ps. 35.9 (the joy of the anointed/son)

“Then / my soul / shall rejoice / in Yhwh – it shall / exult / in his victory.” This rejoicing and exultation is important to note following our previous reflection on the judgment that was to fall ‘unawares’ on David’s enemies. The reason is that this judgment ‘unawares’ is, in fact, an act of war and therefore an act of liberation. Its purpose is not simply destruction but of ‘victory’—that is its goal and purpose. This is why the darkness of judgment is light for those for whom Yhwh fights. Important not note: the judgment does not fall ‘unawares’ only on the wicked; rather, even the righteous would be ‘unaware’ of when it descends. They are not privy to Yhwh’s decision as to when to enact it. And, according to the logic we laid out previously, they almost can’t be by definition (if the judgment is to mimic the evil, the judgment will be just as ‘formless’/’unaware’ as the evil is ‘without cause’). The point, however, is that this judgment is to be a source of joy for the righteous because it is, in fact, an act of victory. Judgment is to dispel the darkness, the eclipsing power of evil over Yhwh’s glory (the light of his sovereign rule)—and, important for our purposes, the glory he has bestowed on his anointed by ‘making room in himself’ for him to rule his kingdom (“strive against those who strive against me; fight those who fight me” vs.1). Along these lines: this rejoicing is the rejoicing of a son/king/anointed/messiah. As we have said before—in the king all of Yhwh’s people reside. And he, therefore, experiences a joy that would be unique to himself as he stands as the people’s representative before the world and before Yhwh. His joy at seeing the darkness consume itself would be that of a shepherd watching lions that are pursuing his flock be destroyed. In other words, his joy is a corporate joy, his exultation a public one, and precisely because the danger (as we have said) was a corporate one, a public one. This surely flows into the eschatological joy of Christ when, according to Revelation, he will “Come”. This joy is part and parcel to the ‘descending Bride’—the corporate realty that Christ is the king over, as he is now seeing the destruction of every force that is seeking her destruction/shame. This is a new insight for me—the inherent joy that Christ would attain at this ‘victory’, when he would rejoice in his father (the Enthroned One) and his soul ‘exult’ in his victory.