Who is our King?~ Qui est notre Roi?
Asaph calls on the Lord to shepherd his flock, the tribes of Joseph, and to shine forth over Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. This focus on the northern tribes suggests the psalm arose after the division of Rehoboam’s kingdom in 930 BC. Likewise, the desolate land, ravaged by unclean beasts (vv. 12-16), points to the time just after the harrowing Egyptian invasion of 925 BC (2 Chr. 12.2-3; 1 Kgs 14.25-26), when Israel was nearly extinguished.
In this desperate time, Asaph looks to the Lord to put his hand on a king (v. 17) who will deliver them. The man of your right hand borrows Ephraimite ideology (Gen. 48.14) and shows that Asaph’s hope was in an Ephraimite leader from the house of Joshua. Who might this have been? Was it Jeroboam? Perhaps. Jeroboam was certainly from Joshua’s line and he did some good before he turned to the idolatry which destroyed him (1 Kgs 12.25). Asaph’s immediate hopes must have been dashed by what Jeroboam became. But he was not looking in the wrong direction. The Lord had indeed promised a hero to arise from Joshua, one who would die like a sacrificial ox and then rule the nations (Deut. 33.17). Ultimately the promise was fulfilled in Yeshua (Joshua) the son of Joseph, in whom the promises to David, Joseph and Aaron met. And it is to his coming we look, as Asaph did before us, to deliver us in all our adversities.
David Mitchell
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