Psalm 110:3

Psalm 110:3

Service and sacrifice

Here’s another verse that is telling us more than what at first appears. It starts with the phrase, “Your troops will be willing.” In Hebrew this literally means that the troops will be free will offerings to the Lord. In other words, these men are those who will lay down their lives for the Lord; they will be prepared to sacrifice themselves for Him. Free will offerings were spontaneous gifts; they were voluntarily made rather than being part of the legal rules and regulations of daily worship. Most believers today would be relieved to agree that following Jesus Christ does not involve joining an army and give up your life. Or does it? Paul is actually speaking about this when he writes in Romans 12:1. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.” In other words, Yeshua is still looking for troops who will be available as free will offerings on the day of battle. 

The verse goes on to describe the Messiah, “arrayed in holy splendour,” and His young warriors who flock to join Him in His holy war. They too are clothed in holy garments. In David’s mind, perhaps this means that they wore priestly robes and he describes them as pouring into Messiah’s camp as copious as the dew from the womb of the morning. These thoughts are not peculiar to Psalm 110, listen to Isaiah’s prophecy of the gathering of the Lord’s army at the fall of Babylon.

“I have commanded those I prepared for battle; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath – those who rejoice in my triumph. Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The Lord Almighty is mustering an army for war.” Isaiah 13:3-4.

Don’t ever think that the Lord we follow is just “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild!”

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