Do Not Touch The Anointed Ones!

I have been a follower of Jesus Christ since I was a child. Like most Christians, I have heard the word “anointed” used to describe a person. Some would say, “She is an anointed worship leader”, “He is an anointed preacher”. “That person is anointed to do this and that.” So, what does it really mean to be anointed?

To be anointed by God can mean…

- To be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

- To be set apart for a certain function

- To receive deliverance and divine protection from God.

Anointing is a powerful act of God making us recipients of his goodness and faithfulness

The same goodness and faithfulness King David recalls in Psalm 105.

In this part of the book Psalm, King David reflects God’s dealing with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants.

- The tone of Psalm 105 is one of gratitude

- It remembers events from the Old Testament in which his people faced great adversaries.

- One of those is the Pharaoh. If we read the book of Exodus, we know that the plagues were sent upon the Egyptians which demonstrated God’s greatness and faithfulness to his people.

- By reflecting on, to what God has done in the past, one should recognize that all these great deeds that God has done is not merely for display of his great power.

- It is a reminder of God’s greatness and assurance of his faithfulness to his anointed.

God really cares for his anointed. He wants the best for them.

In verse 15, King David wrote “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” Seemingly implying that God is telling everyone that no one should messed up with his chosen people.

Reading this verse may seem like this is some form of immunity for an individual. And sadly, this is used by some Christians, ministers and leaders as protection leading to abuse of authority.

In the Scripture, we should understand that the “anointed ones” used here is for a group of people God has chosen to bless. Not for individual.

And so, for readers of Psalm 105:15, this should be perceived as an invitation for everyone to live as a member of God’s holy people, to be under God’s sovereignty, as God’s anointed.

<Application>

Though this invitation happened in the past, today, we can also be God’s anointed by receiving Christ in our life.

In the early years of Jesus ministry, he read the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah in a synagogue in Nazareth. It was written in Luke 4:18-19 (Reading from Isaiah 61) 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

We can thank Jesus, because as he is “The Anointed One”, we become part of God’s anointed people through him, by accepting him in our life.

We can thank Jesus because we can take part of God’s mission on earth. To be ambassadors of his great love, particularly for the poor, captives, blind, oppressed.

<Illustration>

I remember when my son was born, I was so thrilled with the idea that there’s a new member of my young family. There will be someone who would inherit whatever I have. There’s this new member of the family that I can empower, fellowship with, and express my love to. The thought makes me ecstatic.

Similarly, when we receive Christ in our life, we are adopted as fellow inheritors with Christ.

God is delighted as we become members of his family. Gods anointed.

Galatians 3:26 (NIV) So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,

Through the Holy Spirit we are empowered, set apart, and secured, as we live in alignment to the work God is doing.

In Acts 1:8 , Jesus said - ESV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

We are anointed to be witnesses of Christ.

<Big Idea>

“Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” Says the Lord

Yes, we can look at this in the perspective of protection. Indeed, God protects his people.

But in the final analysis, to be anointed is not for us to have the license to do whatever we want to do or say whatever we want to say - without being criticized or challenged.

It is not a badge or an identification that we can show or brag about to demand that we are untouchables.