Psalm 21 - Unending Blessings or that pesky blazing furnace - You Choose.

For the director of music. A psalm of David. Thanksgiving 1 The king finds joy in your strength, O Lord. How greatly he rejoices in the victories you give! 2 You have granted him his heart’s desire You have not withheld the request of his lips. 3 You came to greet him with rich blessings You placed a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever. 5 Your victories bring him great glory; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. 6 You have granted him unending blessings you made him glad with the joy of your presence. Transition 7 For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken. Trust 8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes. 9 When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them. 10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their children from the sons of men. 11 Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed. 12 You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. 13 Be exalted in your strength, O Lord; we will sing and praise your might.

In Psalm 20 David asks God for help in battle. In this Psalm David thanks God for his help and Trusts God for his continuing assistance. There is an Inclusio (bookends) at the beginning and end of the Psalm. The king finds joy in your strength, O Lord Be exalted in your strength, O Lord The Thanksgiving Stanza is very cleverly built. There is a small inclusio with joy in the first and last line the stanza. The Psalm pivots in the middle around a chiasmus - He You You Him. Either side of the pivot are 4 You statements. The king finds joy in your strength, O Lord. How greatly he rejoices in the victories you give! You have granted him his heart’s desire You have not withheld the request of his lips. You came to greet him with rich blessings You placed a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever. Your victories bring him great glory; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. You have granted him unending blessings you made him glad with the joy of your presence. In the pivot statement, David asked God for life, and God, gave him not just life, but eternal life. This is another clue that King David will be with us in eternity.  In verse 6 David is granted not just blessings but unending blessings. He also mentions this in Psalm 23: I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David recognised that even though he was victorious in battle - the victory belonged to the Lord. Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; When King Saul and his army was losing on the battlefield and he had a serious wound, he chose to fall on his sword rather than falling into the hands of his enemies.  Imagine falling into the hands of an offended God. In Hebrews 10:31 it says It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. In Nahum 1:6 it says Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him. In this Psalm we see what God does when someone chooses to be His enemy. Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes. you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them. You will destroy their descendants from the earth, In verse 10 God will destroy their descendants and their children.  The 2 words can be translated as fruit and seed. So there is a secondary meaning that not just your children but your fruit or works will be destroyed too. When God aims his bow at you, you better turn your backs and run - it won't do any good but what else are you going to do?  You chose the wrong side! You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. Although they are attacking David and Israel, they are God's enemies. your enemies your foes they plot evil against you David is the Lord's anointed, Israel is God's chosen people. Through these people the Messiah will be born. God has a plan for the salvation of humanity, the plan was first revealed to us back in Genesis 3, when God said "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Even though God's enemies plot evil and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed. Although this Psalm is written about King David and how the battles he fights are won with the Lord's help, there is also a prophetic future meaning in the words. Read the 1st stanza of the  Psalm again and this time read the king as King Jesus. The Trust stanza also has a prophetic future meaning of end time events. In Revelation 20:15 when the dead are judged: If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.