November 14, Old Testament Focus

Today’s reading: Psalms 66-70

“For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me”
- Psalm 69:7-9.

David wrote this psalm about his own situation, but as you can see, the description also fits the Lord Jesus and His ministry on earth. In fact, much of the Old Testament is a prelude to the coming of the Messiah, describing His character, nature, mission, and persecution. Once the Messiah came, we are able to look back into the Old Testament and see Jesus everywhere. For example, when Jesus cleansed the Temple, John told us that Jesus’ disciples thought of today’s passage: “To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’” (John 2:17-18). The point is that Jesus is the focal point of all Scripture, and He is to be the focus for your life and worship as well. Anything that takes away from Jesus is to be avoided, and that includes the fear-mongering, misguided end-time prophets who seem to focus more on the Antichrist than the Christ. Is Jesus the centerpiece of your biblical studies? When you read the Old Testament, do you see and think of Jesus as His disciples did as described in John 2? Have you gone off on a tangent to study about trivial things other than what God the Father did in and through His Son and those implications for your life?