In the midst of crying out for God's face to shine upon His people, and to save them, the Psalmist (Psalm 80:17) calls upon God to strengthen Messiah, and put His right Hand upon the Lord Jesus.
The Psalmist thereby concedes the fact that only by the power of Messiah can God's people be turned to God. Our only hope is in the strength of Messiah!
But the consequence is stunning: by Messiah's power from God, we will never go back from our God. It is by Messiah's strength, which His Father blessed Him with, that we are saved and kept unto our God.
Clearly, God's people are incapable of maintaining obedience and faithfulness to God in our own strength. The reason we are powerless, is that we are dead. Thus, the Psalmist calls upon God to quicken us, regenerate us, so that we will call upon His name.
Psalm 80:18 totally frustrates the Arminian teacher, because it clearly describes how we will not call upon God until He first makes us alive again by the power of Messiah.
The truth of God strengthening Messiah is repeated throughout scripture. In Isaiah 49, Messiah recites how God has prepared Him, has call Him, and is His strength, so that He will have the power to save His people and set us free.
God's care for Messiah is particularly necessary because of the Jewish people's rejection of Messiah. In the face of that disappointment, Christ is encouraged to be designated the savior of the world, a light unto the nations!
Isaiah 50 goes further: Messiah is helped by God to submit Himself an offering for sin, in which His success is guaranteed, and all His foes are put to shame.
Indeed, at the incarnation, Jesus operated in the power of the Spirit of God. |
