The Resurrection of the Messiah: Psalm 116:10
In this One-Hundred Sixteenth Psalm, a Michtam or Golden Poem of David, the Almighty is extolled, e.g., "in Thee do I put My trust"
(Psa 116:1), "Thou maintainest My lot" (Psa 116:5), etc., and the lyric approaches its crescendo, when the Psalmist sings, "For Thou wilt not leave My soul in Hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption"
(Psalm 16:10). Though all the words seem to come from David's mouth in description of his own person, this particular utterance is elevated to describe none other than the Messiah-- the Holy One. It is difficult to comprehend that the Messiah is a real person, i.e., "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son"
(Isaiah 7:14); but at the same time, He is Divine, i.e., "The Mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6). If He is Divine, how could He suffer at the hands of His fellow countrymen, i.e., "The Stone which the builders refused" (Psalm 118:22)? Troubling as this sounds, He would also be put to death! "After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off"
(Daniel 9:26). Horrendous! How can man kill the Very God of Heaven? But, in fact, both Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, and the unbelieving leadership of the nation of Israel delivered up Jesus to be crucified. "Yea, Mine Own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me" (Psalm 41:9). How dark, if that was all there was to this narrative!
As if making a timely announcement to those listening: "Thou wilt not leave My soul in Hell [Hebrew, sheol, the grave]; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption"
(Psalm 16:10). The corruption of the grave never had its hold upon the Messiah, as it has over all others that die, e.g., "Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him [Lazarus] that was dead, saith unto Him, LORD, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days"
(John 11:39). The concept of resurrection from the dead was held by the Pharisees and rejected by the Sadducees during the writing of the New Testament-- meaning that it was not an unknown concept from the Hebrew Scriptures, e.g., "For the Sadducees say that there is no Resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both"
(Acts 23:8). The most ancient of Hebrew Scriptures finds Job confessing, "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God"
(Job 19:26). The sons of Korah offered this statement, consistent with a bodily Resurrection, in song to the Chief Musician, "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for He shall receive me"
(Psalm 49:15). The beloved prophet Isaiah anticipated all of the important elements of the Christian Gospel, including the idea of Resurrection. "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the Earth shall cast out the dead"
(Isaiah 26:19). The prophet Hosea wrote in anticipation of Paul's New Testament statement, "when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in Victory"
(1Corinthians 15:54). "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from Mine eyes" (Hosea 13:14).
When the Christian Church was inaugurated the Pentecost after the Crucifixion of Jesus, the keynote feature of the Apostle Peter's sermon to his decidedly, non-Christian, Jewish audience in Jerusalem was that the Resurrection of Jesus proved that He was the Messiah. Peter said:
(1) In response to the amazement of the crowd to the fact that these Galilean-Jewish Christians spoke in one language and they were miraculously heard and understood in another language, i.e.,
"6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" (Acts 2:6-8), Peter proclaimed that these Christians were not babbling drunkards, i.e., "these are not drunken, as ye suppose" (Acts 2:15).
(2) He said the phenomenon was in agreement with the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32, i.e., "16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 and it shall come to pass in the Last Days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in Heaven above, and signs in the Earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the LORD come:
21 and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the LORD shall be Saved" (Acts 2:16-21).
(3) Knowing the Jewish leader's hatred of Jesus, and that the Romans did not act alone in the Crucifixion of Jesus, Peter bluntly leveled the charge: You killed the Messiah!
"22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you by Miracles and Wonders and Signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:22-23).
(4) Before the amazed Jews could respond to the charge of killing the Messiah, Peter dumbfounded them with the announcement that Jesus rose from the dead! "Whom God hath Raised Up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it" (Acts 2:24).
Before Peter called upon his Jewish hearers to repent, he unfolded the Scriptural proof texts that demonstrated that the Resurrection proves that Jesus is the Messiah. He cited:
(1) Psalm 16:8-11. You will notice that all of this Psalm, Peter ascribes to the Messiah! More clearly here than anywhere else, we are given the sense that the Messiah will Resurrect. Compare the texts.
"8 I have set the LORD always before Me: because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore My heart is glad, and My Glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in Hope.
10 For Thou wilt not leave My soul in Hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
11 </span style="color:darkred">Thou wilt shew Me the Path of Life: in Thy Presence is fullness of Joy; at Thy right hand there are Pleasures for evermore"</span style="color:darkred"> (Psalm 16:8-11).
"25 For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the LORD always before My face, for He is on My right hand, that I should not be moved:
26 Therefore did My heart rejoice, and My tongue was glad; moreover also My flesh shall rest in Hope: 27 because Thou wilt not leave My soul in Hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou hast made known to Me the Ways of Life; Thou shalt make Me full of Joy with Thy Countenance" (Acts 2:25-28).
(2) Psalm 110:1. Again, notice that Peter understands this verse to say that the Messiah is Resurrected and Ascended up to Heaven at the time of his preaching! "The LORD said unto My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool"
(Psalm 110:1).
"34 For David is not ascended into the Heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, 35 Until I make Thy foes Thy footstool" (Acts 2:34-35).
Peter reminded his congregation that David is still dead and buried, but the Messiah-- Jesus, the son of David-- is already resurrected!
"30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an Oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31He seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in Hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God Raised Up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear"
(Acts 2:30-33). Peter brought to his sermon the collective force of the Spirit-filled witness of his fellow Christians, who miraculously spoke to diverse ears, while simultaneously being heard in different languages, with this bold assertion: "This Jesus hath God Raised Up, whereof we all are witnesses"
(Acts 2:32). This was a group of "about an hundred and twenty" (Acts 2:15) Christian Believers; and, the Mosaic Law only required that "at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established"
(Deuteronomy 19:15). Is it any wonder that 3,000 souls (Acts 2:41) were added to the Church of the LORD Jesus Christ with such a sermon? Further, the concept that the Messiah was to be the son of David was born out well by the Hebrew Scriptures, for example:
(1) "He [David] shall build an house for My Name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever" (2Samuel 7:13).
(2) "11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou [David] must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish His Kingdom.
12 He shall build Me an house, and I will stablish His Throne for ever" (1Chronicles 17:11-12).
(3) "3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations" (Psalm 89:3-4).
The Resurrection Chapter of the New Testament: 1Corinthians 15