Psalm 110:3 Your people shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning… Luther calls this psalm "the true high main psalm of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ." Our Lord himself attests that it is inspired of the Holy Ghost, and there is no other Scripture in the Old Testament that is so frequently quoted in the New. The occasion of the psalm seems to have been the great festival of the bringing up of the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem. On that day David assumed the double function of priest and king, for he was vested in priestly raiment, and fulfilling the priestly office, whilst at the same time he was the victorious king. But this double character which in this day David bore became the prefigurement and type of the twofold character of him who was to be in all respects a King infinitely more glorious than David, and a Priest whose office should never fail. It is of the vision of him that this psalm tells. The sacred poet pictures our Savior as a mighty monarch surrounded by his youthful warriors, bright and numberless as the dew-drops on a summer's morn, willing to shed their heart's blood in his service, each one rated as a priest, each one a soldier of God. That is what is foretold of Christ. Let us speak of - I. THE DAY OF CHRIST'S POWER, His resurrection-day; Pentecost; all days when Christ is vividly realized by the soul; - such are days of his power. And there is yet a future day which will emphatically deserve to be thus called. Then the vision of this psalm finds fulfillment; there is the glad rush of the young to his standard, and their willing surrender to his service. And in the history of the Church there have been from time to time such blessed days. Eternal things became real to his people, the old words and truths shone out with a new luster. Christ drew near to his people's souls, and they welcomed him as their Lord. Such days have come to scattered congregations and to individual believing souls. The secret of all real revivals of religion with which the Church has once and again been blessed has been this - that Christ came to them, as at Pentecost, in power. And if his presence were more hungered after, there would be more of such days. II. ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 1. The spontaneity and willingness with which the people offer themselves. They have not to be dragged to his service, forced to do his will. 2. Their sanctity. They are vested "in the beauties of holiness." They are to be priests of God as well as his soldiers. When this is the case with the Church, then indeed it will be a day of Christ's power. It is what the world waits to see, and insists upon it that it as yet cannot see. 3. Their numbers; as the drops of dew on a summer morning, innumerable; and heaven-born, and for the earth's refreshment and fertility. Not a solitary convert here and there as now, but they shall come in multitudes. 4. Their youthfulness. Not worn-out lives and faded energies are offered, but "the dew of thy youth." Do we not long to see such a day? Fervent, believing, persevering, and obedient prayer shall surely bring such days. - S.C. Parallel Verses KJV: Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. |
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