Monday Morning Meditation: Redemption (Psalm 34 series)

This is part 6 of the Monday Morning Meditation Psalm 34 series. This will be the final post of this series.

Here are verses 19-22.

A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

This section of the psalm begins with another declaration of God's deliverance, but the context is a bit different when these four verses are looked at together.

Most scholars believe verse 20 is a prophesy concerning Jesus. John 19 describes how the two others being crucified with Jesus had their legs broken. "But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs." Not one of Jesus' bones was broken, in fulfillment of this prophesy. This is why it is more accurate to say during communion, as Jesus said, “This is my body given for you” (though most pastors say "broken for you") because not one of Jesus' bones was broken.

If we look at these 4 verses in the context of this verse speaking of Christ, it sheds a different light.

God will redeems those who follow Him and serve Him. The word translated "redeem" also means "ransom, rescue, deliver." If we take refuge in Him, as we talked about earlier in the series, we will not be condemned, which also means "to be found guilty or take punishment." We will not be punished because He has already taken the punishment for us.

Isaiah 53:4-6 (NIV1984) says,

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

God has ransomed us with His very Son's life. Isaiah 53:10 says, "it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer." God so loved us all that it was His will to suffer for us, so that we can find shelter and redemption in God the Father.

If we can see the big picture, despite this world's troubles, we will be redeemed if we take refuge in Him.

In the end, we win because God wins.

Redemption.

I'll end this series with the words of Jesus from John 16:33:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”