Psalm 118:16

Psalm 118:16

The right hand of God

Let’s talk a bit more about the significance of the right hand of the Lord shall we? There’s a very human story early in the Bible when Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, died in childbirth but produced a son who she called Ben-oni. Ben-oni means “son of my sorrow” or “son of my trouble.” Jacob, his father, gave the boy a new name, it was Benjamin which means “son of my right hand” or “son of my power.” Interestingly, Benjamin turned out to be one of the smallest of the Israelite tribes, but his descendants were elevated by merging with the tribe of Judah and thus becoming the predecessors of the Jews. 

A person of high rank who put someone on his right hand gave him equal honour with himself and that person would be recognised as possessing equal dignity and authority. This is what the Apostle Paul writes of Jesus Christ in Ephesians. "And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the ones believing according to the working of His mighty strength which He worked in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age". Ephesians 1:19-21. Here we see God exalting Jesus above all others by seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies.

The fact that Jesus Christ is at the "right hand of God" was a sign to the disciples that He had indeed gone to heaven. In John 16:7-15 Jesus told the disciples that He had to go away, and He would send the Holy Spirit to them. So, the coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) was proof positive that Jesus was indeed in heaven seated at the right hand of God. This is confirmed in Romans 8:34 where the Apostle Paul writes that Christ is sitting at God’s right hand making intercession for us.

When we consider the power and authority of God and His Son, and how the working of His right hand can change the direction of the whole world, it is little wonder that the psalmist wants to celebrate this. Perhaps we have lost that sense of wonder or even belief that the Lord is willing to raise His right hand to fight for us?

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