Israel in Psalm 53
This week I was listening to audio of the Psalms, during which time I heard Psalm 53, that says in verses 5-6:
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. 6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Question: when you read Psalm 53:6, is Israel, well, Israel? You might think that David would have in mind a certain, specific thinking about Israel, when he wrote this. What have others said that David meant?
Classic Commentators on Psalm 53
Matthew Henry wrote:
God will, in due time, save his church from the sinful malice of its enemies, which will bring joy to Jacob and Israel, that have long been in a mournful melancholy state. Such salvations were often wrought, and all typical of the everlasting triumphs of the glorious church.
John Gill penned:
It is in the original text, “salvations”; denoting the complete salvation of the church; when all her enemies will be destroyed, and all peace and prosperity shall be enjoyed by her.
Spurgeon wrote in his Treasury of David:
Would God the final battle were well over. When will the Lord avenge his own elect? When will the long oppression of the saints come to its close, and glory crown their heads?
Conflicting Statements or Views
None of those commentaries sound like Israel. How did they get that out of Psalm 53? That’s a good question. I could see the confusion of someone writing when they wrote. Commentators aren’t inspired. At that point, it’s true, where was Israel? It would be difficult to think of the salvation of Israel writing when Henry, Gill, and even Spurgeon wrote. On the other hand, in the same comments, Gill wrote:
[I]t may be a wish for the first coming of Christ, to work out salvation for his people; here it may be expressive of the desire of the church for his coming in a spiritual manner, in the latter day, to take to himself his great power, and reign; to destroy antichrist, and deliver his people from bondage and oppression by him; when the Gentiles shall be gathered in, the Jews will be converted, and all Israel saved.
And Spurgeon in his same context wrote this on Psalm 53:
Inasmuch as the yoke has been heavy, and the bondage cruel—the liberty will be happy, and the triumph joyous. The second advent and the restoration of Israel are our hope and expectation.
Even Henry at the same writes there in his commentary:
There will come a Saviour, a great salvation, a salvation from sin. Oh that it might be hastened! for it will bring in glorious and joyful times. There were those in the Old-Testament times that looked and hoped, that prayed and waited, for this redemption.
Old Testament Priority
Taking Psalm 53 at face value with an Old Testament priority, reading like someone that read it in that day, we would believe that Israel was actually Israel. God would save Israel. Many other passages correspond to Psalm 53, that God would answer this prayer for Israel. God has a plan to save Israel.
If I were to take the tack of Tucker Carlson, I might ask, “Do I mean that God will save the government of Israel? Am I saying that God will save the administration of Benjamin Netanyahu?”
Since God will save Israel, then Israel must also exist. He’s not going to save some non-existent entity. Israel does refer to a nation. It is not the church, something that one can see Henry, Gill, and Spurgeon struggling to read into Psalm 53, spiritualizing or allegorizing the passage. It is easy in hindsight to criticize what they did with passage like these or their system of interpretation. But they were wrong to read into Israel, the church.
Paul in Romans
God will save the church. Sure. Absolutely. It does remind me of what Paul writes in Romans 9-11. Israelites question Paul, the Israelite. Why should they trust Christ for salvation if God wasn’t going to save Israel? Paul doesn’t question the premise of their question. What makes you Israelites think that God would save Israel? He doesn’t say: “What do you mean, save Israel? Don’t you know that Israel really is the church?”
Perhaps when Spurgeon talks about avenging the elect, the elect is actually Israel. God calls Israel His elect. The LORD chose Israel and He would save her, partly based on His covenant with her. In Romans 11:29, Paul writes: “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” God called Israel. He would not pull the rug on her. He would save her.
Advocating for God’s Plan
We know that Satan still wants to foil God’s plan. Jesus came from Israel, which is the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). This plan of Satan does not all relate to the destruction of the Messianic line. Satan wants to stop the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel and so make God a liar. You see Satan’s opposition to Israel in Revelation 12, where he “persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child” (verse 13, see the whole chapter).
Satan also wants to destroy the end times plan of God. Jesus Christ will set up a kingdom and fulfill promises to Israel. God will restore His theocratic kingdom and Israel is a part of that. The church, as you know, is actually grafted on to Israel, not vice versa. If there is no Israel, then what is there to graft on to? The church partakes in the covenant promises made to Israel.
We do not know that the Israel today is not the future saved Israel. This could be the Israel God saves. How could you want the future salvation of Israel that God promises if you don’t care about whether surrounding nations eliminate Israel? If you want a future salvation of Israel, then you also want a present preservation of Israel. That is not support for now bad theology in and of Israel. It does advocate for God’s plan for Israel, believing what He said and backing what He will do.