Psalm 21 — A Psalm for our King
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD;
And in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire,
And hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah
3 For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness:
Thou settest a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked life of thee, thou gavest it him;
Even length of days for ever and ever.
5 His glory is great in thy salvation:
Honour and majesty dost thou lay upon him.
6 For thou makest him most blessed for ever:
Thou makest him glad with joy in thy presence.
7 For the king trusteth in the LORD,
And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies:
Thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery furnace in the time of thine anger.
The LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.
10 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth,
And their seed from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against thee:
They imagined a device, which they are not able to perform.
12 For thou shalt make them turn their back,
Thou shalt make ready with thy bowstrings against the face of them.
13 Be thou exalted, O LORD, in thy strength:
So will we sing and praise thy power.
A psalm fit for a king! Written by David himself, it its fun to imagine his hand praising his high position. He doesn't praise himself or his own works, however, but the might of God's power. If David had any greatness to point toward, he is quick to show from where the greatness grew.
This psalm also speaks of David's heir to the throne: Jesus Christ. All of the might, beauty & majesty can be understood in this messianic context. Our king on high is ready to judge the wicked.
And for us, we see that the judgment of the wicked goes hand in hand with the message of the psalm. On the one hand, we praise our king for his beauty.. On the other, we praise our king for his judgments against the folly of the evil ones.
We have no great king today like our true King, Jesus. No one today wears a crown so nobly. No one today executes justice for the lowly with such mercy. No one today condemns the wrong so righteously. Praise God!