Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.

• Psalm 90:1-4

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
    let the distant shores rejoice.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

• Psalm 97:1-2

The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
    in the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at your right hand;
    he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
    and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.

• Psalm 110:4-6

Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
    you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and women,
    old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
And he has raised up for his people a horn,
    the praise of all his faithful servants,
    of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.

• Psalm 148:7-14

May the praise of God be in their mouths
    and a double-edged sword in their hands,
to inflict vengeance on the nations
    and punishment on the peoples,
to bind their kings with fetters,
    their nobles with shackles of iron,
to carry out the sentence written against them—
    this is the glory of all his faithful people.
Praise the Lord.

• Psalm 149:6-9

Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.

• Psalm 150:1-6

“The psalms of the final victory of God and of his Messiah (2, 96-98, 110, 148-150) lead us in praise, thanksgiving, and petition to the end of all things, when all the world will give God the honor, when the redeemed people of God will reign with him eternally, when the powers of evil will fall and God alone will rule.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible

Dietrich Bonhoeffer states at the beginning of this chapter that there are no psalms that speak of Jesus’ return or specifically upon the End Times.  But there are many psalms that speak of all nations bowing before the ruler of Israel and giving praises to God.

I have taught Sunday school classes on a variety of prophecies.  Throughout Jeremiah and Ezekiel, you can see elements of a prophecy that come true with the return of the remnant.  But then it talks about coming from all corners of the earth or it mentions that the surrounding nations will worship the true God and there will be peace forever.

The remnant only came back from the Medo Persian Empire.  Maybe a few cities, but just one empire, not all corners of the earth.  The remnant did not live in peace as you see in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.  The surrounding nations wanted to rid themselves of the Jews, just as they continue to do today.

The keys in the psalms above are as follows:

Psalm 90 speaks of an everlasting dwelling place.

Psalm 97 speaks of the Lord reigning on earth and the earth rejoicing.

Psalm 110 speaks of a priest after the order of Melchizedek and how all the nations will be judged and the leaders crushed.

Psalm 148 spends several verses to let you know that “all the earth” is the “them” when the psalmist says to let them praise the Lord.  We are far from there at this point.

Psalm 149 again speaks of the rulers of the earth being bond up, and this will be glory for God’s faithful people.

The entirety of Psalm 150 is quoted.  The psalm is all about giving praise, but the last verse says that everything will give praise to God.

These types of statements point to a time that has not yet happened.  In as much, these are End Times psalms.

Lord, guide us as we pray.  Praise to the Lord.  Let us rejoice.  For some day, Jesus will return and set things right.  The nations will indeed bow down.  And we will live in peace.  In the name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.