Acts 2:22-47
In his first gospel sermon Peter first quotes from Joel to explain the phenomenon of the Holy Spirit then he quotes for the first time an Old Testament passage about the Messiah. This passage is Psalm 16:8-11. In a single verse indeed in one phrase Peter tells us much about the life of the disciple. Quoting David, Peter claimed, for himself and for us, that we can enjoy the constant company of the Lord. This first phrase "I was always beholding the Lord in my presence” is better translated to tell us “before our face the Lord is constantly there”.
Before Peter addresses the resurrection he tells us about the presence of the Lord. Let’s us not miss that point. Before we are told of the means of salvation, the resurrection, we are told the meaning of salvation, the Lord’s constant companionship. The resurrection is the central point of our faith. Without the resurrection Christianity is really a sham posing as a philosophy. The resurrection means that we can enjoy the Lord's consistent and constant presence in our lives.
There is another often misunderstood passage here. "…he is at my right hand…” This is not about regal enthronement, remember this Psalm is written from David’s perspective. It was the custom of the time for ‘The Advocate’ to stand to the right of their client, with the client on the left of the advocate. Here David, perhaps beyond his full understanding, it's telling us that the one who is always with us is pleading our case for us. The verse offers an interesting picture "the Lord", Jehovah is constantly with us pleading our case for us. In the understanding of the Old Testament the term “Lord” refers to the personal name of God. The question that this phrase would bring to the ancient mind would be, “To whom is God advocating?” The deity of the Son, and the Trinity of the godhead are implicated in this passage. And this is only the first quote about Christ in this early sermon of the Gospel age.
What is the practical meaning of God advocating for us. The next phrase of the quote says, "that I might not be shaken ". The word for ‘shaken’ is descriptive of a storm tossed ocean. And the Jewish worldview the ocean was one of the passageways to the world of the dead. The chaotic storm-tossed ocean was how a person would travel from this world to Hades. While the world of a disciple will the time be storm-tossed, in the midst of that chaos we are not shaken because of the constant presence and advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ who is pleading our case for us.
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