He shall cry to Me, “You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.” Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. (Psalm 89:26-27)
These verses are a continuation of what was discussed in the previous devotion; that is, that David was chosen above all others to be king over God’s people during his tenure on earth. This specific verse speaks to the reason David was chosen — because his greatest desire was to draw close to the Creator as a son would to a father. Perhaps if Saul had chosen such a path, things may have turned out differently but it was David whose throne God determined to establish forever because He was a man after God’s own heart. Therefore, God said of him, “I will make him My firstborn.”
That’s interesting for a couple of reasons; first being, David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons. Rabbinical commentators interpret his firstborn status to be a reflection of the fact that he was the first monarch of the House of David, the divinely appointed dynasty. Perhaps, but it should also be pointed out that centuries before David, God told Moses to appear before Pharaoh and demand Israel’s release because, as the Almighty put it, “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Exodus 4:22). Indeed, it was the “firstborn” who were spared death on the night when the Destroyer went through Egypt because God protected the houses who exhibited a particular sign — the blood of the lamb.
That brings us to this point: I would argue the firstborn of God are any and all who have been born again, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Whether we are the youngest among siblings or an only child to our earthly parents, through faith in Messiah, we have been spared death and are regarded as His firstborn. As Paul said of Messiah, “He is the head of the body … who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18); and that we who follow Him are “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). In other words, because He is the firstborn (and the only begotten), we are being remade in His image so that we, too, are regarded as firstborn.
If this is how God desires to see us as His sons and daughters, mustn’t we also look to Him as our Father? More than just referring to Him as such shouldn’t we, as David did, desire to draw close to Him as our Protector? And of the Messiah, let us not forget that He is the ultimate fulfillment and focus of what is written in the verse above; He is the Rock of our salvation and to Him, and to Him alone, is the office of “the highest of the kings of the earth.”
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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