Psalms 41:11 KJV
By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
We are often self centered in our study of the Bible and fail to see what that Bible really teaches because of it. This passage is an excellent example of that. The Psalm is Messianic. Of this there is no question because it treats the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.
Verse 11 should then be understood to be the words of the Lord.
• He knows God favors Him
• He knows His heavenly Father has approved his sacrifice
How? Because He arose victorious over death.
In a self centered approach to the passage we would say that God must not favor us because an enemy got his way and we did not.
• Maybe an unsaved guy got a promotion we wanted
• Maybe the county denied a building permit we sought
• Maybe a judge decided we deserved the ticket we went to court to protest
God must not favor us because we did not get our way.
Remember first that this passage is referring to Jesus and not us. Remember secondly the context:
• Jesus was betrayed by His friend
• Jesus was captured by an army
• Jesus was tried and condemned to death under false witnesses
• He was beaten
• He was mocked
• He was sentenced to death and the sentence was carried out and that despite that Jesus had prayed, "Father let this cup pass from me..."
(I cite that quotes as another example of improperly interpreted Scripture and not because I believe Jesus prayed to escape the cross. I do not believe that.)
The victory Jesus experienced over His enemies was on the other side of death. We who are saved know the very same favor of God because, no matter what happens today, on the other side we dwell with God eternally.
By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
We are often self centered in our study of the Bible and fail to see what that Bible really teaches because of it. This passage is an excellent example of that. The Psalm is Messianic. Of this there is no question because it treats the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.
Verse 11 should then be understood to be the words of the Lord.
• He knows God favors Him
• He knows His heavenly Father has approved his sacrifice
How? Because He arose victorious over death.
In a self centered approach to the passage we would say that God must not favor us because an enemy got his way and we did not.
• Maybe an unsaved guy got a promotion we wanted
• Maybe the county denied a building permit we sought
• Maybe a judge decided we deserved the ticket we went to court to protest
God must not favor us because we did not get our way.
Remember first that this passage is referring to Jesus and not us. Remember secondly the context:
• Jesus was betrayed by His friend
• Jesus was captured by an army
• Jesus was tried and condemned to death under false witnesses
• He was beaten
• He was mocked
• He was sentenced to death and the sentence was carried out and that despite that Jesus had prayed, "Father let this cup pass from me..."
(I cite that quotes as another example of improperly interpreted Scripture and not because I believe Jesus prayed to escape the cross. I do not believe that.)
The victory Jesus experienced over His enemies was on the other side of death. We who are saved know the very same favor of God because, no matter what happens today, on the other side we dwell with God eternally.
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