The Daily Devotional Podcast

Risen - 2 | Zechariah 9: 9-10, Psalm 110: 1-4

• Waypoint Church

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This reflection shows how expectations shape what we recognize, revealing that the people in Jerusalem misunderstood God’s promises because they filtered them through their own desires for power and control. It invites us to consider whether we are willing to receive God’s promises as He defines them, even when they come through humility and surrender rather than immediate strength.

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Today I'll be reading Zechariah nine verses nine through ten and Psalm one hundred ten verses one through four. Rejoice, O people of Zion, shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. I will remove the battle chariots from Israel and the war horses from Jerusalem. I will destroy all the weapons used in battle, and your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet. The Lord will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem. You will rule over your enemies. When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly. You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew. The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow. You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Expectation shapes how we see everything. If you're waiting for strength, you look for power. If you're longing for rescue, you look for someone who can take control and fix what's broken. What we hope for determines what we recognize. This is a part of what makes Palm Sunday so complex. The crowd in Jerusalem was not inventing the idea of a coming king. They were responding to promises that had been forming for generations. Prophets had spoken about a ruler who would come from God, a king who would bring justice, peace, and restoration. Zechariah describes that king in a way that feels almost contradictory. Your king comes to you righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey. Righteous, victorious, and lowly. Those ideas don't naturally sit together. Victory is usually associated with strength, display, and dominance. Yet here's a king who arrives in humility. Psalm one hundred ten adds another layer. It speaks of a king who rules with authority, a priest who stands forever, one whose reign is established by God himself. The promise is unmistakable. God's king will come, he will rule, and he will bring what is needed. But the shape of that rule is different than what people expected. By the time Jesus enters Jerusalem, the people are ready for victory. They want a king who will confront their enemies and restore their nation. They are looking for immediate change. What they receive is a king who comes gently, a king whose path leads towards sacrifice. The tension is not in the promise, it's in the interpretation. God had already revealed what his king would be like. The problem was not that the people lack scripture, the problem was that they read it through their own desires. Many of us fall prey to this same habit still today. We may believe God's promises while still shaping them around what we want the most. We can look for strength where God is showing humility, or expect immediate resolution where he is working through surrender. The question is not whether God will keep his promises. The question is whether we're willing to receive them as he defines them. Before I close in prayer, here's a question to wrestle with. Teach me to recognize your ways, even when they look different from what I expect.