven as the cry of prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Soon the whisper will sweep down from yonder skies, “The Lord has come!” Around Him will silently gather His faithful waiting ones; scepters will fall and thrones will crumble, and the King of kings will take the kingdom, and the saints of the Most High will reign with Him forever and ever. Oh day of days! Oh hope of hopes! Oh King of kings and Lord of lords! We wait, we watch, we long, we hope, we pray, we work for Thee. Amen.