Ransom Paid

Read Psalm 111, 130, 131, 141, 146
 
Psalms 111:9 He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
 
THE first sentence seems as if this Old Testament scripture is speaking of the New Testament. Jesus said of himself in Matthew 20:28 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The Bible teaches that Jesus paid the full ransom price to satisfy our sin debt to the Father. How did God pay the full ransom for his people in the Old Covenant?
   The full ransom at that point referred to God’s word and works to Israel to that time. As we have learned through the Bible, God promised – made a covenant with mankind – that a Redeemer would destroy Satan’s authority. He formed Israel to be a nation to enact that covenant into the world. The psalmist looked back at God’s Word and Israel’s history, and he understood all Israel’s history was God’s covenant being fulfilled.
   God’s guarantee of his covenant is more than the long-term promise of a Savior. I AM’s Word is also steadfast truth to accomplish all he said he would do in the generations from Abraham to David. Each promise of judgment and of blessing had come true when Israel disobeyed and obeyed.
   The psalm reminds us God had acted in particular ways to keep his covenant steadfast. There is then a unique power and authority in the name of God. The LORD God had shown in all his work that he is holy, and his name is to be feared, to be revered. The eternal promise is evident then in God’s name because he is Absolute.
   One theme throughout the psalms is the way the writers remembered what God had done in the world. They reminded Israel of God creating the world, forming them through Abraham, freeing them through the Red Sea, establishing them as a nation and conquering the Promised Land. This is Israel’s history, and it is God’s evidence he is paying the full ransom of his covenant.
   And now we rejoice that we can personally echo the psalmist’s words in the New Covenant. We know today God chose Jesus as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. (1 Peter 1:20-21)
          God is faithful to speak, to enact and to keep his covenant forever. Revere his holy name.