Not one of his bones will be broken
Friday, 26 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
David wrote this Psalm when he went to the Philistine city of Gath to hide from Saul. When the people of Gath recognized him, David pretended to be insane in order to keep the Philistines from revenging themselves upon him. (Remember, Goliath was from Gath, so the people of Gath had no love for David.)
David writes this Psalm as a song of praise to God for his deliverance from the Philistines. David sings of God’s protection for the righteous and His vengeance upon the wicked.
What do we learn from this?
David is not claiming that he is righteous before God based upon his faultless obedience to the law. David is only righteous before God based upon God’s provision of an atonement for his sin. But as David is trusting God and relying upon the substitute God has provided for his sin, David understands that he is under God’s protection.
David is expressing his trust in the Lord that God will deliver him out of his difficulties. David expects to face many afflictions. But he knows that ultimately, God will preserve him through the afflictions and he will not be condemned.
This is not to say that we won’t face many severe hardships, pains, and even ultimately death. God does not give His children a free pass from all difficulties. But He will preserve His children through the difficulties, and most importantly, He will not condemn His people when they stand before Him on judgment day.
Is this because they were righteous enough to earn God’s protection and favor? No. It is because Jesus Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to them by grace through faith, and thus they are reconciled to God and adopted into His family. Thus, none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Where is Christ in this passage?
John tells us that this passage ultimately points to Jesus Christ:
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness–his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth–that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
