Psalms Book 4: Songs of Exile | Video DevotionalSample

Recap

Yesterday, we saw that evil cannot defeat those who trust God. Today, we will learn that God gives rest and provides for all his people’s needs.

What’s Happening?

God formed the world in six days, and on the seventh, his world rested because God provided everything his creation needed (Genesis 2:1-2). And since that first restful Sabbath day, God has commanded every citizen in his Kingdom to rest on the seventh day of each week. Psalm 92 was written to be sung every Sabbath, and it celebrates God as an eternal king who provides for his citizens’ needs every night, allowing them to rest from their work (Psalm 92:1-3). The psalmist begins by praising God as a hard-working king who has spent his week sustaining the world and providing for its needs (Psalm 92:4-5). While some provide for and sustain themselves through unjust means and wicked ways, the psalmist sings that only those who rest in the Sabbath King’s provision will thrive in his Kingdom forever. Those who reject God’s Kingship and Sabbath rest are doomed to become like grass that dies after a brief time (Psalm 92:6-9).

But for all those who rest in God’s provision, like a lavish host with honored guests, God will refresh his people (Psalm 92:10-11). In his Kingdom, weary citizens will find rest for their bodies and remain strong even in old age. Unlike those who reject God’s Sabbath, those who rest will be like mighty cedars; the older they get, the stronger and more fruitful they become (Psalm 92:12-14). This Sabbath song ends by calling everyone in God’s Kingdom to proclaim that God is a generous, hard-working King who, like a rock that never changes, will never stop providing for his people (Psalm 92:15).

Where is the Gospel?

Ultimately, God, the eternal King, gives rest and provides for all his people’s needs through the reign of his son, Jesus. During his time on earth, Jesus announced the coming of God’s Kingdom and invited the weak and work-weary to come to him for rest (Matthew 4:17; 11:28). Jesus’ work weeks were filled with actions that gave his citizens rest. He restored the sick to health, freed those oppressed by demons and diseases, hosted the hungry, and taught about God’s Kingdom (Luke 9:11,16-17). And as he brought forth light from the darkness on the first day of creation, Jesus raised people from the darkness of their tombs (Luke 7:14-15; John 11:43-44). Jesus is the ultimate Sabbath King who, alongside his Father, gives his citizens rest and provides them with a long life beyond death.

But some people challenged Jesus’ kingdom of rest. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day rebuked him for feeding and healing on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8; Luke 13:10-14). But Jesus reminds them that it is the job of the Sabbath King to provide rest for God’s people (Luke 13:15-16). Jesus, the King of rest, had come to provide for his weak and hungry people. He came to give them life, even life that would be fruitful forever (John 10:10; 15:16). However, some were wickedly working to protect their own kingdoms. The religious leaders hated Jesus for claiming to be their King and killed him. But Jesus’ death was nothing more than a Sabbath rest after a long life of providing for his people (Hebrews 4:9). And only three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to his throne over all creation (Luke 24:50-51). Jesus now reigns as King forever, and he is always working to provide life to those who rest in him. So come and rest in Jesus. Let him sustain you and give you rest in his kingdom.

A Time of Prayer

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open my eyes to see the God who invites us into his Kingdom of rest. And may I see Jesus as the one who forever brings God’s Kingdom of rest to his people.