My Advocate

June 12

I Kings 9-10

Psalm 71:9-16

Proverbs 15:24-26

Acts 8

My Advocate

“For my enemies talk about me, and those who spy on me plot together, saying, ‘God has abandoned him; chase him and catch him, for there is no one to rescue him.’  God do not be far from me; My God, hurry to help me.  May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed; may those who seek my harm be covered with disgrace and humiliation.  But I will hope continually and will praise You more and more.  My mouth will tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long. I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God; I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone.”  Psalm 71:10-16 HCSB 

Yesterday’s passage about the stoning of Stephen reminds me of these verses in Psalm.   “He saw God’s glory, with Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” This is the only place in Scripture where we find Jesus “standing at the right hand of God.”  In every other passage, He is described as “sitting at the right hand of God.”  We aren’t told why Jesus is standing, but it brings to mind I John 2:1 that says Jesus is our advocate with the Father.  When a defense attorney goes before a judge on behalf of his client, he stands up to make his case.  He listens to the prosecuting attorney make the case against him and then he stands before the judge and lays out his defense of his client.  I may be reaching, but I am envisioning Jesus watching the scene play out below.  The Sanhedrin has made its case against Stephen, claiming he has committed blasphemy. Knowing Stephen is about to be stoned to death, Jesus stands before His Father, the ultimate judge and defends Stephen making the case on Stephen’s behalf.  It is important to note that Jesus is not defending Stephen because he is perfect and worthy of getting into Heaven on his own merit.  We see here a man who was filled with grace and power, but he was human and sinful, just as we are. Jesus is defending him because Stephen has believed that Jesus is God’s Son and has accepted Him as his Savior. 

Scholars differ on the authorship of Psalm 71.  Many believe that David wrote this Psalm in his old age when his son, Absalom was rebelling and seeking to steal the throne.   Whoever wrote the Psalm was experiencing the pain of being falsely accused and betrayed and was begging God to come to his aid.  He needed an advocate to stand up for him against his enemies and defend his cause.  In humility, he acknowledges that God alone is righteous.  He isn’t seeking help based on his own merit, but rather he is seeking grace and mercy from God.  Like the Psalmist and Stephen, we can be assured that Jesus is our Advocate before God as well if we have accepted Him.  We have a defense attorney who stands before His Father on our behalf.  It gives me great peace and reassurance to know that Jesus Himself will take up my cause and defend me.  I don’t have to defend myself or take matters into my own hands.  I can entrust Him to be my advocate and bring about the right result.