Bowing down

DEVOTION

PSALMS

BOWING DOWN

Ps 72:8-14

8 He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.   9 The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts. 11 All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.

12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. 13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. 14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.

NIV

This again could be speaking of Solomon as David prays for such a blessing on his son. From history we do know that the Queen of Sheba did bring Solomon many gifts.

1 Kings 10:10

10 And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

NIV

But this is also so much about Jesus in the sense that all kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him. We know that is not true of Solomon. We also know that Solomon never ruled from sea to sea, but Jesus does. Maybe we could say that Solomon delivered the needy who cried out, but we know for sure Jesus does. Solomon could never save the weak and the needy from death, unless we know for sure he emptied his treasuries and freed all the poor in Israel, which he did not, at least we have no record of him doing that. But we sure have a record of Jesus feeding thousands from just two fish and five loafs, several times. We also know Jesus saved them and us from death. Jesus has delivered us because there is no one else who could, no one else to help with our deliverance. Jesus rescues us from the oppression of sin and the violence of the evil one who would do us harm. Our blood is precious in Jesus’s sight, certain not in the sight of Solomon. Where would we be if it were not for Jesus? We would be needy, oppressed and facing a violent death. Have we truly bowed down to him? Have we brought him tribute from our distant shores? We have offered our bodies as living sacrifices which is our reasonable act of worship. We are his to do with as he wishes. We are at his service, his beck and call to do whatever he calls us to do. Yes, we have bowed to his sovereignty, his rule in our life. We do not live simply for our own ambitions and try to incorporate God into our plans. We have no plans other than his. We have no future other them his. We have no wealth other then what he has provided for our daily need. We have bowed to his plan, his kingship, and his complete authority in our life. We have bowed down, we are bowing down.